A new place to find joy

If you named the most influential cookbooks of all time, Joy of Cooking would appear near the top of the list. By itself, the 1974 edition is the fifth most popular book in the EYB Library. If you add together the number of 1974 and 1997 editions on member Bookshelves, the total far surpasses that of the number one cookbook in the Library (Plenty by Ottolenghi).

Recently descendents of Joy’s original authors, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, have created a blog that carries on the family tradition. We’re delighted to announce that EYB has indexed the blog, bringing the total number of indexed Joy of Cooking recipes to 8,870. This total includes 3 editions of Joy of Cooking plus the blog. 

In addition to recipes, the Joy of Cooking website contains notes on recipes and ingredients, plus the fascinating history behind the original cookbook, which was born out of the grief Irma von Starkloff Rombauer faced after her husband’s suicide in 1930. Irma found a sense of purpose as she spent more than a year assembling a collection of favorite recipes which she published it at her own expense. She sold copies of her book out of her apartment for a few years while rethinking the entire process of recipe writing. Finally “she hit on a novel format with the ingredients lists worked into the directions, now known as the action method.” Irma and Marion continued to revise the book through World War II and beyond, changing to accommodate new ingredients and cultural influences while retaining many familiar favorites. The practice continues to the present day, where the fourth generation is preserving the family legacy while introducing the Joy of Cooking to a new audience.

Photos of Golden cherry tomato and ginger jam, Vietnamese bún bowls, and One-eyed bouillabaisse with bacon and peas from indexed blog Joy of Cooking