JOYCE OF COOKING [Hardcover]

Alison Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

The quintessential Irish cookbook: food and drink from James Joyce's Dublin. A joyous book celebrating the best of Irish cooking. An equally good read.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A nice sidebar to the vast literature devoted to James Joyce. Armstrong, noting that the novels are full of food, has collected traditional Irish recipes and given them titles and epigraphs based on the words of the master, most often from Ulysses I Beg Your Parsnips, Do Ptake Some Ptarmigan, Poached Eyes on Ghost. Recipes seldom partake of these flights of fancy but are straightforward dishes of a kind ordinary Dubliners like Leopold and Molly Bloom would have eaten in 1904. A jeu d'esprit that Joyceans will enjoy. RD
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Barrytown/Station Hill Press, Inc.; First Edition edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930794850
• ISBN-13: 978-0930794859
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,450,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Irish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literary and culinary delights, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: JOYCE OF COOKING (Hardcover)

This is a great book both as a simple cookbook (best oxtail soup recipe I've found) and just for fun. It takes the dishes mentioned in ULYSSES and gives recipes as well as putting them in the context of the book. Most of the recipes are period; no microwaves here. But I'm no great cook, and I've found that I can do just fine with most of the recipes, though many are too time-consuming for everyday use. But for special occasions, the recipes are wonderful to actually use and the rest of the time the book provides a historical reference and insight into Joyce's masterpiece.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hate to be a bummer, July 1, 2008

By 

Stuart Hale "acep hale" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JOYCE OF COOKING (Hardcover)

But this book doesn't work on either level. As a cookbook the recipes are only half there, sometimes woefully flawed. You can tell this within the second recipe for marzipan violets, the ratios are off and the directions are horribly inadequate. Also, as a reviewer below noted, most of these recipes have quotes tacked on that seem arbitrary at best. I gave it two stars because it's fun to flip through, and for some people it's probably used like a coffe table book of abstract art, there to impress others as a signpost of taste. For the rest of us, save your money for other books and find the recipes elsewhere.

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite cookbook, February 13, 2008

By 

kathabela (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JOYCE OF COOKING (Paperback)

For a lover of literature and food, for a lover of Joyce, and for lovers in general, this book will delight... it is the most unusual, pleasurable cookbook I use, and there is none that rivals its title (except one)? It deserves to be set right next to the more well known "Joy..." on any kitchen shelf. It's an amazing gift for literary friends, and I have found that most people don't know about it. Every recipe is accompanied by a quote from Joyce where the food is mentioned in one of his novels or short stories. My copy has lovely kitchen stains all through it--as I have made so many things many times. My favorite is the delicious "Molly's Seed Cake" the ultimate psychological and culinary dessert. The recipes were lovingly researched, interviewing all over Ireland, and the author loves the work of James Joyce. A treasure. Every time I make anything in this book I have to get it out and pass it around the table. Truly a Joy(ce)!