The Essential Cookbook NYT-- Revised Edition

Our first cookbook of the month for 2022 was originally published more than ten years ago, but the revised edition of The Essential New York Times Cookbook compiled by Amanda Hessler, CEO of Food52, was released in November of 2021 to incorporate more of the New York TImes’ iconic recipes. I’m a sucker for historic cookbooks and antique cookbooks, and after watching a video on Food52 of Amanda cooking from this book, I was immediately curious about the book’s contents.

It promised to be full of historical recipes published across the history of what may be America’s most famous newspaper, and that was good enough for me. I preordered the tome of knowledge right after watching Amanda’s video, and it arrived in a thicker box than I ever received for a single cookbook. That’s because its like four cookbooks stacked on top of each other, page after page of recipes with very little illustration or photography. It’s in the style of those old cookbooks that I love so much, and I loved it.

Upon first opening the book, I found timelines for each section of recipes detailing the history of the topic. Tightly packed recipes followed, all of which tagged with their original publication year and the name of the writer. There is absolutely no way a person could hope to make every single recipe from this thing within the span of a year, much less get a true feeling for the thing in a single month, so we started working on it clear back on its publication date of November 2, 2021. 

This is a NYT compilation, so if you’ve spent much time looking at New York TImes recipes, you’re probably aware that there may be some ingredient availability issues in America’s heartland. That’s perfectly okay for once. There are so many recipes packed into this encyclopedia that you’ll be able to find something you can shop for at your local grocery store without a problem. Time, however, might not be on your side.

Some of the historical baking projects I originally looked at to introduce myself to this book required an overnight rise or rest that I simply don’t have the patience nor the refrigerator space for at the time. All of this was gleaned from just flipping through the pages with very little actual cooking time yet pressed to cook out of here.

I expect that due to the nature of some of these recipes coming from the kitchens of famous chefs and not just the food team of the newspaper that there will be more than just those I saw on my initial paging through that will ask too much of even me. Still, there are promises of interesting historical background within these pages to add further to my understanding of American cuisine and it’s development.

If you are interested in joining me for a new month and a new year of cooking, The Essential NYT Cookbook can be ordered on Amazon. You can view the same video that inspired me to order my own book here at this link and decide if it’s right for you beyond my descriptions you’ve read so far.

After a short break from cookbook of the month over the holiday months, I’m ready to jump in again. Be sure to keep an eye on our instagram and facebook pages for images of the recipes as I make them so you aren’t waiting around for an update article. Happy New Year, and Happy Cooking!

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