On Cookbooks

Cooks are a bossy lot. I suppose they have to be, playing with fire and throwing knives around and all that. I've noticed a direct correlation between the gorgeousness of a photo and the sternness of tone, as if the cook knows you are going to fail at the gefuellte tauben (that's stuffed pigeons to you and me) and is preparing a case of "I told you so." The only book exempt from this principle is Julia Child's The Way to Cook.  Who else tells you how to pronounce quiche (keesh) and how to skip the pesky crust preparation when making one?  I believe she loved eggs as much as I do. 

           ----Dominique Browning