James Beard's Delights And Prejudices [Hardcover]

James Beard (Author), Julia Child (Author), Karl Stuecklen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2001

This classic armchair read is the sixth volume in our James Beard Library of Great American Cooking and is considered by many to be the best of the collection. The closest the "Dean of American Cooking" ever came to writing an autobiography, Delights and Prejudices is full of insightful, entertaining stories that chronicle the development of one of America's most discerning palates. Along the way, Beard shares more than 150 recipes for sumptuous treats like scalloped clams, potato gnocchi, and much more, including many recipes from his own mother's kitchen. In the words of Julia Child, "It is a wonderful event for all lovers of good cooks and good food that Delights and Prejudices is with us again."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

James Beard's 1964 classic, Delights and Prejudices, has been reprinted in a newly illustrated edition. This is wonderful news for all who love food and food writing. Erudite yet intimate, Delights and Prejudices is, first, the memoir-with-recipes of a great American gastronome. It's also fascinatingly panoramic on good meals taken worldwide; on ingredients as diverse as the potato and the truffle; on great food places, markets to restaurants; and on food people, from Beard's cantankerous, food-muse mother to many of the stars of the last century's food firmament, including Julia Child. This is not only Beard's greatest work but also one of the best books we have on food and what we know about it.

Beard's gastronomic life began in bounteous early-20th century Portland, Oregon, where his mother cooked for several hotels. An early culinary memory has the near-infant Beard relishing an onion, skin and all. From there the story captures a world of gastronomic likes and dislikes from "sensational" veal roasts to the gherkins known as cornichons, "one of the mistakes the French make in eating." Beard's love of French food is, however, usually unmitigated, matched only by his adoration of traditional, locally produced American cooking. Recipes for this fare, including clam soufflé and candied-ginger pumpkin pie, are among the 150 formulas offered, a Beardian crème de la crème that also encompasses hors d'oeuvres, breads, and cakes. The book also chronicles Beard's ascent to fame, beginning with his 1940s appearance on I Love to Eat, TV's first cooking show, to the arrival of his many influential cookbooks. It ends, characteristically, in his kitchen, "the place where [he] can best satisfy the eccentricities of [his] own palate." The journey makes am enthralling read. --Arthur Boehm

About the Author

James Beard had a national reputation as an authority on every phase of food. Consultant to a wine and spirits establishment, he wrote seventy-six other books and numerous articles for national magazines on widely varied phases of cooking. Mr. Beard, who knew the cooking of every corner of our country, cooked in nearly every language. He lived abroad, traveled throughout Europe a number of times, saw most of the Western Hemisphere, and visited Hawaii and North Africa. His familiarity with exotic foreign foods spiced his extensive knowledge of American cooking at its best.

Mr. Beard was adviser to several large food companies, was food editor of Argosy magazine, and made many appearances on radio and television. His first three books are Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapes, Cook It Outdoors, and Fowl and Game Cookery. Equally at home in the kitchen of his own New York apartment and that of a hotel, James Beard brought the same sure touch to a half-hour supper as he did to the most elaborate buffet. He died in 1985. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (November 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076240941X
• ISBN-13: 978-0762409419
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,360,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cooking Autobiography, July 30, 2000

By 

Angela Abraham (Tecumseh, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Delights and prejudices (Paperback)

This is a wonderful look back by the author. He looks at his life in the Northwest and the foods that brought solace. How they were prepared and how the foods intertwined with daily life in the Beard household. Beard reveals his "delights and prejudices" for and against certain foods, methods Etc. This book made me think back to my childhood and the foods we would cook as the seasons came and went. Fresh game, fruits local to our area...I could almost smell the wild strawberries as Beard described them. I sure wish this book was back in print but try to find it if you can. It's a real gem!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Words of a Master, June 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: James Beard on Food: Delights and Prejudices (Hardcover)

James Beard only offered hints and fragmented stories of his past over the years -- this is the closest thing he could humanly muster as an autobiography... and, of course, it's mostly about food. You forgive his inability to delve into self when you hear the wonderful tales he spins -- the book is loaded with gems. It serves as a fine historical piece, if anything, and, though vague on the man, is as accurate as anything Beard has produced.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An American Master Epicure Shares His Roots, November 11, 2003

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: James Beard's Delights And Prejudices (Hardcover)

This book is somewhat less entertaining than some more recent culinary memoirs, such as those written by Ruth Reichl, for example but, given the importance of it's subject, it is very rewarding for both it's historical and culinary contents.

Beard is the quintessential `old school' American culinary figure. You will find little or no preaching on local sources, simple preparations, fresh ingredients, or organically raised produce. These were simply not an issue for him in 1964. Recall that this was less than 4 years after the publication of Rachael Carson's `Silent Spring' and less than 2 years after the publication of Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. Elizabeth David was probably unknown to most of Beard's audience and Chez Panisse was less than a glimmer in Alice Water's psyche.

I must say that having read a recent, well regarded biography of Beard, I suspect that Beard has done something of which Martha Stewart has been `accused'. That is, reinventing himself to the public by glossing over some of the less pleasant episodes in his childhood. And, at least two thirds of the book deal with his mother, her chefs at their Portland Oregan boarding house, and his early exposure to the foods of the American northwest.

This is much more of a memoir than it is a cookbook, but for what few recipes it contains, there is a much greater chance that these are from Beard's personal experience. As his autobiography documents, and as Jerimiah Tower, a Beard confidant confirms, this may be one of the few books James Beard wrote himself. He almost always had one or more assistants compiling material for his books.

Aside from his being the most important influence on the food writing of a generation of Americans, I always appreciate Beard for the simplicity of his recipes and ingredients. One rarely needs to worry about obscure ingredients or difficult techniques in Beard's books So, If one wishes to get an authentic taste of this American original and get a sense of the nature of his writing, one cannot do better than by reading this volume.