Evening star., 1943-03-23
Time to Build Up
That Kitchen
Book Shelf
Standard Volumes
Plus Specialized
W0rks Needed
By Arfhm H. Deufe

BY Arthur II. Deufe
Now's a good time to start a little
library IN ones kitchen! The con-
ception of cooking in the American
home is undergoing radical changes
these days. And while the ration
ing of the sirloin steak and the
canned tomato is not without its
hardships, neither is 1t without its
compensating benefits-if we want
to look at it broadly.
But to accept the challenge to
cookery calls now for something
more than wishful thinking. It calls
for wider education in the culinary
arts. Fortunately, there are avail
able for this wider understanding
OF cookery countless important text
books, at least some of which should
have places on the shelf which holds
the kitchen library.
First of all, there should be one.
two, possibly even three of the
standard works on general kitchen
management. There are number
of these. both old and modern. that
authorities on cooking and kitchen
management heartily recommend.
Make your choice carefully, after
getting advice from those you know
to be good housekeepers. With
these books, which are available in
every good bookshop, the library
starts off we'll.
Next to have place should be a
sturdy scrapbook with loose leaves
and room for more leaves. Into this
book should go clippings from mag
azlnes and newspapers and hand
written recipes from friends. And
in here, too, should go all the thou
sand and one scraps of odd informa-
ton so important in the prepara-
ton Of foods and drinks.
Then there should be a space into
which go the pamphlets and book
lets prepared by the many manu-
facturers and packers and which are
of1ered free in advertisements. 1t is
really amazing what a world of
cooking and household lore these
booklets supply.
With the foregoing, the cook
amateur Or professional-has a use
ful working library. But there is
also opportunity for much interest
ing adventuring about, for from this
point on, one may discover the more
specialized literature of food and
drink. Go to any public library and
browse through the section devoted
to books on cooking and on dining.
Some of these should be on your
shelf, perhaps, and your bookseller
Will find them. Then, there are old
time cookbooks, found, OF te n
enough, in secondhand bookshops
and sometimes great treasures are
unearthed. Recently I found in
Portland, Me, shop copy of "The
Philosophy of Eating" by DR.. Bel
lows, written in 1857 Another time
| unearthed book by Frederick w.
Hackwood, Inns, Ales and Drinking
Customs of Old England"
Also available are countless inter-
estlng books on herbs, for instance.
q most enjoyable field for discovery,
AS herbs are delightful as a help in
cooking. Equally interesting is the
fact that they are so easily grown
for home use-both fresh and dried.
Books on wines and how to know
them offer a wide field for the
home which includes wine with its
meals. There are special books, too,
on carving land how important a
| subject that ISL, on salads and
appetizers and mushrooms and what
not, Books on foreign cooking take
one to Sweden and China and Rus
sia and South America and to all
sorts of strange places and let one
bring exotic cooking right into the
home.