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Nope because I wouldn't buy a cookbook.

 

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If it isn't their recipe, why the hell did they put it in their book?

I mean sure, if they want to give credit to the person who taught it to them, by all means, that is fine. Hell, there are very few really original recipes out there. Most are simply a slightly different take on old classics. But they sure as hell have better made the dish numerous times on their own if they are going to put it into a book then try and sell it to me.

I tend not to pay all that much attention to the details of the recipes anyway. I read them more for general ideas and for new techniques more than anything else.

My favorite cookbooks are "How to cook everything", "An Everlasting meal" and, "Culinary Artistry". None are really cookbooks full of recipes (though all of them have some), but more about how to cook, why we cook certain things together, and how to create a dish that impresses, than about "cook this stuff exactly like this".

I voted yes, for this reason. Don't try to gain more publicity by trying to claim you are a cook if you aren't.


Man, if I had the time, I'd like to learn more about cooking like Ptilk mentioned -- I can cook, and I usually add or subtract a spice or two in some of my dishes, but I don't have knowledge as to why some spices are paired up. My wife's brother-in-law is a chef and has imparted some of that knowledge, but I'd like to know more. I think I'd be better at cooking the things I already make if I knew the "why" behind it.

 

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It would be naive to think practices like this aren't commonplace. Chefs are brands and their names get slapped on everything, most of which they probably never see or use.

 

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I liked what Bobby Flay said in the original NY Times article:

Some chefs have great respect for the work of a writer.

“It’s not easy to find a good one,” said Mr. Flay, a chef who has worked with many writers, including me. “They have to put their ego in their pockets.”

“I consider myself an ‘author,’ in quotes, but not a writer,” Mr. Flay said. “I have skills in the kitchen, but the writers keep the project on track, meet the deadlines, make the editor happy.”



The ghostwriters should be given credit.


In the article, there was an unnamed chef who took his ghostwriter's name/credit off the cover of their book because, he explained, it would hurt his wife’s feelings.

That's just BULL...Truly!


~Murron~

 

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I collect cookbooks. I LOVE to cook and I often buy celebrity cookbooks/popular chefs cookbooks. I would hope they are authentically written.

 

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I collect cookbooks but not by specific cooks with the exception of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" because that one is a must have for people who love cookbooks.

Silver

 

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I would expect them to have actually written (or at least done 'their take on' the recipes that their names are on.

 

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the recipes theirs. the writing i dont care. i do like it when they actually speak/have points by them. or even random thoughts

 

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