The Comeback Of Community Cookbooks

We have so many cookbooks these days. There are the  glossy , almost coffee table books, and celebrity ones , more full of anecdotes than recipes. Yet there is one, one full of recipes and love that is making a big comeback this quarantine. It's the community cookbook. This classic is returning, much to the delight of home chefs all over.

Priya Krishna, regular contributor  to the New York Times Food section and author of the Indian cookbook Indian-ish wrote this in The NY Times Food section
 on Wednesday. It seems that more and more coworkers are exchanging recipes and this is an easy way to do it.The idea is far from new. In fact it goes back to 1864 in this country when Maria J. Moss. created "A Poetical Cookbook" to raise money for injured Union soldiers during the Civil War. Later in the century suffragettes produced cookbooks to spread their message. Since then, churches,libraries and local governments have relied on community cookbooks to raise money and share recipes. In recent years  the format grew less popular as platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become immensely popular. They have encouraged home chefs to use them, as well as creating  glossy magazine ready pictures of their culinary creations. Even  New York Times Cooking hosts large activities on both. However that's all changing.

For the pediatric residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston , it started in mid-March. They were isolated at home, waiting to be called as back up. One of the Cyrelle Fermin, started posting recipes to the residents' WhatsApp group, turning that into a spreadsheet where about twenty of her coworkers submitted recipes along with pictures of themselves making them. Then there is the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving Texas which usually brings together one thousand Muslims  is creating a similar cookbook. Nye Armstrong , the mosque's creative director has asked members to email recipes and photos so she can design a digital and print cookbook. Some cookbooks have drawn in strangers. Alicia Cohn started sending a culinary newsletter to friends. Soon friends of friends were signing up for it which lead to the Quarantine Recipe Club. Strangers inundated her with recipes.  Many of these books are filled with comfort food, such as the one created by the Seattle Ladies Choir. The members have such diverse backgrounds, from Indian to Italian to Texan. The recipes reflect that. One neat idea is a family community cookbook.Justine Santa Cruz has her Filipino family contribute their favorite ones. Some cookbooks like Bone Apple Tea have a homey laid back vibe..

Creating a community cookbook within your community of friends, colleagues, family or parent groups can be a fun past time. It's also a great way to connect. Share memorable recipes that everyone can enjoy years later.