In the race for the new, it’s easy to forget the classics that set us on the path to innovation and discovery. This applies to the wine world, of course, but also to cookbooks. Hundreds, even thousands, of cookbooks come out every year. But all serious home-chefs have those that they reference again and again for decades. As older food trends reappear, much to the excitement of unwitting young foodies, revisiting these classic tomes can be revelatory. Here, we’ve picked recipes from three favorites from the ’70s and ’80s.
THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK (1982)
No book influenced how America ate in the 1980s more than this one, and its influence is still felt today. It introduced myriad international influences—moussaka, ratatouille, ceviche, gravlax, gougères—and tweaked favorite American dishes with powerful spices, fresh herbs and high-quality imported and domestic ingredients. With entertaining and food-lifestyle tips strewn throughout, it presented “gourmet” living as both aspirational and accessible, a world where a beautiful crudités platter is more elegant than a fussy foie gras dish. This and the authors’ 1989 book, The New Basics Cookbook, are still perennial best sellers.
