Secrets of Better Cooking - A Treasury of Time Tested Methods of Good Cooking

by Reader's Digest Association

Product Details Hardcover Reader's Digest; 4th Printing edition (1975) B000JWHVX8 Product 9 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches Shipping 2.6 pounds Average Customer 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review) Amazon Best Sellers #1,947,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1972

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My hubby and oldest child brought me this book from the recycling center because it was left there with a lot of other old books when they cleaned out an elderly lady's house in town and they know I love old cookbooks. While it was written in 1977, too late to be fun for historic purposes and in the prime of some pretty awful dietary advice, it was a surprisingly good read and is full of helpful diagrams and information (along with some seriously outdated photos, recipes and information). I love the little sketches and diagrams.

This sounds like sacrilege but I'm using it for an altered cookbook now that I've read it all. Since we don't eat meat or gluten and I'm not a fan of things like aspic, there are lots of areas that aren't really relevant (not to mention the 1970's photographs, which manage to make any food look pretty wretched). I've ripped out some of the more outdated, unhelpful and ugly sections and am leaving and highlighting some of the really cool ones, while adding artwork, recipes and such to personalize it.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the oldest cookbook in my library, but it is the cookbook I have had the longest. It was a wedding gift and it was new in 1974, now it's worn and some pages are loose. That is because I used it so much. Think it is still available at Amazon. My mom taught me some things about cooking and sometime in the 1950s I got a boy scout merit badge in cooking. But this book is my primer. It taught me more about cooking than any other cookbook. My wife, of course, taught me more about cooking than this book. But, this book taught me about meats -- how to cut them, what the cuts are, how to truss, and not just how to braise, but how to roast, saute, stew, grill and more. Yeah, I know what a court bouillon is and how to make three of them. I've poached salmon in a court bouillon, but I would not have done that were it not for this book. It doesn't have fancy pictures, it doesn't need them, it has schematics. Want a coffee table cook book, buy crap from food network or iron chefs. Want a real cookbook that will explain things thoroughly and that you will use, buy this one.