I thoroughly enjoy reading cookbooks. I read them like novels. Imagining scenarios that might require me to make a particular dish, how my children would respond to others, what unfamiliar combinations might taste like when blended together. I start at the very beginning where the Copyright is because it tells what year the book was written. It helps me to get a good picture in my head of the people who may have used the book at some point.
My favorite cookbook as a little girl was the Out of Kijabe Cookbook. The Second Edition was printed my first year at RVA. 1986. It held a compilation of recipes submitted from all different women who lived on campus. At the time, it looked to me like a road map to delicious "dorm treats" offered to us by the dorm parents. Looking back, I realize that it was a survival guide for women who found themselves in VERY unfamiliar territory. Kijabe (pronounced Ki jaw bee) is where my boarding school, Rift Valley Academy, was. While it's only about an hour outside Nairobi, groceries are still pretty limited. You have to make everything from scratch. Yep, pretty much everything. You would expect to make dinner for your family, maybe some bread, but perhaps you wouldn't take into consideration that for spaghetti night, there is no Ragu. Salad dressing, anyone? How about some ice cream for dessert. Yes, you can buy ice cream. But that delicious chocolate sauce you drizzle over the top? Right. You're going to need a trustworthy resource. Enter: a history telling you where to turn lovingly compiled by the women who blazed the trail before you.
Vol. III of this classic was released in 2009. My aunt got me a copy for Christmas. I have been reading it. A lot. It makes my heart so happy. Some of the classics are still in there and they bring back some very fond memories. But that is a post for another day. I'm off to read the Sauces chapter.
1 comment:
Let's see some of your favs to read! This is so fun for me to picture.
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