Chef Susan’s COOKBOOK PASSION
Episode 1
This is the first in a series of articles in which Chef Susan will share recipes, thoughts, and stories about the baking books, cake decorating books, and multi-topic cookbooks that populate her extensive library
CHOCOLATE SENSATIONS by Faye Levy
Why does anyone purchase cookbooks these days?
With the advent of Google research, recipes are literally fingertips away!
Many enjoy the ease of scrolling tablets, cell phones and using eBooks
perched on a kitchen counter.
I do not own an eBook preferring the use and feel of “the real thing,”
No insults intended here; this is simply my preference.
Depending on my needs, over the years I have used cookbooks to
research menus for large school catering events attended by hundreds
as well as for personal entertaining.
Often, I also peruse the pages of cookbooks to relax
and lull me to a restful night’s sleep.
Learning about food and cooking is a life-long process and passion.
In choosing cookbooks, I look for new flavor combinations
or a new slant on preparation techniques.
The autobiographical information and the written “dialogue”
gleaned from the forward and chapter introductions are
informative, inspirational, and an insight into the
personality of a book’s author.
The cookbooks that I use most often look the worse for wear
evidenced by their oil-stained pages and notes in pen and pencil.
Each book then shows a history of its use and is treated as a resource
and not coffee table decoration.
I also must admit that I still have the very first cookbook that I received
as a gift from my parents and the second, and the third….
I have over one-thousand and counting.
Also, collecting cookbooks has been and is a useful passion!
I have shared the contents of many books
with hundreds of my students over the years
to enhance classroom textbooks as they mastered
garde manger, pasta making, sauce making, and
many other baking and cooking techniques.
Some of my favorite cookbooks are written by Faye Levy.
Faye is an accomplished cookbook author
and food journalist who also speaks several languages.
As an avid and accomplished world traveler,
her culinary education includes prestigious European institutions.
Faye’s writing has been featured in many
leading food magazines such as Bon Appetit and she currently is
the Food Editor for the Jerusalem Post.
Faye and her husband, Yakir, have shared
several Los Angeles food events with me over the years,
and their company and erudite cumulative cooking knowledge
made those occasions interesting and fun.
I own many of Faye’s twenty-plus books on varied topics.
Faye’s writing is clear, concise, and her knowledge is limitless!
Her writing and creative recipes show profound evidence of fondness for,
exposure to, and inclusion of various world cuisines.
