CookBook Meme

It seems that we have something in common. We all have the same fascination for cookbooks. Or we all have different ways to inspire us to cook what we cook.

I was recently tagged for a CookBook Meme by Rob Bulli, I mean Rob the chemist’s, no, Toronto’s Rob the cook, from Hungry in Hogtown and Catherine from AlbionCooks (Catherine is easier to describe, you see ; Catherine is just lovely vegetarian Catherine), and I am very pleased to answer the following questions. Ladies and Gentlemen, here is my cookbook story.

Where do you obtain the recipes you prepare?

Pardon? Can I really answer this questionwithout struggling? From my zillions cooking magazines, even before cookbooks actually ( I keep them all, although I am regularly asked when I am going to sort the mess out), then from my many but never enough cookbooks, my mum’s recipes since nothing beats childhood food memories, my memory – very important too- from dinners out to restaurants I like ( and where I always try to find out how the food was prepared, asking questions if I have to). On the other hand, I have to acknowledge that I never watch cooking shows on TV, beside the Iron chef show from time to time. Not that I am not interested but I am just not a TV person.

How often do you cook a new recipe?

It all depends if I like it! Ahaha. If the recipe is a success, I will repeat it so that I master it and understand it better the next time. This is also why I know some recipes by heart as I have done them so many times, I do not need to refer to notes or cookbooks. I even can forget the source because of that.

Where do you store your favourite recipes?

I do not think you want to know. I have a poor system at the moment to P’s regret -hence the piles everywhere in our house which I regularly move from the table, to the floor, then to the bench or the countertop. Our bookcases are too tiny to contain all the recipes, books et j’en passe (and so on) that I love. The only system that works right now is called sticky notes. My cooking references are full of coloured sticky notes (from the times I edited material), so that it is easier for me to access the recipes I have selected. If I see a sticky note, I know that I stopped there at some point for a good reason. It actually sometimes happen that I look at it and think “what was I thinking?” Who said that we never change.

How large is your recipe pile? Is it organized? How?

Very large. Not organized. On my to-do-list.

What is the oldest recipe in your to try pile?

Absolutely no idea!

Are you really ever going to make all those recipes in your to try pile?

As if! How could I? Only if we were to expand our days and my lifetime.

Do you follow a recipe exactly or modify as you go?

A bit of both. In baking, I try to stick to the recipe as closely as possible because I do not understand baking as well as cooking savoury foods. Once I have made a recipe following the steps just as they are, I feel freer to modify them. I, of course, have my favorite ingredients to cook with like all of us.

What is one new recipe that you’re scared to try?

Well, scared might be a bigger word than what it is, but I am somehow intimidated by some of Pierre Hermé’s recipes because I am not a pastry/baker expert. I love to bake but I am more of a savoury tooth than a sweet one, hence I have more exposure to savoury than sweet cooking. But all in all, I love to try something I do not know, that puzzles me. Some of Pierre Hermé’s creations look more like painting to me. And before starting painting, I thought I could never paint but then, here I am, I love this as well.

Tag at least one new food blogger for this meme (“new” as in only blogging a few months):

Anyone who wants to pick this thread, please feel free. How new? I am myself only 4 months old!

Tag at least one food blogger you visit regularly but never interacted with:

Cannot answer this question since when I visit, I cannot help but interact. I am passing on this one.

Tag at least one food blogger you constantly visit and leave comments:

Melissa from Traveler’s Lunchbox. When I read Melissa’s posts, it does feel as if I were reading a nice captivating travel novel, in which food plays a leading role. I can smell the depicted country’s cuisine in it. Besides, she is a cookbook addict lover.

Tag anyone else you want:

Difficult task here. What about Michelle from Oswego Tea since she tends to forget about Memes I heard, and Vanessa from She Craves?

Et voilà. Did I answer?