Food Writer's Cookbook Library

	Food Writer's Library
	Writing a cookbook or food-related article is more complex than you'd think. The writer can't make any assumptions about his or her reader's previous knowledge. (Which is what I've found is the biggest mistake made by self-published cookbook authors! Nothing is more frustrating that reading an instruction like "prepare in the usual manner" or "follow tradition preparation techniques" regarding what for me is not a "usual" or "traditional" ingredient.) These books are of benefit for any food writer's personal library:
	The Recipe Writer's Handbook, Revised and Updated by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann, Jane Baker Comments: The methods this book uses to provide comprehensive guidance on the intimate elements of the recipe writing art makes The Recipe Writer’s Handbook an indispensable companion for anyone who develops, tests, writes, or edits recipes—for publication, for broadcast, or simply to share with family and friends. The book teaches you how to "think" your way through a recipe to make important decisions and troubleshoot potential problems concerning format and syntax, spelling, cooking terminology, weights and measurements, recipe testing, presentation of the final recipe, and the many other areas necessary to achieve a well-written recipe, such as accuracy and consistency. The book provides complete and proven guidelines for recipe testing. There is an added focus on writing recipes for an international audience, plus advice from radio, television, and Internet experts on developing recipes for each of those media. Recipes into Type: A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors by Joan Whitman, Dolores Simon Organized as a well organized how-to-get-it-correct book, Recipes into Type provides details on how to present ingredients, write effective recipe instructions, and provide helpful recipe tips. Resource Guide for Food Writers by Gary Allen Whenever you need a reference for additional information for an ingredient or food about which you're writing, chances are you'll find an organization, publication, Web site, or other aid for your research mentioned on the pages of Gary Allen's Resource Guide for Food Writers. The book's first section lists sources, including food-related library collections, organizations, Internet newsgroups, 33 pages of periodicals (like Garlic Times, and many others), and pages of food-related Web sites. (NOTE: This book was published in 1999, so online resources listed may be out of date.) The second section provides interview techniques, culinary reference works, writing guides, recipe formatting, and food-writing courses and conferences. The book's third section discusses book proposals, markets, self- and Web publishing, agents, copyrights, and stock photography. Rather than providing critical evaluation of the resources listed, however, it instead has an amazing volume of information. It's up to the reader to form his own conclusions about a suggested resource. (Which is only fair: A resource that's perfect in one instance would most likely be all wrong for another.) Food Reference Books:
			Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts (2nd Edition) by Steven Labensky, Gaye G. Ingram, Sarah R. Labensky
			The New Food Lover's Tiptionary: More Than 6,000 Food and Drink Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Other Things Cookbooks Never Tell You by Sharon T. Herbst
			The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms (Barron's Cooking Guide) by Sharon Tyler Herbst
			The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: A Sourcebook for Understanding the Cuisines of the World by Eve Zibart
			The Cambridge World History of Food (2-Volume Boxed Set) by Kenneth F. Kiple (Editor), Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas (Editor)
			The Penguin Companion to Food by Alan Davidson Penguin Books; Rev edition (November 1, 2002) 256 pages
			The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson Oxford University Press; (December 1, 1999) 892 pages

	Keepsake Cookbooks Food Writer's Library: Meals and Memories: How to Create Keepsake Cookbooks by Kathy Steligo More than 50 illustrations, 31 recipes, and instructions on how to create your own cookbook to preserve your family's meal traditions and memories.
	Scrapbooking With Recipes: Ideas for Preserving Kitchen Memories by Susan Banker, Better Homes and Gardens, Carol Field Dahlstrom
	Food Articles Anthology Library:
	The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing by Alan Davidson, Helen Saberi Articles from the food history journal Petits Propos Culinaires, an English-language magazine circulated primarily to food historians and academics in Britain and America.

	Cooking Techniques
			Inside America's Test Kitchen: All-New Recipes, Quick Tips, Equipment Ratings, Food Tastings, Science Experiments from the Hit Public Television Show by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine
			The Best Kitchen Quick Tips: 534 Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine
			The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine More than 200 recipes described in short, essay-like investigations that reflect exhaustive ingredient, equipment, and method testing.
			Baking Illustrated: A Best Recipe Classic (The Best Recipe Series) by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine See more baking books below
			How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
			I'm Just Here For the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking by Alton Brown
			Jamie's Kitchen A Cooking Course for Everyone by Jamie Oliver In this book, Jamie includes tips on how to improvise to take recipes in new directions. Excerpt
			A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider
			How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson Each chapter consists of a simple technique, basic recipe, variations, key points, and a little mnemonic device used to recall the technique.
			The Perfect Recipe by Pam Anderson As Anderson explains the perfect recipes for an assortment of favorite dishes, she explains how she got to her result and in the process explains about the science and chemistry of cooking, too.
			CookSmart: Perfect Recipes for Every Day by Pam Anderson Instruction on how to use basic techniques to perfect one's own recipe.
			Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America by Culinary Institute of America
			Cooking Secrets of the CIA (The Companion Book to the Public Television Series) by Pavlina Eccless, Culinary Institute of America
			More Cooking Secrets of the CIA (The Companion Book to the Public Television Series) by The Culinary Institute of America, Joyce Oudkerk Pool
			Cooking at the C.I.A (PBS Cooking) by The Culinary Institute of America
			Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking by Julia Child The Way to Cook by Julia Child
			Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques
	Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio, et. al. Book excerpt includes a Roast Chicken recipe and general roasting instructions, and more.... Colicchio says: "I wrote the book for the home cook who has been cooking for a few years and who is ready to start experimenting and start going out on their own. When you finish this book you will have more of an understanding of how ingredients work together and the cook will have a freedom from using recipes. Instead of tracking down a long list of ingredients, you can go to the market and see what's great and come home and cook."
	Baking Techniques:
			The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen by Pascal Rigo, Paul Moore
			The Baker's Dozen Cookbook: Become a Better Baker with 125 Foolproof Recipes and Tried-and-True Techniques by Rick Rodgers (Editor), Flo Braker (Editor)
			Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America by The Culinary Institute of America
			Grand Finales: A Neoclassic View of Plated Desserts by Tish Boyle, Timothy Moriarty
			The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts by Sherry Yard
			Artisan Baking Across America: The Breads, The Bakers, The Best Recipes by Maggie Glezer
			The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
			The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
			Think & Get Creative! The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-To-Make Cakes That Taste As Good As They Look! by Kaye Hansen, Liv Hansen, Ben Fink, Meredith Vieira
			Debbie Browne's Magical Cakes by Debbie Brown
			Colette's Cakes: The Art of Cake Decorating by Colette Peters
			The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Cake Decorating by Carol Deacon
			The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
			The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart

Also see:

The Everything Writing Well Book Resource

Book Proposals at a Glance

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Copyright © 2004-2006 Pamela Rice Hahn
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