Authored by: janed on Friday, July 25 2008 @ 11:07 AM EDT I love reading the "about" sections of The Joy of Cooking, and cook out of Moosewood regularly. But my favorite book about cooking is by Eugene Walter, "Hints and Pinches: A Concise Compendium of Aromatics, Chutneys, Herbs, Relishes, Spices and Other Such Concerns." (He said a "concise compendium," not a concise TITLE!!!) His autobiography/oral history (Milking the Moon) is also full of wonderful food lore. Here's an example from Hints and Pinches, which finally helped me understand why my great-grandparents insisted on calling ketchup "tomato ketchup": "First, the name. It derives from an ancient Chinese sauce called ke-tsiap... They all have a fish brine base and innumerable combinations of sweet and sour ingredients. In the early 1800s, English cooks recreated a...
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