I often ponder how many food related books just sit there on the coffee table along art books.
They end up delivering more visual stimuli than flavors to our palate.
A remedy to uncooked recipes can be found in 2 places.
First online, with Eat your Books who was formed on the premise that we often don't have the time or patience to find that one recipe we need now.
They "indexed over
240,000 recipes from the most popular cookbooks over the
last 30 years. Indexing information includes the name of the
recipe, the main ingredients it uses, and very detailed
classification of the recipe, such as recipe type and ethnicity.
Once you find the recipe you want then you use your own cookbook to
get ingredient quantities and method."
Their database counts more than 16,500 cookbooks although each and every recipe has not been uploaded yet to the site.
Eat your books was founded by 3 women, one of them is T.Susan Chang, a contributor to Kitchen Window on NPR and Kitchen Daily on AOL
Want to give the service a test drive, they offer a 30 Day Free Trial, after that a yearly subscription costs $25.
If your taste is more for face to face contacts and you live in London or spend time there, there is a book store just for you called Books for Cooks guided by yet another Frenchman Eric Treuille and his wife Rosie Kindersley.
They offer a beyond the books experience in their Notting Hill shop with 1000's of titles whose recipes are put to the test in the Cafe plus cooking classes with chefs and cookbook authors in workshop.
Their next 2 events are:
Tuesday May 11 at 6:45pm (£60 Limited to 15 People)
Wine with Food: Burgundy Whites
Tutored Wine Tasting and Cookery Demonstration.Books for Cooks’ own French Chef Eric Treuillé joins forces with wine merchant James Pymont for a truly gastronomic evening devoted to the white wines of Burgundy and a menu inspired by the seasonal cooking of the region.
Thursday May 13 at 11am (£40)
Explore the Sumptuous Side Dishes of Indian Cuisine with Reza Mahammad
India abounds with enticing and intriguing sides both savoury and sweet that boast richly imaginative flavour combinations, with an emphasis on the use of fresh ingredients, carefully balanced spices and simple culinary techniques. Join Reza Mahammad for a class that’ll take your tastebuds travelling on a flavourful tour of India’s tastiest sides.
Want more, check the Full Schedule.
As for Eric and Rosie, A recipe for a long shelf life (Telegraph, December 01) is a nice feature on their endeavor.
Hopefully this will help some recipes fly off the shelves and onto your plate.
Bon appetit!