Thoughts about the history and the pleasure of Gourmet Cooking by Endre Barath, Jr. a Beverly Hills Realtor
Those of you who know me, know that I love to cook and indulge in gourmet foods. My home library has over 200 cookbooks offering a variety of ethnic cuisines and recipes varying from elaborate to casual, holidays and everything in between. My reasoning for buying a cookbook is if I cook just one recipe out of the cookbook, the cookbook paid for itself.
a great historical cookbook
Not only do I read the recipes, but a cookbook that shares fun, historical moments for me is really the best cookbook of all. To give you an example, the other day I opened Arthur Schwartz’s New York City Food cookbook. As I was reading over the recipes, I found this great section on James Beard. As you may or may not know, the James Beard Awards come around annually in May and are presented to the best Chefs; think of the Academy Awards, the Emmys or the Tony Awards.
The Super Chef of Gourmet cooking
With that said, I had no idea that James Beard moved to New York City York from Portland Oregon a few years after Prohibition. I always thought he was a native New Yorker. Nor did I know that he published his first cookbook in 1940. Being the proud owner of Menus For Entertaining by James Beard (published in 1963) by that time, he was already a contributor to Gourmet Magazine and undoubtedly a well-established Chef. By 1955, he had his own cooking school. Obviously, you get the idea how much I enjoyed learning more about this culinary giant all because I was searching through a cookbook for a recipe.
My lasagna rollups loved by all
After coming across this information quite by surprise, I felt inclined to pull my James Beard cookbook off the shelf and read his Introduction; when I did, this quote really resonated with me: “…whether you are entertaining at…. or dinner, you must plan carefully and make sure that most elementary chores are done in advance. Shop for food….as far ahead as possible…if you are lucky enough to have several hours before guests arrive, clean vegetable, set the table and arrange the centerpiece…”
No fancy setup it is just for us
Although I had never read this before, I’m pleased to say that this is how I prepare whether I am entertaining or simply preparing a meal for the two us. Needless to say, I also enjoyed some of the photos of him focused on preparing the meal and the cocktails.
Endre Barath. Beverly Hills Realtor
If you love good food and are looking for a Realtor to help you buy or sell and then plan that celebratory meal post-closing, please reach out to me.
