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In addition to evaluating the cookbooks, I decided to use a small grading system, which is tied to the three components we often talked about in class:
Ethos: 1 point (always given regardless)
Pathos: 3 points
- 1 point from anything considerate for the reader
- 1 point from whether or not my family uses the cookbook a lot OR if I would use it in the future
- 1 point for : Does it accomplish its goal while providing a good number of recipes?
- Organization (mainly with procedure and ingredients)
- Size of text
Note: My "grading" is bias to what I look for:
- helpful for beginners (I never really cook so no huge cook terms @_@)
- specific genre of food and not too general or else it's a "jack of trades, master of none."
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1. Basic Cooking by Sabine Salzer and Sebastian Dickhaut
Ethos: renown chef
Pathos: Writer relates to financial, social, and "beginner" needs. I would use it as a start for cooking but ambiguous and low number of recipes would not make it long-lasting or for any "expert" cooks out there.
Logos: Logical organization with content and easy to read
Basic Cooking has a very industrial appeal with messenger
looking text boxes (similar to this blog's heading in other words) and with its simplicity, provides procedures down to shopping and storing food before going into recipes. The recipes are designed for readers to deviate and personalize the ingredients needed.
Score: 4.5/5 (0.5 deducted from Pathos)
. Weight Watchers: Annual Recipes for Success 2007
Ethos: "Known to work"
Pathos: Builds motivation for the reader but not financially friendly (substitutions take time to find and probably more money). The book's purpose is to help the reader lose weight, which can't happen if the reader is committed. (Therefore very conditional). My mother hardly uses it and I wouldn't use it (yet).
Logos: Organization of content is decent but there are multiple occasions where the cookbook is just ASKING for the reader to go cross-eyed.
I'll go for the bad first... There are a lot of "values" and "points," but nowhere does the book discuss how those work unless the reader is an attentive member of Weight Watchers, which I am not and if I have to ask one then I would say the book isn't meant for beginners or the casual reader. Again there is a need to use substitutions for ingredients because of the higher calorie amount and I would assume it'd take more time to find a variant than finding an ingredient everyone uses.
The pros: unlike my first book (Basic Cooking), there are footnotes of interesting facts and a section provided for each recipe of servings.
Total: 3.5 Points (0.5 points deducted from Logos & 1.5 points from Pathos)
3. The Complete Chinese Cookbook by Jacki Passmore & Daniel P. Reid
Ethos: Plenty of reviews on the bookcover's flaps
Pathos: My grandmother recommended me to evaluate this book and judging the dysfunctional binding I think it's safe to assume my grandmother has used this countless times (since 1984?!). The Complete Chinese Cookbook holds at least 500 Chinese recipes and provides a section of the Chinese heritage in regards to cooking.
Logos: The order of its content is considerate in addition to providing
alot of room for the recipes. The recipes are written with concise instructions. There are countless, HUGE pictures of the food and people -- tons of pictures portraying social gatherings just to eat! Pictures range even further like this amusing picture of China. In addition to history, the book unravels the purposes of Chinese cooking utensils.
Total: 5/5
4. Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko & Yasuko Fukuoka
Ethos: Japanese food writer, journalist, and consultant.
Pathos: It considers the book being used by foreigners by providing procedures for preparing ingredients of Japanese cuisine i.e. Udon noodles and the usage of Japanese utensils. My mother recommended this cookbook to look through and I would use it since I have a weak
spot for Japanese food.
Logos: Very simplistic with pictures and crucial information. Unlike Weight Watchers, the text is big and provides more pictures.
Like The Complete Chinese Cookbook, it provides a section about the Japanese in regards to history, cuisine, and culture but also provides a warning about eating raw food. However, this book suffers the same problem as my first (Basic Cooking) where its content is primarily preparation of ingredients than recipes, which come in a small number.
Total: 4.5 Points (deducted 0.5 point from Pathos)
5. Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cheesecakes (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library)
Ethos: Prestige of carrying the name of a renown cooking store and written by someone who writes for a cooking magazine (Bon Appetit!)
Pathos: The cookbook pulls the reader in by his or her accumulating drool (or growing sweet tooth) but it may not take the reader any further if he is clueless on how to work gizmos necessary for the recipe.
Logos: Simple setup of one page being a huge picture with its recipe on the other but why start the book with pound cake before going into a marathon of frosting recipes?
Like Weight Watchers, this cookbook provides information on servings and alternate flavors in the recipes. HOWEVER! As a reader progresses in the cookbook, recipes have "refer to pg..." mentions throughout the recipe procedure ASSUMING the reader has cooked those as well.
Total: 4/5 (0.5 points deducted from Pathos and Logos)
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