Cook Book Evaluations

Cook Book #1

Ramblin' Chefs From Georgia Tech, presented by: The Georgia Tech Women's Forum...Yay for all the Lady Jackets!!

This was one of the first cook books that I grabbed. At first glance I thought it would be a book dealing with preparing meals in a college environment for college students. While this may be true, it was created in a much different context. As the picture's subtitle states, it was put together by the Georgia Tech Women's Forum. Initially it began when they put out a request for recipes to all Georgia Tech students, faculty, and alumni. They received an overwhelming response, and decided to form a cookbook. The proceeds of the cookbook would then be used to create a scholarship for female Georgia Tech students annually.

Like most cookbook's, this one aims to convey recipes. I skimmed through and found some interesting recipes. It is organized very effectively by being split up into several categories ranging from beverages and breads, to meats and deserts. On the downside it contains no images or pictures making it somewhat dull. However, I think that the primary concern of this cook book is to build a community. What I liked best about this book, is that it does much more than teach someone how to cook, it serves a higher purpose and provides someone with the opportunity to get an education at the best school in the world!

Cook Book #2

The Swiss Cookbook, by Nika Standen Hazelton

I've always been interested with the Swiss culture because they have managed to remain neutral even while nations all around them are engaged in war. This must have been very difficult to do and something of this nature could only be achieved by a very intelligent and sophisticated people. Unfortunately I know very little about them other than they make great cheese and are very proficient bankers. So now I've decided to delve a little deeper and examine their food.

Europe is a very culturally diverse continent and even though there are so many countries in a tiny area, they have all managed to maintain their own unique cultures. However, one of the things that has managed to permeate the cultural barriers is food. While each nation has their own respective dishes, they also borrow others from their neighbors. For example, you can find croissants in practically any European nation. Right off the bat this cookbook states that its goal is to provide the audience solely with Swiss recipes, none of the "borrowed" dishes.

On the downside, the book has very small text and lacks any sort of images. However, what it lacks in visual content it makes up for in raw information. It provides a vast amount of cultural information about the Swiss including their holidays and festivals, and what the Swiss prepare for these special occasions. Another downside to the book is that its organization seems poor. The is divided into sections, but it lacks any sort of table of contents to help you know what sections it contains. This is a serious downside because one would have to read through all 400 pages to find a particular section. Fortunately it does contain an index if you are looking for a particular recipe. All in all its a very interesting cookbook and I defiantly learned a lot about the Swiss culture.