In her own life, she used a lot of shortcuts - canned foods, stock cubes, etc.Ī double-column layout allowed for more recipes on the pages. Hers isn’t the book you’d turn to for health-food cooking, or for ethnic foods.įor her, cooking was something you did because you had to, but you wanted to exercise minimum effort while still making maximum impression. She steers a middle road between cooking as a high art and cooking as a science and form of nutrition. There’s no political, social or cultural agenda to her. Many people assume by her name that she was Jewish, and that the style of cooking in the book will be Jewish, but it’s not. Indeed, the original title was “The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat.” Irma gave friendly, uncondescending advice to anyone setting out on his / her own in a house or apartment. People still like Irma’s chatty approach with which she attempts to engage the reader. Up until the appearance of the “Joy of Cooking”, cookbooks had been very serious books, and many talked down to you. There are cookbooks that will tell you how to do something fancier or more authentically, but if this book has it, it will be straightforward and easy. For this reason, it’s still the first book that many people starting looking in for ideas. It provides all the basics that a North American cook will need in an easy to use and find way. The “Joy of Cooking” is still one of the most loved American cookbooks.

Irma Rombauer was the author of one of America’s most influential cookbooks to date, “The Joy of Cooking.” The story of the book, though, is the story of both her and her daughter, Marion.

The joy of cooking irma rombauer