The best and the worst cookbooks, from the Observer

I find it hard to believe that anyone could find Julia's My Life in France unreadable. On the other hand, the Julie Powell books really are pretty obnoxious. My passion for cooking began with the books of the late, great Laurie Colwin. What a charmer she was and gone far too soon.

First let me say that you have led me to an absolutely wonderful article on the subject of why we read cookbooks! It seems I am not alone...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/15/why-we-read-cookbooks

The other point you raise is something that is very obvious from the content of Cookbooker. There seems to be a cultural Atlantic divide. American Cookbookers and British Cookbookers inhabit publishing worlds that only rarely intersect (Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson appear to have American editions). Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders generally tend towards British titles, and Australians anyway are well-supplied with local publications.

In the case of actual recipe books one can see why. American recipes use an idiosyncratic measurement system and often call for unfamiliar and unobtainable proprietary ingredients.

In the case of books about food, of the kind discussed in the Guardian article, there is no clear explanation. You are a keen and well-informed foodie, but you confess that you have read few of the mostly British list of titles. I may be misinterpreting you, but it appears that this is more because you haven't heard of them than because you haven't been able to find the time.

Oh well, for what it's worth I've never read anything by Waverley Root, and I only know Bert Greene because I've got an Australian edition of "Greene on Greens". (And very good it is, too, in the style of its pre-cholesterol time.)

I have to say I'm American and I've read many of them and own a lot of them. I also think it should be noted that many American cookbooks provide the (admittedly silly) volume measurements but also the more dependable weights and measures for both sides of the Atlantic. Look at Reinhart's bread books as an example. BTW, you should give Waverly Root a look--quite entertaining.

@bunyip - yes, there's definitely an Atlantic divide. From the TV shows that are not shown in North America, to well known food writers and chefs who few people here have heard of (and vice versa, I assume). Here in Canada we do get more British content than in the US; we even sometimes get UK versions of cookbooks complete with metric measurements (and gas marks, which are equally idiosyncratic!). But we're still mostly reading our own and American cookbooks and food books.

I think the other reason that many of the titles were unfamilar to me is that I've only been a "well-informed foodie" (thanks, by the way!) for a few years. I've always enjoyed good food and cooking, but didn't get serious about it until I owned my first house and really started experimenting in the kitchen and reading more. So really, I'm still just getting started. Cookbooker is a part of my journey, and to be honest, one of the reasons I started it was because I wanted to learn more, and have conversations about cooking and cookbooks. Not unlike this one.

Oh, and that was a delightful article indeed.