Customer Reviews

Joy of Cooking 1931 Facsimile Edition: A Facsimile of the First Edition 1931

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is the 1st, as in before they got picked up by a major publisher.

Don't let that kid you. This book is GREAT and professional.

Irma made up the style of cookbook we know today. Listing all ingredients up front etc. A true pioneer.

She took her book to a little printer and had a run made. That book (which this is a faithful copy of) fell into the right hands and the rest was cookbook history.

Fantastic old recipes. Even old German ones, and other euro recipes etc. Not a bland cookbook of old junk. It is all old treasures.

She always made up several variations of a recipe and had friends and acquaintances as a tasters panel. The winning versions of each are in the book.

The Dust jacket is washable with a moist cloth even on her first book, she was a very smart lady.

Buy this book and enjoy recipes that are no longer in the latest JOY. There just isn't room for everything now. And this is the old fashioned way of making them all. I am big on taste!

A must have in the kitchen.

Great book with recipes long since forgotten. Easy to read and easy recipes to prepare. The author original humor still in the book which makes it so much better.

Great book with recipes long since forgotten. Easy to read and easy recipes to prepare. The author original humor still in the book which makes it so much better.

I don't know how one rates a reprinted book.

Cookbooks have changed considerably over the past century. This is a REPRINT of the original 1931 cookbook, meaning that the recipes, methods, and layout/instructional style are from 1931. It's not just "retro recipes". It is *not* a modern cookbook. The vagueness of some of the directions and the odd recipes are par for the course for cookbooks of this vintage. You think these are weird? Look up some late 19th century cookbooks and see how much sense they make.

If what you really want is a "daily driver" cookbook, give up the nostalgia and get one of the newer editions. I don't actually cook out of this thing much but I find it interesting to read.

I love old cookbooks, and this was published in 1931, the year after my parents were married and the 2nd year of the Great Depression. There are a lot of recipes using celery,for instance, and the emphasis, quite naturally, is plain meals using readily available food and not wasting anything. Cooks in 2009 could take a leaf out of Mrs. Rombauer's book in that regard. This was before frozen food and many women did not work outside the home and they cooked from scratch, which is cheaper. There is a 6 page section at the back of the book, "Recipes & Suggestions for Leftover Food."
So far, I have not found many recipes I want to run to the kitchen and make, but it is nostalgic to see what recipes and methods women were using back then. I am inspired to look in the more recent "Joy"'s for updated versions. I am glad I bought this copy- I already have about 4 "Joy"'s from other years and I may get another vintage "Joy" from another year, maybe the 1943(War years) or 1951. I was born in 1945 and cook regularly out of the 1950 "Betty Crocker" cookbook since it was the first cookbook my mother owned after using the little cookbook she used in her high school cooking class-"Foods: Preparation & Serving", published in 1925. It's a wonderful series and I feel really connected with the women who have gone before me. I would recommend this for nostalgia's sake, mostly, not as a book to cook one's daily meals. I bought it for myself for Christmas, but I think it would make a nice gift for a woman who likes to cook- unusual, and most people wouldn't think of buying this vintage version for themselves.

I was introduced to "Joy" whilst living in Mallorca in the 1980's, an American woman gave me her copy when her husband was transferred home. It has since become my reference book for 'when in doubt'. We now have a number of issues spread throughout the family. I am now a collector of the older editions and my admiration of Irma and her daughter has only grown with the years. I received this 1931 copy as my last birthday present.

Little did I know that by the middle of the 1990's the majority of my family would be 'gluten intolerant' and 'lactose intolerant' We were so desperate to continue with our usual baking favourites that my daughter wrote her own cookbook which she subsequently published (Indulging without gluten and dairy).

If we had only paid attention to our 1967 copy of the 'Joy of cooking' and the chapter 'Know your ingredients' it would have made our lives so much easier as it never occurred to us that such an 'old' cookbook would have covered different flours!

Of all the100's of cookbook's we have - Joy of Cooking would be only one I would take if the house was burning down!

I will be ordering this cookbook (2 in fact) in a moment, but since I am on this page, I decided to put my two cents in now. I have gone through 2 of Irma's original cookbooks and the latest is so worn that I am in need of a replacement. My husband thought he was doing me a favor a couple of years ago by purchasing the newest version. Unfortunately, the recipes I use ALL the time have been removed from the latest version. That just won't do. Boeuf Miroton is just one of the many that I use often (I split the bouillon half and half with wine as a personal choice) but otherwise, this is a great recipe and great for left over beef roast. Unfortunately this is missing from the newest version along with a lot of basic cooking instructions and measurements that help someone who has not benefited from any "home economics classes". That being said, the 2nd book will be for my son's fiance who is in sooooo much need of help that this is the only book I see that will really help her. (and him lol)

This edition of the Joy brought back countless memories---my grandmother, also of German descent and married in 1918, learned to cook in the era when Mrs. Rombauer did. So many of Grandmother's recipes reflect that fact. Reading the book was a trip down memory lane. The section on molded salads, which are definitely a lost art (or perhaps, a tradition better forgotten) is worth the price of the book for a food historian.

I would disagree with the reviewer that said she would "never cook out of it {The Joy..}," however. Some of the recipes are as good now as they ever were and have a thing or two to teach the modern cook. Example: "icebox" cakes and desserts were all the rage in the '20s and '30s, taking advantage of the capabilities of the newly available electric refrigerators. These confections are delicious, usually easy to assemble, and, by definition, a make-ahead item since they have to set up for twelve to twenty-four hours. They are great desserts for the weeknight, working-9-to-5 cook. Or---think potlucks and family gatherings,

There has been media hype about the Joy of Cooking for many years. A treat though is to actually see how it all began. This facsimile edition is a must for anyone who has ever enjoyed the Joy. I now have 4 representative copies of "The Joy" it is incredibily satisfying to compare the original recipes and notes through out the years. No cookbook collector should miss this gem.

I probably won't try too many of the recipies in this edition, but it sure is fun to read!