PASSIONATE RATIONS

I admit it. I’m planning a caper.

Borrowing an idea from the wonderful Julie/Julia blog, I am hoping to delve more deeply into the world of cooking by following a cookbook, cover to cover. Of course, what was lovely about the Julia blog was that Julia Child was its inspiration. I may not find such a large personality (or fellow Smith alum) behind whichever book I choose, but I do hope to learn a thing or two.

And speaking of choosing a book, my spouse and I made a special pilgrimage to the bookstore to look for one. He’d done some research (how sweet is that?) and came up with three to compare:

1. James Peterson’s Cooking
2. Julia Child’s The Way to Cook
3. Darina Allen’s Forgotten Skills of Cooking

We ensconced ourselves in two wooden chairs that looked like they should be in a detective novel and perused, in the order noted.

The first two both had many photographs illustrating various techniques (e.g. how to filet a fish), but we found Peterson’s book more detailed than Child’s, both in photos and descriptions, and also more diverse when it came to recipes. I was trying not to be biased against Julia, since that’s been done, but the substantive comparison actually left me more interested in Peterson’s book for this project (Apologies to Julia. This was only a brief, and possibly too cursory, review).

Allen’s cookbook was fascinating, filled with tales and techniques of lost and fading culinary arts, plus good solid advice on traditional cooking. Apparently, a 12-week course at Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery School in East Cork, Ireland, costs more than $13,000, so the book is a relative bargain. I was very intrigued by our swift review. However, it wasn’t quite what I was looking for, so we reshelved it. I put it on my wish list though!

So, Peterson it is! We must wait until the book’s arrival by mail, and then logistics must be determined. But I plan to eat pretty well for awhile thereafter.