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Cooking for Crowds: 40th Anniversary Edition Kindle Edition

3.9 out of 5 stars 27

A new edition of the classic cookbook for groups of six to fifty guests

When
Cooking for Crowds was first published in 1974, home cooks in America were just waking up to the great foods the rest of the world was eating, from pesto and curries to Ukrainian pork and baklava. Now Merry White's indispensable classic is back in print for a new generation of readers to savor, and her international recipes are as crowd-pleasing as ever—whether you are hosting a large party numbering in the dozens, or a more intimate gathering of family and friends.

In this delightful cookbook, White shares all the ingenious tricks she learned as a young Harvard graduate student earning her way through school as a caterer to European scholars, heads of state, and cosmopolitans like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. With the help of her friend Julia Child, the cook just down the block in Cambridge, White surmounted unforeseen obstacles and epic-sized crises in the kitchen, along the way developing the surefire strategies described here. All of these recipes can be prepared in your kitchen using ordinary pots, pans, and utensils. For each tantalizing recipe, White gives portions for serving groups of six, twelve, twenty, and fifty.

Featuring a lively new introduction by White and Edward Koren's charming illustrations,
Cooking for Crowds offers simple, step-by-step instructions for easy cooking and entertaining on a grand scale—from hors d'oeuvres to desserts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The reasons to re-issue the book are tied not only to burgeoning popularity of thematic cook books and culinary memoirs, but also the current healthy eating and nutritional guidelines, which favor hearty vegetables and whole grains (although not butterfat), included in these soups, stews, and salads. Each recipe is a satisfying construction on its own, with suggestions for variations or substitutions in ingredients; with a brief account of its role(s) in a fully satisfying meal."---Ellen Messer, FoodAnthropology

"[T]his is a thoroughly delightful and accessible source of food inspiration for catering creatively for large groups. Cookery clubs and caterers, no matter the size, should definitely bear this one in mind."
---Lois Henderson, Bookpleasures.com

"Not just enormously charming but useful, full of sturdy recipes that can still seem mildly exotic no matter how much we flatter ourselves at the sophistication of our palates. . . . This is more, that is, than an artifact of Brooklyn avant la lettre. It's full of practical dishes and tricks you'll call your own, like tossing fresh-roasted almonds in maple syrup to serve on ice cream."
---Corby Kummer, The Atlantic

"[Merry White's] book, made up of recipes she collected as the caterer for the Harvard Center for European Studies, suggested a new way of entertaining, with self-serve spanakopita, petite shrimp quiche and that savior of the anxious cook, the casserole that can be made a day ahead. Edward Koren's woolly illustrations set the tone: vegetables are our friends, and food tastes best in groups. Even though pesto and vindaloo are no longer exotic, during the holidays her attitude (and her meatballs) may be what every stressed-out host needs."
---Alexandra Lange, New York Times

"A genius book that makes cooking for large numbers easy." ―
Choice Magazine

"[I]t ticks all the boxes. The recipes look great, but mostly the author sounds like somebody I'd love to have dinner with. There are no photos, which is more than fine, as it has lots of sweet black and white drawings by Edward Koren." ―
Lobster Squad

"If you're looking for a cookbook that will help you serve a crowd this holiday season, this is a great book for you with plenty of variety. If you're wanting an interesting read about food culture changes, this is also interesting, seeing how commonplace some 'exotic' ingredients from the 70s are now."
---Amy Phelps, News and Sentinel

"Recipes ahead of the curve 40 years ago--dirty rice, pork vindaloo--remain
au courant; others--Swedish meatballs, Charlotte Malakoff au chocolat--exude a retro '70s vibe that's also au courant. Prep details for six, 12, 20 and 50 servings of each recipe are provided. Practical advice abounds, including not to multiply powerful spices like other ingredients. . . . [Cooking for Crowds] remains a boffo resource for those hankering to make chicken Bengal for 12 or baklava for 50."---Anne Kingston, Maclean's

"
Cooking for Crowds by Merry White . . . brings friendly exuberance to the subject of cooking for large numbers that has made me think that, actually, it might be kind of cool to feed a crowd-pleasing lasagne to 50."---Bee Wilson, Telegraph

"Charmingly illustrated with impish anthropomorphized vegetables and critters by cartoonist Edward Koren. No-nonsense, unusually useful recipes with amounts for 6, 12, 20, or--unlucky you--50 portions."
---Heller McAlpin, Barnes and Noble Review

"Simply stated, no community library cookbook collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of a copy of Merry White's
Cooking For Crowds."---James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

Review

"Cooking for Crowds represents a coming-of-age moment in the cultural history of food, cooking, and taste in America. It has been one of my favorite cookbooks for more than thirty years."―Peter Gourevitch, founding dean, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego

"Corky White has been persuaded to reissue the cookbook that was so much a part of our youthful gatherings. These diverse (and feasible) recipes for large tables are ideal for any occasion, whatever your group passions. Edward Koren's illustrations capture the unbuttoned hirsute fellowship of ingredients and diners."
―Charles Maier, Harvard University

"[T]his is a beautifully presented book with an oversized format and fab illustrations by Edward Koren."
―Esther N McCarthy

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00F8MIJKS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; Revised edition (November 28, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 28, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4443 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 204 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B00K1GG476
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 27

About the author

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Merry White
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Merry White (also known as Corky) was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Chicago and Minnesota. She received her degrees (A.B., A.M., and PhD) from Harvard University in Anthropology (East Asian), Comparative Literature (English, French and Italian), and Sociology (Japan). She was Director of the Project on Human Potential at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 1980 - 1986, a multinational study of learning with case studies in Japan, India, The People's Republic of China, Egypt, West Africa and Mexico. She was also Director of International Education at the School of Education during this period, and from 1976 - 1987 was administrator of the East Asian Studies undergraduate program at Harvard College. In 1987 she began teaching at Boston University and received tenure in 1989.

Her publications include: Coffee Life in Japan, (University of California Press, 2012); Perfectly Japanese: Making Family in an Era of Upheaval (University of California Press, 2002); The Material Child: Coming of Age in Japan and America (Free Press, 1993; Dobunshoin, 1993; University of California Press, 1994); Comparing Cultures (with Sylvan Barnet, Bedford Books, 1995); The Japanese Educational Challenge, (Free Press, 1986, Princeton University Press 1992, and Shueisha, 1992); The Japanese Overseas, (Free Press, 1988); Human Conditions (with Robert LeVine, Routledge, 1987) and Challenging Tradition: Women in Japan, (Japan Society, 1992). In addition she has published two cookbooks, Cooking for Crowds (Basic Books, 1973) and Noodles Galore (Basic Books 1976) and has written many articles on food and culture.

Merry White teaches courses on urban Japanese society, on food and culture, on women in Asia and on the anthropology of travel and tourism. In addition to teaching and writing, Dr. White is also consultant to educational and media projects related to Japan and to culinary anthropology. She has studied cooking in Japan and Italy, and was a professional caterer. She has also recently worked with the Discovery Channel to create a television series on Asian foodways, appearing in a one hour segment on Japanese cuisine which won two Asian Television awards. Her next project is a book on the world history of food, written with her son Ben Wurgaft, to be followed by a research project on the natures of food work. She also works with a project to sell Cambodian coffee in Japan, in order to support local development and elementary schools in north-eastern Cambodia. She has two children: Jennifer (White) Callaghan who is a lawyer in London, and Benjamin Wurgaft, an intellectual historian in Berkeley, California, and one grandchild, Meghan Callaghan. Merry White lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, about half-way between them.

A recent interview:http://www.heartnstomach.com/post/19730573134/corky-white-on-second-winds-japan-and-the-beards#.T2t2GC0GN-k.email

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
27 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024
There's a reason this book by Merry (Corky) White has been around so long: it has easy to make recipes from around the world, with proportionate ingredients for crowds the size of your family to groups of 50. And it doesn't tell you to go out and buy some weird ingredients that aren't possibly available near you. You can make these dishes and your guests will enjoy them. Corky wrote much of it when she worked as a caterer while putting herself through graduate school, where she became an expert on Japan who has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government. She is also an anthropologist of food and a professor at Boston University who teaches courses and writes books about both Japan and food. Corky was a friend of Julia Child, and if she ran into questions about a recipe she ran it by Julia, so you know you can't go wrong

The book is also fun to read and has illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Ed Koren. It makes a great gift, and I've already given it to several delighted friends.
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2003
I first came across this incredible book in the library, then moved to a town whose library didn't have it, so I had to track it down on Amazon (this was in those bygone days before used book selling on Amazon, when they searched for used books for you). But enough of that.
This is one of my favorite cookbooks, which says something, as I've got an inordinate number of them. It was published in the 70s (even has Ed Koren drawings!), but its recipes were way ahead of their time. Lots of ethnic-but-immensely-palatable dishes, all of which are perfect for crowd-cooking - or even the smaller dinner party. Each recipe gives proportions for serving 6, 12, 20 and 50 people, so you can easily adapt them to your needs. The recipes are also easily prepared, perfect for those of us who don't have time to cook much any more.
Bottom line: If you find this book, buy it - you won't be sorry!
15 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
I gave this to someone who loves cooking and cook books.
She did not find any recipes that she liked.
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2014
I bought this book on the basis of an interview I heard on National Public Radio with the author. I had assumed from the interview that it presented menus for meals. Not so. It has a few interesting recipes, but not worth the price.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2018
This is the second edition of a book originally published many years ago. I thought it would be out of date. Wrong! Full of interesting recipes and combinations that work for any size crowd from six to fifty people.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2014
Good recipes, not just the same old same old tired recipes, healthy recipes as well. I use this book to great advantage.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2014
This 100-page book has been padded to 182 pages by immense amounts of white space, a huge amount of leading between lines, cute, irrelevant illustrations, mammoth margins and pages with no ink whatsoever. Besides the fact there are not enough recipes for cooks who prepare meals for organizations, the book overlooks the crucial concept of sourcing i.e., how to buy from wholesale "cash and carry" grocers that supply restaurants and tips on commercial time-saving products of good quality. Instead of white space and darling drawings, this type of information should be incorporated in such a book. I was taken in by the puff review and the very name of the book. What a gigantic opportunity to produce a fantastic tool for the "organization" cook and caterer! What a shame that the author, editor, art director and publisher all neglected the implied mandate to deliver a real guide book for those who cook for many. To give credit, some recipes look good, and ingredients are scaled for 6, 12, 20 and 50 servings, but the book is astonishingly limited and a high percentage of the few recipes (for the number of pages) are simply impractical, exotic or too off-the-wall for mainstream America. Sorry I bought two copies before checking it out.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2014
Excellent service. A must for those who like to cook for a crowd.

Top reviews from other countries

Pris
5.0 out of 5 stars Family parties on the horizon
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2014
Just what I wanted. Lots of hints and tips for entertaining. Why do I have to do more words than I want to?
One person found this helpful
Report
EJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2014
A great secret weapon for large dinner parties.
C.H.O.L.S.
4.0 out of 5 stars A good buy.
Reviewed in France on June 26, 2014
Very Informative if this is your first time.I think some updating is required,and perhaps more multi course menus. The recipes given are exellent but a little dated.Please do some more, and perhaps vegetarian,(there are a few about). This is a very helpful book for the home cook wanting to do more in the local community catering sphere,with the normal home cooking facilities Very useful for obtaining quantities for catering for different numbers. and practical advise for adapting home facilities.A good buy
Alissa Laloutre
3.0 out of 5 stars dull. Sent back
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2015
Disappointing : measures are approximate, no pics, dull. Sent back.
One person found this helpful
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Ms C Atherton
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2015
Very good
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