Before I could could count to 10 or sing my ABCs, I was helping my parents prepare meals in my childhood home. Even today, my family and I spends most of our time together cooking in the kitchen. Next to all of the serving dishes and cooking utensils rest two editions of our most-beloved cookbook, Irma Rombauer’s “Joy of Cooking.”
The sixth edition was wonderful, but my family decided we needed the seventh edition, too, because one edition of the “Joy of Cooking” was not enough. That may be why my grandma gave me the eighth, and most recent edition, before I headed off to college.
This most recent edition contains an epigraph from Mark Twain: “To receive the full value of joy, you must have someone to share it with.”
From her St. Louis apartment, Rombauer worked with her daughter Marion to produce a cookbook filled with timeless recipes and helpful illustrations of her dishes. After her husband committed suicide, Rombauer took her life savings and self-published America’s most popular cookbook, in 1931. The book has gone through nine revisions.
Marion’s son, Ethan Becker, added international recipes to the seventh and eighth editions. He wanted to add recipes to incorporate the way we cook today, yet still reflect his “Granny Rom’s” cooking. The recipes include food from Cuban, Thai, Indian, and Japanese cultures.
One chapter, “Know Your Ingredients,” helps beginners and seasoned chefs navigate their way through recipes for the first time. This encyclopaedic chapter describes the origins of both common and exotic ingredients, the distinct purposes of four different baking powders, the effects of weather on cooking, the chemical composition of starches, and a discussion on different grades of eggs.
My personal favorite from the “Joy of Cooking” is the Belgian Waffles recipe. This simple recipe is the only one I use when preparing brunch on the weekends. Rombauer’s recipe produces thick, fluffy waffles with deep pockets to fill with maple syrup and butter. My family always insists on making these waffles when I visit home.
On a cold winter day, nothing tastes better than the rich flavour of Rombauer’s French onion soup, prepared using her household beef stock, five caramelized onions, and a hefty topping of Gruyere cheese.
The “Joy of Cooking” has something for everybody. If you are just beginning to cook and looking to learn the basics, impress yourself and your friends with the spaghetti carbonara. If your looking to push yourself, Rombauer provides instructions for how to make your own pasta, an arduous process that requires a careful and patient hand.
Even if you are looking to throw a party, Rombauer has guides and menus for various forms of entertaining.
In 2004, Julia Child said the “Joy of Cooking” had already made a great impression on American cooking.
“Irma’s voice is there for you in the kitchen, giving guidance, and encouragement, and friendly tips and reminders,” Child said. “The whys and hows are carefully explained, and that’s what makes JOY a fundamental resource for any American cook!”
For me, preparing and sharing a meal with my family or friends is the best way to experience the true joy of cooking. I love spending hours in the kitchen for those precious 30 minutes when everyone is gathered around the table, talking about their day or discussing favorite memories.
Maybe this shared experience is what Rombauer had in mind when coming up with a title for her cookbook.
Thanks to Rombauer, I know how to make a killer French onion soup. Thanks to Rombauer, my waffles are the fluffiest waffles imaginable. Thanks to Rombauer, I’ve found the JOY in cooking.