Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices

by George Leonard Herter, Berthe Herter

From the In the lumber camp days and pioneer days the cooks learned from each other and the old world cooks. Each taught the other his country’s cooking secrets. Out of the mixing came fine food, prepared as nowhere else in the world. I am putting down some of these recipes that you will not find in cookbooks plus many other historical recipes. Each recipe here is a real cooking secret. I am also publishing for the first time authentic historical recipes of great importance. For your convenience I will start with meats, fish, eggs, soups and sauces, sandwiches, vegetables, the art of French frying, desserts, how to dress game, how to properly sharpen a knife, how to make wines and beer, how to make French soap and also what to do in case of hydrogen or cobalt bomb attacks, keeping as much in alphabetical order as possible.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, History, Cooking

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to begin? This is possibly the most incoherent, bizarre, misinformed, misanthropic, and unintentionally hilarious cookbook ever written . . . insofar as it can be called a cookbook at all. Having written the last two sentences, I feel I have failed to invoke the truly awesome idiocy of this book. Perhaps a few quotes from the inimitable Mr. Herter will serve to clarify:

"The flavor of truffles is about the same as that of the mushrooms raised here in North America commercially, in fact our mushrooms actually are much better tasting than truffles. To make a Pate De Foie Gras on some special occasion that is really much better than any made in France, proceed as follows.
Buy a liver sausage made by some reliable maker. Cut it open and place the contents in a bowl. Buy a can of stems and pieces of mushrooms. Open and drain off the liquid ..."

"Italians used olive oil in Italy mainly because at one time it was plentiful and cheap. Today in Italy there is far more corn and soybean oil used then olive oil."

"Hollywood, thank goodness, is dead. Television has at least done incalculable good in destroying this evil group."

"For your convenience I will start with meats, fish, eggs, soups and sauces, sandwiches, vegetables, the art of French frying, desserts, how to dress game, how to properly sharpen a knife, how to make wines and beer, how to make French soap, and also what to do in case of hydrogen or cobalt bomb attacks, keeping as much in alphabetical order as possible."

As best as I can tell, all of this is written in pure sincerity. Mr. Herter seems to believe himself unquestioningly to be the world's foremost authority on any given subject . . . an attitude which might be more off-putting if he were ever right about anything. As it stands, this book is a delight. Every time I open it I am reminded of perils of unearned confidence.

[Hank Lancet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not long before my grandfather passed away a few years ago, he gave me this odd book, telling me that it was full of some of the best recipes around...along with some other useful tidbits.

In particular, he recommended the Oysters Rockefeller at Galatoire's in New Orleans, which is mentioned in detail on pp. 98-102, along with the bio of the waiter there at the time, who was "New Orleans' most accomplished waiter" because he was a good waiter who not only understood food, but would refuse to serve it unless it was prepared just right, because he was not just a waiter, but was also "an excellent chef in his own right."

I learned how to corn meats in this book.

I learned "the only way to cut up venison".

I learned everything I could possibly want to know about tomatoes.

I learned how to make French soap.

I learned that the best way to de-hair a squirrel or rabbit is to use an alcohol lamp.

And finally, on page 343, I learned that "IN CASE OF A HYDROGEN BOMB ATTACK YOU MUST KNOW THE WAYS OF THE WILDERNESS TO SURVIVE"
Transfixed, I absorbed all of the pertinent information that will allow me to survive.

But for you to survive as well, you better read this book :)

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy god was this an AMAZING find at the used bookstore. While a little tough due to a disregard for commas, it's an amazing book to read out loud. With the Myan prediction of the world ending in 2012, I found the sections on what to do if a nuclear winter should occur particularly helpful.

I'd be a miss not to also give the virgin mother a shout out for her spinach recipe.

Also, it's golden. Literally.

[Heretic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half of this book is utter bullshit. The other half is useful tips that made my cooking better. You have to filter by trying some of his tricks and ignore his constant use of "this is the best and only way to prepare this dish" and instead consider its merits, as most of the recipes are extremes of one kind or another. Useful extremes, however. With 30+ years of cooking experience, I actually found many of his ideas had some merit and tried them, finding some surprisingly good outcomes which has broadened my means of cooking a dish to a satisfactory ending and gave me more of a rounded ability with both heat and seasonings.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mere words cannot describe this authentic relic of the nuclear era. Whether you want the Virgin Mary’s favorite spinach recipe or how to prepare for a cobalt bomb, Herter covers it, keeping “as much in alphabetical order as possible.”

[Avis Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available at the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/bullcooka...

[Ferd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books, although I have yet to try any of the recipes --- not even Spinach Mother Of Christ. It's a well known fact that spinach was the Virgin Mary's favorite vegetable.

One of my favorite things about Herter's books is that so many of them feature pictures of toddlers holding shotguns posing by dead animals.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This '60’s cookbook takes you all across the US ( but mostly New Orleans) and introduces you to regional cookingans special dishes (Senate Bean Soup). It also instructs you how to make a variety of wines and cordials ( dandelion and parsnip for example). Really interesting. I want to show this to my grandma and see if she ever heard of it.

[Sunderbug · Rating 5 out of 5]

beyond the clearly uneducated nuclear survival stuff- this was 1960 mind u- there is a treasury of awesome recipes! and alot of good stories- whether true or not. And heck- the author is from minnesota- hes gotta be good!

[Daniel]

Excellent