The Persistence of Yellow: Book of Recipes for Life (2024)

FAQs

What is the oldest cookbook still in print? ›

The first recorded cookbook that is still in print today is Of Culinary Matters (originally, De Re Coquinaria), written by Apicius, in fourth century AD Rome.

cookbook, collection of recipes, instructions, and information about the preparation and serving of foods. At its best, a cookbook is also a chronicle and treasury of the fine art of cooking, an art whose masterpieces—created only to be consumed—would otherwise be lost.

An early version was first compiled sometime in the 1st century and has often been attributed to the Roman gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, though this has been cast in doubt by modern research. An Apicius came to designate a book of recipes.

The first recorded cookbook is said to be four clay tablets from 1700 BC in Ancient Mesopotamia, but by the 1300s, cookbooks were a norm for kings and nobles. In 1390, Forme of Cury (The Rules of Cookery) was published for–but not by–King Richard II.

A Buddhist holy text, the Diamond Sūtra is considered to be the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world. Found in a walled up cave in China along with other printed materials, the book is made up of Chinese characters printed on a scroll of grey printed paper, wrapped along a wooden pole.

More than 75 million copies of the book have been sold since it was first published in 1950. Owing to the dominant color of the book's covers over the years, the Betty Crocker Cookbook is familiarly referred to as "Big Red", a term that General Mills has trademarked.

People buy them for the recipes, but they also buy them for the artwork, photos, and personal stories. According to a survey by the International Association of Culinary Professionals: Most people buy two or three cookbooks each year, and 12% of buyers buy four or more.

American Cookery, the very first American cookbook, was written by Amelia Simmons (more on this mysterious woman later). In it, she promised local food and a kind of socioculinary equality. The title page stated that the recipes were "adapted to this country and all grades of life."

A cookbook is a collection of recipes, cooking processes, and other technical and artistic details about cooking. A recipe book focuses only on the list of recipes rather than talking about cooking in general.

A cookbook by former MasterChef contestant Elizabeth Haigh has been pulled from circulation over claims she plagiarised the work of another chef. Fellow cook Sharon Wee claimed Haigh's book Makan "copied or paraphrased" recipes and anecdotes from her 2012 book, Cooking in a Nonya Kitchen.

What does recipe book mean? ›

: a book of directions explaining how to prepare and cook various kinds of food : a cookbook.

Cookbooks are one of the most popular non-fiction genres in publishing.

A recent study found what could be the earliest known evidence of ancient cooking: the leftovers of a fish dinner from 780,000 years ago. Cooking helped change our ancestors. It helped fuel our evolution and gave us bigger brains.

55 other terms for recipe collection. gastronomic anthology. culinary compendium. cookbook. recipe book.

Nettle pudding dates back to 6000 BCE in Britain and is considered the oldest known recipe in the world. It is a very thick, light mousse-like dessert made from nettles, milk, and eggs. In the 18th century, nettle pudding was a staple of the English diet.

The oldest extant printed book is a work of the Diamond Sutra and dates back to 868 CE, during the Tang Dynasty.

Book overview

The Buddhist text known as the Diamond Sutra is believed to be the oldest surviving printed book in the world. Made in 868 AD and written in Chinese, the text contains a significant dialogue on perception, and is one of the most important sacred works of the Buddhist faith.

The oldest cookbook in the world is the Yale Culinary Tablets. These three stone slabs dating back to Mesopotamia circa 1700 B.C. represent the oldest known recipe-making in world history.

American Cookery, published by the “orphan” Amelia Simmons in 1796, was the first cookbook by an American to be published in the United States. Its 47 pages (in the first edition) contained fine recipes for roasts—stuffed goose, stuffed leg of veal, roast lamb. There were stews, too, and all manner of pies.