I've owned a copy or two of Craig Claiborne's Kitchen Primer for decades. Great stuff in there, and I've learned a lot about cooking and about food from that one, as well as another of his, The New York Times Cook Book, which I see is still available from amazon.com. Craig Claiborne was the food writer for The New York Times for many years, and it was said that he "earned a reputation as the educator of the American palate."
An interesting remark from the Introduction:
One last thing should be said about ingredients. The recipes in this book are derived primarily from French cooking, and the basis of most French cooking is butter and cream; they are called for unstintingly here and without apology. As far as I am concerned, there are no substitutes.
But there's more, and here's where I began thinking about Craig this evening: on page 38, where he instructs us on how to scramble eggs (four servings), he directs us to use eight eggs, one tablespoon of heavy cream, and 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter. That's a good deal of butter.
But Craig's not finished with his butter: on page 128 we're cooking hamburgers, and we're instructed to "top each patty with 1 tablespoon of butter."
You'll employ butter in your Curried Beef with Peas and in your Chili Beef with Beans, Meat Loaf with Celery, and Parmesan Meatballs, if you elect to follow Craig Claiborne's advice.
Should you?
I say yes. I have followed Craig Claiborne's advice and topped a burger with butter, and it was fabulous. I also took his word, from page 133, that "nothing improves the flavor of steak like butter," and I was glad I did. In fact, I even applied his butter idea, by covering ribs with butter. Mmmm...
But I couldn't help but wonder: butter on burgers, butter on steak, butter, butter, butter...can I be forgiven for thinking that the 1969 Craig Claiborne's Kitchen Primer is a precursor to the Atkins diet?
Just askin'.
Posted by Craig Ceely at August 4, 2003 09:10 PM