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Delights and Prejudices
A richly evocative memoir from the man whom the New York Times dubbed the “dean of American cookery,” recalling the flavors of his past.
In this delightful culinary journey, James Beard takes us back to the earliest days of his childhood when he started developing his precocious palate and lifelong “taste memories”—the ability to savor and remember the tastes and sensations of food. His enthusiasm for flavors, no matter how bold, would define Beard for the rest of his life.
From devouring a raw onion as an infant to scouring the globe in search of local flavors as an adult, Delights and Prejudices is full of witty and illuminating stories that open a door into the world of one of America’s first and perhaps greatest epicures.
Packed with recipes, including corn chili soufflé, fried oysters, and peach preserves, this very personal account of his life is as close to an autobiography as Beard ever penned. For those who love to cook or simply love to eat, there remains no better teacher than James Beard.
From the James Beard Foundation:
Delights & Prejudices, “the novel of Jim’s life,” as Barbara Kafka called it, meandered from the Oregon coast to Brazilian beaches, with stops in London and Paris along the way. Julia Child described the book as “a timeless celebration of the good life as well as a very personal view of how one of our gastronomical greats developed his palate and his lifelong passion.”
Book history:
1964 book published
1971 new cover and title
1981 original book released in paperback
1990 new cover and title
1996 new cover, title reverts to original
2001 new edition, now with introduction by Julia Child unable to verify date
2002 new cover with foreword by Charlie Trotter unable to verify date
2015 new cover as an e-book
note about the author:
Books would be released not only as "James Beard", but also "Jim Beard" and "James A. Beard". "Jim Beard" is what his books were first published under.
In this delightful culinary journey, James Beard takes us back to the earliest days of his childhood when he started developing his precocious palate and lifelong “taste memories”—the ability to savor and remember the tastes and sensations of food. His enthusiasm for flavors, no matter how bold, would define Beard for the rest of his life.
From devouring a raw onion as an infant to scouring the globe in search of local flavors as an adult, Delights and Prejudices is full of witty and illuminating stories that open a door into the world of one of America’s first and perhaps greatest epicures.
Packed with recipes, including corn chili soufflé, fried oysters, and peach preserves, this very personal account of his life is as close to an autobiography as Beard ever penned. For those who love to cook or simply love to eat, there remains no better teacher than James Beard.
From the James Beard Foundation:
Delights & Prejudices, “the novel of Jim’s life,” as Barbara Kafka called it, meandered from the Oregon coast to Brazilian beaches, with stops in London and Paris along the way. Julia Child described the book as “a timeless celebration of the good life as well as a very personal view of how one of our gastronomical greats developed his palate and his lifelong passion.”
Book history:
1964 book published
1971 new cover and title
1981 original book released in paperback
1990 new cover and title
1996 new cover, title reverts to original
2001 new edition, now with introduction by Julia Child unable to verify date
2002 new cover with foreword by Charlie Trotter unable to verify date
2015 new cover as an e-book
note about the author:
Books would be released not only as "James Beard", but also "Jim Beard" and "James A. Beard". "Jim Beard" is what his books were first published under.
337 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
100 people are currently reading
552 people want to read
About the author
James Beard
60 books95 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: James Beard.
James Andrew Beard, an expert, wrote several authoritative cookbooks, focusing on American cuisine.
James Andrews Beard, a chef, teacher, and television personality, pioneered shows, lectured widely, and taught at his namesake school in city of New York and in Seaside, Oregon. He emphasized preparation with fresh, wholesome ingredients to a just aware country of its own heritage. Beard taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. He published more than twenty times, and annual awards of his foundation honor his memory.
source: Wikipedia
He published his first books under Jim Beard.
Please see: James Beard.
James Andrew Beard, an expert, wrote several authoritative cookbooks, focusing on American cuisine.
James Andrews Beard, a chef, teacher, and television personality, pioneered shows, lectured widely, and taught at his namesake school in city of New York and in Seaside, Oregon. He emphasized preparation with fresh, wholesome ingredients to a just aware country of its own heritage. Beard taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. He published more than twenty times, and annual awards of his foundation honor his memory.
source: Wikipedia
He published his first books under Jim Beard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 29, 2016
James Beard is known as a mentor to many aspiring cooks. Julia Child views his influence very favorably. He is the author of many cookbooks, a few which I have kept on my shelf. There has been some question raised about how much of the writing in those cookbooks he actually did. However, this autobiography is a book truly written by him (alone).
Growing up in Oregon with a mother who ran a hotel and kitchen along with a close relationship with her Asian associate had a significant influence on his life, but it was on the East Coast after an unsuccessful start as an actor that he found a niche as purveyor during the cocktail party craze. An early book on these foods made a big splash and opened many doors.
As we wander with Beard through Europe or some of the other places he has known, we are treated to his experiences, his foodie sense, his discernment and his pairing of food and drink. For instance he reflects on the vast array of ham offered in Europe from Spanish Serrano to German Black Forest and, then suggests that a glass of champagne might be the best to accompany most of them.
Perhaps Delights and Prejudices is another chance for Beard to re-invent himself. If so, much of has the ring of truth. I was particularly captivated by his interspersing recipes as he narrates his life. There are a good selection of these that emphasize how these dishes were originally prepared. Some of them have an antiquated nature, such as a note to divide a baked good into sections “using a silver knife” when my own experiment showed that any metal knife would suffice.
I am going to be adding this book to my shelf of cookbooks. I have marked a number of recipes to try. Reading this reminiscence should be a pleasure for anyone who has an interest in the man behind the books.
Growing up in Oregon with a mother who ran a hotel and kitchen along with a close relationship with her Asian associate had a significant influence on his life, but it was on the East Coast after an unsuccessful start as an actor that he found a niche as purveyor during the cocktail party craze. An early book on these foods made a big splash and opened many doors.
As we wander with Beard through Europe or some of the other places he has known, we are treated to his experiences, his foodie sense, his discernment and his pairing of food and drink. For instance he reflects on the vast array of ham offered in Europe from Spanish Serrano to German Black Forest and, then suggests that a glass of champagne might be the best to accompany most of them.
Perhaps Delights and Prejudices is another chance for Beard to re-invent himself. If so, much of has the ring of truth. I was particularly captivated by his interspersing recipes as he narrates his life. There are a good selection of these that emphasize how these dishes were originally prepared. Some of them have an antiquated nature, such as a note to divide a baked good into sections “using a silver knife” when my own experiment showed that any metal knife would suffice.
I am going to be adding this book to my shelf of cookbooks. I have marked a number of recipes to try. Reading this reminiscence should be a pleasure for anyone who has an interest in the man behind the books.
March 11, 2015
3 Beard Stars
I requested an R2R of this after reading the James Beard Cookbook… I did not realize I was getting a memoir. I wanted more recipes. It’s not really a cookbook and it’s not really a memoir it’s a strange blend of the two. I wish I loved it but it was very one note and boring. The recipes that are there are in little paragraphs are so simple to follow. I already knew I wouldn’t find a photo to save my life but his food is incredible and that’s what we know him for. I’ll stick to his cookbook named after him and keep this for a non-fic day
March 16, 2016
Parts of this were very interesting, but I found myself wanting more memoir and less description of elegant picnics, tea sandwiches and hors d’oeuvre. Beard had an unusual childhood growing up among the foodies and restaurateurs in Portland (Oregon). His mother, who influenced him heavily, was an independent and formidable business woman and a talented chef. The narrative is rambling and unfocused but mostly entertaining, with amusing and insightful commentary and several surprisingly simple family recipes.
January 24, 2017
This book, written in 1964, hasn't aged well. As a memoir with recipes, it fulfills neither of its functions. His memories of his mother, who introduced him to great cooking and set him on his way, are interrupted by rambling accounts of his travels and later experiences as a chef and writer. The recipes are dated and the memoir is unsatisfying. I know James Beard's place in the pantheon is cook is secure, but this book made me wonder why.
February 7, 2014
This was not what I had hoped for; I wanted a true memoir, an order of the life with food within, and while some of the chapters were such, others were more about restaurants he had eaten in, with descriptions of their best dishes, or how he likes to go on picnics and what his favourite ones have been. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but it was quite flatly written; he did not manage to get his personality into those parts, as he did when writing about his childhood and his mother, and for someone who loves food, he is quite poor at describing it. To read over and again how he ate this or that, "perfectly cooked", or with a "piquant sauce" is quite dull -- I wanted to know the experience of eating it, the taste and texture, the joy of it. Well, I suppose there is a reason he is known as a cookbook author rather than as a food writer.
September 18, 2010
Good to read during commercial breaks, not as your main book.
I found this book in a used bookstore --- and it is surprisingly entertaining. James Beard is an engaging writer. I didn't know that James Beard's mother was a strong, outside-the-norm woman --- traveling the West on her own in the late 1800's, owning a hotel in Portland, etc. ---and the book is chockful of family recipes from their Chinese cook and his mother's recipes, etc. The book has already been worth the modest cost.
I found this book in a used bookstore --- and it is surprisingly entertaining. James Beard is an engaging writer. I didn't know that James Beard's mother was a strong, outside-the-norm woman --- traveling the West on her own in the late 1800's, owning a hotel in Portland, etc. ---and the book is chockful of family recipes from their Chinese cook and his mother's recipes, etc. The book has already been worth the modest cost.
February 11, 2021
I think this was the first "Foodie" memoir I ever read, and I was enthralled. I wanted to be with James Beard for each experience, each taste. I still have several recipes from the book. I keep Grammie Hamblett's Deviled Crab just for the memory, though. I can no longer afford either the ingredients (two pounds of Dungeness crab, cream, butter . . .) or the calories and fat. But, oh, it was soooo good!
This is a lovely book; I wish I owned it. It was a library book I read during my college years in Berkeley, when I was cooking for a husband and four sons.
This is a lovely book; I wish I owned it. It was a library book I read during my college years in Berkeley, when I was cooking for a husband and four sons.
September 19, 2018
I love a good food history book or memoir and this is both. Funny to think of a time when rolled up slices of salami were a sign of sophistication. Beard tells stories about his Mom, who sounds like she could have her own book, and her cooking that in a few instances starts with building a fire. He was a trailblazer in the world of food and now I get why there's a prestigious award named after him.
October 6, 2020
Delights and Prejudices by James Beard
Book Review by Dawn Thomas
352 Pages
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Cooking, Food & Wine
The book begins with an introduction by Julia Child and a forward by Charlie Trotter. There are 13 chapters. Each chapter contains recipes with a family story attached to each one. There are so many recipes and variations to try. Like other James Beard cookbooks, this one should be on every cook’s bookshelf.
Chapter 1: superb chicken jelly, varieties of clam soup and chowder, very old recipe for custard, trinity church salad, mayonnaise, terrapin stew, Let’s Welsh rabbit, and Let’s curry sauce.
Chapter 2: Parker house rolls, sweet rolls, bread, Let’s wonderful sweet cream biscuit, teacakes, crumpets, currant bread, girdle scones, oven scones, potato scones, oatcakes, seedcake, broccoli puree, broccoli fritters, deep-fried zucchini, artichokes a la Grecque, mustard greens with bacon, leeks a la Grecque, dandelion greens with pork and fresh mint, mother’s famous codfish cakes, Delfino’s fresh tomato sauce with basil, Delfino’s pesto, and mother’s pot-au-feu.
Chapter 3: strawberries with raspberry puree and cassis, raspberry puree, hashed brown potatoes, mother’s beach hashed brown potatoes in cream, really good home-fried potatoes, roesti potatoes, gratin savoyard, pommes fondants, pommes de Terre Anna, omelette savoyarde, duxelles, corn au gratin, corn chile souffle, menudo, polenta, polenta with sausages, polenta with salted codfish, cepes bordelaise, cepes salad, serviche, calamares a la Romana, Suquete, Catalan, vitello tonnato spagnolo, and Mercedes’ paella.
Chapter 4: shad stuffed with sole mousse, sole mousse, matelote of eel, green eels, Finnan Haddie souffle, bechamel sauce, Finnan Haddie Delmonico, capon stuffed with coteghino or garlic sausage, rillettes, boeuf en Daube, tripe Genoise, boeuf a la Ficelle, stuffed breast of veal, veal with salmon sauce, calf’s feet remoulade or sheep’s trotters remoulade, leg of lamb and tarragon and cream, braised shoulder of lamb, Provencal, blanquette of lamb, drunken roast of pork, roast pork loin, pork chops Normande, sautéed apples, and pork with snap beans.
Chapter 5: fabulous apricot and pineapple jam, pickled prunes, damson cheese, favorite oil pickles, father’s favorite pear preserves, peach preserves, green tomato slices, Let’s braised ducks, orange souffle, Let’s apple Charlotte, Let’s Charlotte Russe, ladyfingers, Let’s sugar cookies, pheasant with sauerkraut, salmi of duck, mother’s cream of tomato soup, pureed parsnips, pickled salmon, five-day plum pudding, cognac sauce, mincemeat, mince pie, mincemeat and apple flan, mother’s black fruitcake, shortbread, ginger cakes, white fruitcake, pumpkin pie, and Olympia oyster stew.
Chapter 6: Billy’s cole slaw, chicken saute sec, crab legs palace court, oysters Kirkpatrick, green goddess dressing, beefsteak and kidney pudding, eggs Gennaro, and scallopini alla limone.
Chapter 7: clam fritters, scalloped clams, clam and corn souffle, sautéed crabmeat as done at the Four Seasons, Grammie Hamblet’s deviled crab, mother’s crabmeat saute Caribbean, poached salmon with egg and parsley sauce, Rhoda’s baked salmon, Albert Stockli’s fabulous grilled salmon in the Japanese fashion, gravid lax, truite au bleu, Julie’s basic souffle, Julie’s pineapple souffle, mother’s clam souffle, tuiles, fricassee of chicken, and huckleberry cake.
Chapter 8: pate for picnics, chicken salad, sour milk pancakes, cornmeal pancakes, and mother’s favorite baked beans.
Chapter 10: Strathborough paste, onion rings, and ballotine of pheasant as done for Lady W.
Chapter 11: dirty face, avocado puree, Margaret Tingling’s coconut cake, and frosting.
Chapter 12: lemon souffle, whole brook trout grillade, ginger sauce, crepes, crepes with chicken, and crepes Suzette.
Chapter 13: tapenade, and chili.
Book Review by Dawn Thomas
352 Pages
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Cooking, Food & Wine
The book begins with an introduction by Julia Child and a forward by Charlie Trotter. There are 13 chapters. Each chapter contains recipes with a family story attached to each one. There are so many recipes and variations to try. Like other James Beard cookbooks, this one should be on every cook’s bookshelf.
Chapter 1: superb chicken jelly, varieties of clam soup and chowder, very old recipe for custard, trinity church salad, mayonnaise, terrapin stew, Let’s Welsh rabbit, and Let’s curry sauce.
Chapter 2: Parker house rolls, sweet rolls, bread, Let’s wonderful sweet cream biscuit, teacakes, crumpets, currant bread, girdle scones, oven scones, potato scones, oatcakes, seedcake, broccoli puree, broccoli fritters, deep-fried zucchini, artichokes a la Grecque, mustard greens with bacon, leeks a la Grecque, dandelion greens with pork and fresh mint, mother’s famous codfish cakes, Delfino’s fresh tomato sauce with basil, Delfino’s pesto, and mother’s pot-au-feu.
Chapter 3: strawberries with raspberry puree and cassis, raspberry puree, hashed brown potatoes, mother’s beach hashed brown potatoes in cream, really good home-fried potatoes, roesti potatoes, gratin savoyard, pommes fondants, pommes de Terre Anna, omelette savoyarde, duxelles, corn au gratin, corn chile souffle, menudo, polenta, polenta with sausages, polenta with salted codfish, cepes bordelaise, cepes salad, serviche, calamares a la Romana, Suquete, Catalan, vitello tonnato spagnolo, and Mercedes’ paella.
Chapter 4: shad stuffed with sole mousse, sole mousse, matelote of eel, green eels, Finnan Haddie souffle, bechamel sauce, Finnan Haddie Delmonico, capon stuffed with coteghino or garlic sausage, rillettes, boeuf en Daube, tripe Genoise, boeuf a la Ficelle, stuffed breast of veal, veal with salmon sauce, calf’s feet remoulade or sheep’s trotters remoulade, leg of lamb and tarragon and cream, braised shoulder of lamb, Provencal, blanquette of lamb, drunken roast of pork, roast pork loin, pork chops Normande, sautéed apples, and pork with snap beans.
Chapter 5: fabulous apricot and pineapple jam, pickled prunes, damson cheese, favorite oil pickles, father’s favorite pear preserves, peach preserves, green tomato slices, Let’s braised ducks, orange souffle, Let’s apple Charlotte, Let’s Charlotte Russe, ladyfingers, Let’s sugar cookies, pheasant with sauerkraut, salmi of duck, mother’s cream of tomato soup, pureed parsnips, pickled salmon, five-day plum pudding, cognac sauce, mincemeat, mince pie, mincemeat and apple flan, mother’s black fruitcake, shortbread, ginger cakes, white fruitcake, pumpkin pie, and Olympia oyster stew.
Chapter 6: Billy’s cole slaw, chicken saute sec, crab legs palace court, oysters Kirkpatrick, green goddess dressing, beefsteak and kidney pudding, eggs Gennaro, and scallopini alla limone.
Chapter 7: clam fritters, scalloped clams, clam and corn souffle, sautéed crabmeat as done at the Four Seasons, Grammie Hamblet’s deviled crab, mother’s crabmeat saute Caribbean, poached salmon with egg and parsley sauce, Rhoda’s baked salmon, Albert Stockli’s fabulous grilled salmon in the Japanese fashion, gravid lax, truite au bleu, Julie’s basic souffle, Julie’s pineapple souffle, mother’s clam souffle, tuiles, fricassee of chicken, and huckleberry cake.
Chapter 8: pate for picnics, chicken salad, sour milk pancakes, cornmeal pancakes, and mother’s favorite baked beans.
Chapter 10: Strathborough paste, onion rings, and ballotine of pheasant as done for Lady W.
Chapter 11: dirty face, avocado puree, Margaret Tingling’s coconut cake, and frosting.
Chapter 12: lemon souffle, whole brook trout grillade, ginger sauce, crepes, crepes with chicken, and crepes Suzette.
Chapter 13: tapenade, and chili.
March 21, 2015
I received this ebook from NetGalley and the publisher is apparently reissuing this book that was originally published in the early 60s. I had heard of James Beard as an important person in American cooking and especially how welcoming he was to Julia Child (as she wrote about in her works) but did not know much about him and this was a great introduction. A memoir/cookbook it was a fun read. Born in the early 1900s James Beard grew up in Portland, Oregon. His mother was originally from England and seems to have been a huge influence although he also mentions that they often did not agree on many things. He was her only child and was born when she was 40 and newly married -- a marriage which does not seem to have been that happy. His mother had run a hotel and her love of being busy and feeding people with the help of her Chinese staff carried over into her marriage where entertaining others was a huge part of James' childhood. Once he left home he traveled to Europe and his descriptions of England and France in the 1920s was interesting even if not exceeding detailed. The recipes in the book are fun to read, some I can see trying out and some seeming a little dated. As an accomplished chef with many great recipes it was a little startling to read a recipe that included canned gravy -- this basically was the end of the 1950s and perhaps this was not unusual. If you enjoy reading about food and cooking and interesting lives, you'll probably like this book!
January 4, 2024
As I grew up in Portland, OR and often went to the beach with my family to clam and get oysters, I really enjoyed reading Beard's memories growing up in Portland (in the 1920's and 30's) and being often on the Oregon coast. He really describes the downtown Portland of that era really well. His mother greatly influenced his life. I wish he had written a bit more about his father. I agree with other reviewers that he didn't dig very deep into his child-hood and the rambling parts of the restaurants he visited as an adult were boring. I also agree that many of the recipes are aged but what's wrong with that? It was interesting to see how they cooked and I am looking forward to trying several of the recipes. On the other hand, I was disappointed at how few of his MANY included recipes I want to try because they were full of complicated sauces or weird fowl I would never eat. I skipped parts of the book hungry for more personal stories which were few.
December 15, 2016
The book was interesting and has some recipes I want to try for sure. However, be aware that this IS, as others warn, more memoir and less cookbook, and not quite true memoir at that if you ask me. Beard takes you through his rather unusual- though not uninteresting- life and all the food and places of it. It is NOT a page turner, I had to put it down and pick it back up a few times. But it gave a great picture of the man I've heard of mainly through his awards. And it brought a very loving, nostalgic look at food "delights and prejudices" of the past century.
October 12, 2020
Though James Beard is a huge figure in the American food world, this collection of his recipes seems out-dated, no cooks this way anymore. The book however, did give some insight into the author's upbringing, his overbearing mom and his Portland, OR roots. A shame that we could only meet via Zoom so I didn't cook a dish from this book as we can't share food on-line. I was able to share my USPS collectible stamps of famous chefs including James Beard. I borrowed my son's bow tie to wear on the Zoom call.
October 12, 2020
Though James Beard is a huge figure in the American food world, this collection of his recipes seems out-dated, no cooks this way anymore. The book however, did give some insight into the author's upbringing, his overbearing mom and his Portland, OR roots. A shame that we could only meet via Zoom so I didn't cook a dish from this book as we can't share food on-line. I was able to share my USPS collectible stamps of famous chefs including James Beard. I borrowed my son's bow tie to wear on the Zoom call. (less)
October 15, 2020
James Beard has an engaging style though this book can't seem to decide if it's a memoir of his childhood in Portland or his many and varied travels as an adult. The chapters about his mother and childhood are interesting - she was a character and ahead of her time. The recipes are, on the most part much to elaborate for 21st century cooks. The amount of heavy cream that's called for is astounding.
The endless recitals of restaurants he's visted & stores he's shopped was tedious - he seemed to be trying to impress the reader at how important he is / was.
The endless recitals of restaurants he's visted & stores he's shopped was tedious - he seemed to be trying to impress the reader at how important he is / was.
July 11, 2008
James Beard is one of my favorite authors, and for some reason, this book is a multi-time re-read. Why? Certainly not for the recipes, which include instructions for preparing Finnan Haddie Souffle and Ballotine of Pheasant as Done for Lady W. I share his love for food and quality ingredients and I enjoy learning more about food preparation on a variety of levels. I also find his blatant egotism and self-righteous perspective on life highly entertaining.
April 8, 2010
Take a trip with Beard into the early 20th century. If you agree with Proust [and really, who doesn't?:] that art means taking the experiences of life and transforming them in a way that shows understanding and maturity, you can skip over the 'reinventing oneself as evil' or at least poor form, and enjoy this book for what it is. Could be Beard would applaud from that big kitchen in the sky. Where stale bread is always only a step away from french toast.
February 2, 2017
This book, written in 1964, hasn't aged well. As a memoir with recipes, it fulfills neither of its functions very well. His memories of his mother, who introduced him to great cooking and set him on his way, are interrupted by rambling accounts of his travels and later experiences as a chef and writer. The recipes are dated and the memoir is unsatisfying. I know James Beard's place in the pantheon is cook is secure, but this book made me wonder why.
August 26, 2024
This book makes more sense when one realizes it is a cookbook with memoirs rather than a memoir with recipes. The one recipe I tried didn't actually turn out but I did enjoy reading about his mother and Portland, Oregon in the early 20th century. More memoir and fewer recipes would have been nice.
Recommend with reservations.
Recommend with reservations.
Want to read
October 26, 2010I was actually lucky enough to come across the 1964 paperback publication of this one in this WONDERFUL place called Mukilteo Booksellers in Mukilteo, WA. If you haven't been there and are looking for that rare find, you should definitely go check this place out. I could spend days there. I mean, look, I found THIS there!!!!
October 18, 2018
Part memoir, part recipe book. James Beard had an unusual start in life with a most exceptional (in the sense of not following the norm) mother. I will never make the recipes, but it was fun to imagine a largely bygone era of travel and dining. I was glad to learn James Beard appreciated hot dogs with chili.
March 24, 2016
If you love food or are interested in cooking, this is an excellent read! I found every chapter so interesting, and his love and passion for quality ingredients really came through in his descriptions. Fantastic read!
April 7, 2022
James Beard is a treasure.
I finished this book two years ago but still remember the quip:
“I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around."
Bless you James, I don't believe it ever came to that.
I finished this book two years ago but still remember the quip:
“I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around."
Bless you James, I don't believe it ever came to that.
July 15, 2022
Interesting, if somewhat rambling cross between a memoir and a cookbook.
Definitely would like to know more about his mother. What a character!
I am left without any understanding as to why he holds the place in the American foodie realm that he does. The book does not explain that.
Definitely would like to know more about his mother. What a character!
I am left without any understanding as to why he holds the place in the American foodie realm that he does. The book does not explain that.
November 6, 2008
Though I already had my suspicions, this book confirmed that James Beard would have been one fantastic dinner guest.
August 19, 2012
This book lacks focus, but his descriptions of food are mouthwatering and the recipes seems relatively simple.
April 15, 2013
p.38 Oakcakes
p.145 Let's Sugar Cookies
p.163 Pumpkin Pie (Mother's)
p.284 tea sandwiches
p.297 Margaret Tingling's Coconut Cake
p.145 Let's Sugar Cookies
p.163 Pumpkin Pie (Mother's)
p.284 tea sandwiches
p.297 Margaret Tingling's Coconut Cake
October 4, 2013
The real delight in reading this was tapping into the vivid quality of Beard's food memories.
April 20, 2016
An interesting memoir for foodies. I enjoyed learning more about this all American culinary legend. I didn't realize what an interesting life and career he had.
February 13, 2016
Beard's mom is the most interesting character. May try a few of the recipes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews