Master Recipes

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Master Recipes is a cookbook written by American author Stephen Schmidt. The book aims to put forth a method to teach cooking from basic principles, using strightforward and deliberate language and techniques. Recipes are provided in a basic form (the "master recipe"), and variations are later provided. [1] First published in 1987 by Fawcett Columbine, [2] the book received critical success, [3] being placed on the Chicago Tribune's top 10 list of cookbooks for 1987, [4] but had little public demand and fell out of print. An updated second edition was published in 1998 by Clear Light. [1]

Schmidt has stated that the book took 6 years to produce. Following its initial publication, he directed a workshop on "How to Get a Cookbook Published", [5] and has since written for the newsletter of the Culinary Historians of New York. [6] He has also been an advisor on culinary history to the New York Academy of Medicine. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 Bittman, Mark (October 13, 1999). "A Shelf of Treasures, Always Fresh". The New York Times .
  2. Schmidt, Stephen (1987). Master Recipes. Internet Archive. New York : Fawcett Columbine. ISBN   978-0-449-90259-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  3. Chocolatier. Haymarket Group. September 1988. p. 66.
  4. "THE TOP 10". Chicago Tribune. 1987-12-10. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  5. Sax, Irene (1991-12-05). "Spicy Reading : So You Want to Write a Cookbook?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  6. "From Great Cake to Curiosity" (PDF). Culinary Historians of New York. 18 (1): 1, 9. 2004.
  7. Schmidt, Stephen (2021-01-28). "English-Language Manuscript Cookbooks". New York Academy of Medicine Books, Health and History. Retrieved 2025-09-08.