2018_September-October.indd

the Home Cooking issue

IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

words by Sarah Baird + photos by Romney Caruso F or those among us who are cookbook enthusiasts, there’s a certain kind of (often self- induced) pressure to always be on the bleeding edge of what’s hip in the world of culinary writing. Whether the trend de jour is cooking with offal or creating non-alcoholic cocktails, there’s a feeling that we must have read — or at least skimmed — the latest book on the topic in order to be a part of the conversation. This is particularly true when it comes to chef-driven, fine dining cookbooks: those

glossy-paged aspirational tomes that tell us we, too, can make complex, restaurant- quality dishes in the comfort of our own kitchens. And we can, in theory, except the ingredient lists are too complicated (who has that spice in their pantry?), the processes too convoluted, and the time commitment greater than what it takes to cook a whole hog. These books are inspirational, yes, but usually not the kind of resource you’d turn to for something quick and delicious on a random Wednesday That’s where community cookbooks come in.

Community cookbooks are locally produced, deeply treasured recipe collections that read like time capsules of what was on dinner tables during the era in which they were written. Still in wide use today, they rose in popularity during the mid-1960s and continue to this day, and you’d be hard- pressed to enter any grandmother’s kitchen from Lake Charles to Mobile without finding one — or five — community cookbooks wedged between a stand mixer and toaster on the kitchen counter. “Community cookbooks were started as

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018

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