I have been traveling a lot, mostly on mall tours around the country and I have noticed that people aren’t buying cookbooks the way they used to. I would take it personally but my editor says that with a few notable exceptions (the absolutely hottest new stars on the Food Network) cookbooks aren’t selling well, period.
I was feeling a little frisky at a cooking demo I was doing in Evansville, Indiana and I mentioned right before I started to the front row of viewers that I would be selling and signing my book afterward and they should really pick it up because there were only 8 1/2 months left until Christmas. Well, this one lady replied that she did not buy cookbooks anymore since she could download anything she wanted on the internet!!!!!! I was horrified. So this was the reason nobody was buying cookbooks. Of course I bullied her into buying one but I have been wondering ever since if that indeed was what was going on. I mean, why would you just download any recipe on the internet without knowing if it had been properly tested and developed? Is it all about quantity now and not about quality?
True Story!
I’ve tried a few recipes online and I have never EVER had success. I can trust foodnetwork.com because those have been tested. But there’s just a special feeling you have laying on the couch flipping through a cookbook and deciding what to make. It’s irreplaceable. I couldn’t imagine trying to cook with Julia Child on a computer.
This is tragic, but I don’t doubt it. The majority of what’s passing for cooking shows these days contains nothing more than the equivalent of the recipes one might find on the back of a soup can. This is not acceptable. I used to learn so much from watching Cooking Live and some of the older cooking shows but they’ve been replaced with people opening a box or a can and calling it an exciting new recipe. WHAT?! Don’t give up hope, Sara. There are plenty of us who are still buying real cookbooks and cooking real food. And yes, I’ll admit, an occasional can of soup might even be thrown in.
I love, love buying cookbooks. I will occasionally get a recipe on line, but usually it is because my cookbook is hidden from my eyes or downstairs.
I want to read a good cookbook and savor the recipes. Even if the recipe is one I will not try!