From now until Christmas I'm going to be write about newish cookbooks that I'm dying to force onto my overloaded cookbook shelf in my tiny kitchen in my minuscule house with which to drive my incredibly patient roommate even closer to the brink of insanity. In doing so I hope to give you some ideas for that cookbook lover in your life and also examine what, exactly draws me to covet a cookbook without having read it.
The Berghoff Family Cookbook, by Carlyn Berghoff, Jan Berghoff, and Nancy Ross
The Berghoff Restaurant was a Chicago institution until its closing in early 2006. Family owned and operated for four generations, they made mostly German influenced cuisine. I never went to the Berghoff (my family got its Midwestern German food fix at Mader's in Milwaukee), but apparently people were insanely devoted to its simple, made-from-scratch fare. While the reviews of the book are overwhelmingly positive (Ever notice that cookbook reviews generally are? Doesn't anybody have standards?), I have a few hesitations about the functionality of the recipes as restaurant cookbooks tend to have scale/seasoning issues. Everyone says the price of the book (which is generally less that $20, but still) is worth it simply for their never-before-revealed, famous creamed spinach recipe. Regardless of my doubts, I still think Midwest + German food + Famous Cream Based Side Dishes = Major Wish List Entry.
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