`Joy of Cooking,” the most American of cookbooks and guide to generations of novice cooks, is back in a radically altered new edition that sparked a tempest of controversy in the New York publishing world as it was assembled. Now the storm may well spread across the country as devotees thumb through the $30 revision of a book that has sold more than 9 million copies.
Will the editors be indicted for tampering with a classic, or given credit for breathing life into an old chestnut that had not been updated since 1975? Can “Joy,” retooled for the high-tech, low-attention-span ’90s, find a new audience without offending its legion of devotees?
Probably not.
After all, author Irma S. Rombauer’s original 1931 edition, privately published in her hometown of St. Louis, carried the laid-back subtitle: “A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat.”
“(Irma) was 54 years old when the volume appeared, an utter amateur with no known qualifications for publishing a cookbook,” Anne Mendelson wrote in “Stand Facing the Stove,” a 1996 biography of Irma and her daughter, Marion Becker. Mendelson notes that Irma “never lost the stance of an amateur addressing amateurs, calling not so much on infallible knowledge of cooking (which in any case she did not possess) as on the perfectly correct belief that she was fun to be with. There was something in her presence to tell the most discouraged beginner why cooking and joy deserved to be mentioned in the same breath.”
American homemakers, many forced by the Depression to prepare food without hired help for the first time, ate it up.
Later, after Marion-who lived in Cincinnati-became fully involved, “Joy” was expanded to include long sections of pure instruction on the content of foods, cooking methods and food preservation. Marion also added eclectic elements of food production and gathering: how to get maple syrup from a tree or dress an elk, for instance.
By the beginning of this decade, there was general agreement that change was needed.
Ethan Becker, son and grandson of the two original authors, acknowledged that his mother misjudged the importance of the microwave and did not foresee the broadening of American taste that has made Asian, Mediterranean and Mexican foods so popular today.
When negotiations for a Scribner edition began, Maria Guarnaschelli, a bold and impatient New York City editor, was placed in charge of the project. An academic in her early 50s with a degree in comparative literature, an editor responsible for some record-setting book advances, she is regarded within the food community as either a renaissance editor, a queen bee or a spider queen.
She involved nearly 100 writers and editors in the project. Some were brought in later to enlarge, change or replace material without discussion with the original contributors. Egos were bruised. It became a sideshow.
“The food world was in a tizzy about `Joy,’ ” said Lisa Ekus, a publicist who did not work on the project. “Everyone wanted in. It meant more exposure, so their own books might sell better. Everyone gossiped about how much various contributors were being paid. That reflects the competitive nature of the business.”
Because today’s reader is well-traveled and would demand authenticity, Guarnaschelli says, “we used experts, but we were not obligated to use their contributions as written.”
Medici-like, she collected around her the best (or most loyal) talent she knew and asked them to help her squeeze the collective wisdom in hundreds of cookbooks into a single volume. It would be exciting to read and cook from. It would be a trustworthy reference. It would be the only cookbook an American home cook would ever need.
Beyond potpourri
James Peterson, author of “Sauces,” who was commissioned to write an outline of savory chapters, said as work progressed:
“It is a daunting project. The old `Joy’ is a potpourri. This book will be much more systematic. It will be a lot of people’s first cookbook, so the recipes have to be clear and easy. But it will be used as a reference by cooks beyond that level, too, so it should be comprehensive and encyclopedic without becoming an encyclopedia. And none of us wants this to become a collection of latest trends in cooking.”
Not only did Guarnaschelli’s passion, perfectionist nature and obsessiveness cause the already imposing manuscript to balloon like Marlon Brando, it also put “Joy” a full year behind schedule. That caused tension within the ranks at Simon & Schuster, owner of the Scribner imprint, because substantial sales projected for 1996 were not realized.
Her hope for “Joy,” Guarnaschelli said, was for it to keep its faithful readers but draw in new ones “because of the excitement of cooking from it and because it will be the ultimate reference.” In the end, her unbounded appetite for knowledge and recipes doomed her blueprint for greatness. Unwilling to bite the bullet early, she was forced to make severe cuts at the last minute. (Early in the editing, Ethan Becker predicted it would be necessary to “use a chain saw” to trim the manuscript enough to keep the book within a single volume. He was right.)
Out went sections on storing food; canning; jams, jellies and marmalades; and pickling, salting and drying. Information on craft tasks such as these, though no longer widely in demand, helped set the old “Joy” apart. Cutting the chapter titled “Know Your Ingredients” meant the loss of information on items such as baking powder and baking soda. What’s left is not evenly proportioned. There are 11 pages on coffee, tea and hot chocolate, for example, but nothing of substance about wine or beer. Cheese gets short shrift too.
Before publication this month, food world and publishing insiders also were speculating whether the book would lose its homey charm and lilting Midwestern voice in favor of exotic foreign fare and trendy chef recipes. Could golden corn on the cob lose out to spicy blue corn salsa?
On this front the result is mixed. The new edition presents a healthy combination of familiar and contemporary foods, but the “voice” projected by the original author is heard only sporadically.
The recipes have a welcome freshness and are easier to read, but in intensity and tone the text climbs and falls like a roller coaster from chapter to chapter. Ethan Becker gets co-author credit in this edition and supposedly spoke for his mother and grandmother. But surrounded by an imposing chorus of culinary experts (credited in the introduction, but not given bylines at the beginning of chapters), he had little chance to sing solos.
At 1,136 pages, though, the new book has much to admire and absorb. The organization is much more logical than it was, though the unconventional recipe format that intersperses ingredients and instructions remains. The index is an improvement as well.
There are all manner of contemporary recipes, ranging from grilled pizza to “little dishes” from around the world, and old recipes have been updated. The line-drawing illustrations by Laura Hartman Maestro are excellent and useful. Chapters on vegetables, grains, sandwiches and condiments are strong. This is a book you can cook from with pleasure.
Down-to-earth changes
It is not snobbish, either. Recipes include nachos and seven-layer Mexican dip and some very well-made classic and original sandwiches. In a nice historical juxtaposition, the recipe for Saratoga chips (the forerunner of potato chips) is followed by recipes for now trendy root chips.
There are nits to pick in the recipes, of course: The “Joy” version of oysters Rockefeller still contains spinach, which the original recipe did not. The pearl onions and bacon in the traditional French eggs en meurette have been replaced by shallots and optional Italian prosciutto.
And there is some curious pandering that one suspects Irma or Marion would not have tolerated. Two examples:
The introduction to stocks ends: “Certainly, full-flavored beef stock or savory white veal stock is still worth making if you have the time.” It’s worth making, period. Why offer a cop-out?
“A Final Note” to the Entertaining section reads: “… the truth is that if the table is attractive and clean, the food and drink honest and good, the company amiable and interesting, and the host generous and calm, an affair can be a resounding success no matter where glasses go or who is sitting where. And that is our final word on entertaining.”
That should delight those committed to a terminally casual lifestyle. But why, then, present nine pages of detailed information on the subject before reaching this conclusion?
Will this revised “Joy of Cooking” reward the monumental labor that brought it into being, or will its flaws and a flighty public keep it from regaining its best-seller status?
I’d make my bet with publicist Ekus, who predicts:
“The title has been so well-marketed over the years as the basic cooking reference book that no matter who’s in and who’s out, or what’s new and what’s revised, I think it’s going to do just fine.”
Here are two recipes form Joy, printed as they appear in the book. (Nutrition information added by the Tribune.)
BAKED ACORN SQUASH WITH PEAR AND APPLE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Preheat the oven to 325. Butter a baking pan.
Place cut side down in the baking pan:
2 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
Add 1/4 inch hot water to the pan. Bake for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix in a medium bowl:
2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup dried currrants or raisins
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
Grated zest of 1 small orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
Heat in a large skillet over medium heat until melted:
2 tablespoons butter
Add the apple mixture and cook until the fruit is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in:
1/4 cup apple cider or orange juice
1 tablespoon bourbon or dark rum, optional
Simmer, stirring often, until the fruit is tender, about 8 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven; pour off the water from the pan and turn the squash cut side up. Fill the squash with the apple mixture. Bake until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes more.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …….. 265 Sodium ……. 70 mg Fat …….. 7 g
Carbohydrates .. 55 g Cholesterol .. 16 mg Protein …. 2 g
BROILED OR GRILLED SHRIMP OR SCALLOPS, BASQUE STYLE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler. Make sure the grill rack is clean and place it as close to the heat source as possible. Mix together in a serving bowl:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs (any combination of parsley, sage, thyme, basil, marjoram, oregano, chervil, etc.)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Toss to coat in a shallow bowl:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds sea scallops or large or extra-large shrimp, peeled, deveined if desired, or a combination
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Place on the grill or under the broiler as close to the heat as possible. Turn the shrimp after the first side becomes pink, 2 minutes or so; turn the scallops when the first side becomes opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Grill or broil until the second side is pink or opaque; test one of the pieces by cutting into it to make sure it is cooked through. Add the hot shellfish to the herb mixture, toss gently, and serve immediately.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ……. 295 Sodium …… 285 mg Fat ………… 19 g
Carbohydrates .. 4 g Protein ……. 27 g Cholesterol .. 240 mg
66 YEARS OF HISTORY
Written and self-published for $3,000 in 1931 by Irma S. Rombauer, “Joy of Cooking” turned out to be the Old Faithful of publishing.
Rombauer was a St. Louis widow who collaborated with her daughter, Marion R. Becker, in later editions. The book brought celebrity and wealth to the Rombauer-Becker family, but every edition (there have been nearly a dozen, nine of which contain major revisions) and every negotiation with the publisher caused anxiety, strife and bitterness.
When Bobbs-Merrill agreed to publish the first commercial edition in 1936, the publisher demanded (and got) copyright to the original as well as the new edition. Subjects of later arguments included everything from the cost of author alterations to the quality of illustration and amount of discount sales.
Through all the smallnesses, there have been big numbers at stake.
The 1975 edition of “Joy of Cooking” has sold an estimated 3.5 million copies, bringing total hardback sales of the book to approximately 9.3 million. This places “Joy” third on the cookbook best seller list, trailing only the “Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book” and the “Betty Crocker Cookbook.”
The paperback rights were sold to New American Library in the late 1970s for $2.5 million. Ethan Becker, Marion’s son, received what he calls “a substantial sum,” and others estimate at $1 million or more, for his cooperation and work in producing the 1997 edition for Scribner.
Scribner entered the picture because Bobbs-Merrill was absorbed by Macmillan in 1985 and, eight years later, Macmillan, in turn, became part of the Simon & Schuster empire (owned by Paramount Communications, which is owned by Viacom). The “Joy” project, dormant due to conflicts between Macmillan and the Rombauer-Becker family, was assigned to the Scribner imprintall that is left of the famous publishing house Charles Scribner’s Sons.
“The chemistry (with Macmillan) was bad,” says Ethan Becker. “I didn’t trust them. I felt they would ruin the book. And they didn’t much like me either.”
Even though both sides submitted to arbitration, a new edition was never begun.
A meeting with Carolyn Reidy, president of the Trade Book division of Simon & Schuster, and editor Maria Guarnaschelli, vice president and senior editor at Scribner, convinced Ethan Becker they were “bright people with decent taste who could get out a good product.”
Still, so paranoid was the family that it took nearly two years before the contract for a new edition was signed in February 1996.
By then, work on the new edition was well along.
