True to its name, the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook features many, many photographs to illustrate not only the recipes but the methods you need to know in order to achieve good results.
If you are an inexperienced cook theses pictures are extremely helpful but even if you've spent years in the kitchen it's amazing how much you can still learn from them.
In a previous post I talked about the importance of reading the first 28 pages of the cookbook because they contain a lot of vital information: terms used in recipes, understanding methods, tools and equipment, etc.
Now would be a good time to address getting the most out the individual sections of the book.
Each section follows a basic formula:
1) A Yellow page with the name of the section and an index of the recipes contained in the section. These pages are printed on different paper stock and the yellow color and non-glossy paper are very helpful when you want to find the beginning of a section quickly.
2) A short essay on the "American" history of the recipes. I'll be writing a lot about these as I work my way through the book - some of them are hilarious, some of them are just flat-out wrong, some of them are incredibly "white-settler colonial centric." No matter how accurate they may or may not be, theses essays offer a pretty interesting window into the mindset of American marketing and "mainstream" culture in 1950.
3) Sometimes, but not always that essay is followed by a two page photo spread containing images some of the recipes in the section. When this feature appears it is usually preceded by a sort of "key" that can be found on the back side of the previous "yellow page." One thing these photos show is how far we've come in food photography!
4) Photos of "method". These are THE MOST IMPORTANT PAGES IN EACH SECTION. You will always learn a LOT if you take the time to go over them before you start your recipe.
5) Actual recipes ...but be on the lookout inside the recipes for a couple of things:
a) Read recipes carefully because sometimes important tips are built right into the beginning - for instance, the berry pie recipe has a note about the moisture content of canned berries vs fresh berries and tells you how to compensate.
b) Often in the middle of everything else you will see these words "All You Have To Do" - watch out for these - they are always tips and tricks, usually for fixing a problem or preventing a disaster.
Before I started this project I have to admit that I had ignored most of what I have outlined above - I generally just opened the book to whatever recipe I needed. I now know I was missing out a lot of what makes the book unique.
As Always: If you own a copy of the Betty Crocker Picture cookbook (1950 edition) I hope I've inspired you to take another good look at it. If you don't have a copy they are pretty easy to find on ebay and other sources for old used books.
Images reproduced here are for educational purposes only.
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