WILL THE COOKBOOK TEST CONTINUE? (THE COOKBOOK TEST #0052)

INSTALLMENT #0052 (FREE) ARE WE SERIOUSLY GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS EVERY WEEK? (I'D LIKE TO)

Dear Friends,

Today marks the 52nd installment of THE COOKBOOK TEST. By my crude reckoning of time, that makes it an entire trip around the sun that we've been on this journey together. Chewing through books! Filling the kitchen with food, delightful smells, and massive piles of dishes! Occasionally hitting the culinary equivalent of a massive iceberg!

Speaking for myself: It has been a hell of a fun ride so far.

At moment, 463 of you subscribe to this newsletter, and 38 of you support it financially. I am grateful to all of you for helping to make this venture possible, but I am specially thankful to those of you who have helped me pay for the books, ingredients, and (fractionally, at least) the time that makes this all possible.

I would like to offer all of you, collectively, the following bargain: If we can elevate The Cookbook Test to 50 paying subscribers over the course of the next week, I'm going to give it another year.

That's 52 more books and God-only-knows how many more recipes, triumphs, near misses, and complete disasters. If you're inspired to help, here's a button! Substack really does make this pretty easy:

Having 50 paying subscribers won't make this venture profitable, per se. But it would be a tangible signal that this newsletter is appreciated, that it's resonating, and that it has the potential to grow.

And, just to recap... what a year it has been!

We luxuriated in the genre-appropriate dumbassery of the D&D COOKBOOK, which includes the worst jello recipe I've ever introduced to my kitchen (and my unfortunate children.)

We unearthed AN UNCATERED AFFAIR, a private bespoke cookbook by a Chicago socialite which proves the rich apparently do have it better than us, in that their incredibly simple recipes also kick major butt.

We did an epic two-parter on MAYDĀN, including one of best lamb dishes I've ever made (or tasted)

We went high concept with the beautifully stylized food of JAPAN: THE VEGETARIAN COOKBOOK, a book that taught me I could really cook the Japanese food of my dreams, if only I made it my full-time job.

And we resurrected some of the greatest hits of PAISAN'S, the beloved Madison, Wisconsin institution that was a staple of my earliest dining out days, back in the freaking 1980s, which is a real time when people really were alive.

A final note: If you're reading this and thinking, "Geez, I'd like to see The Cookbook Test continue but what I'd rather spent $5 a month to subscribe to THE HEAVY TABLE", let me know. I'll count any new Heavy Table subscriptions spurred by this email toward the effort, too. Potato, potah-toe.

At any rate: Please have at it, and cast a small but significant financial vote for long-form, kitchen-tested, entertaining and thoroughly human reviews of the books that fill our lives with flavor.

And whether you subscribe or not, thank you sincerely for reading the first year of The Cookbook Test, and I really hope to have another year to share with you as well.

Cheers and thank you!

at your service,

James