Book Review: Handwritten Recipes

There is an old bookstore here in Cincinnati that has been in business since the 1940s.  The Ohio Book Store is like a museum with five floors of used books that could take you an entire weekend to explore!  The last time we visited this establishment, we picked up a couple of interesting old cookbooks from their huge collection: Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (1947) and Ida Bailey Allen's Pressure Cooking (1947).

There is alot to be said for looking into the past for new recipe ideas. One author that shares this philosophy is Michael Popek whose new book, Handwritten Recipes was  just released.  Popek studied literature at Bennington College before rejoining his family's used-book business.  His bookstore has over 70,000 books - 3,000 of which are cookbooks.  Over the years, he has collected over 500 recipes that were tucked inside the pages of books that have passed through his book shop.  He often shares these recipes and other artifacts that he finds on his blogs:  Forgotten Bookmarks and Handwritten Recipes.

The author admits that he is a book seller not a cook.  He does not guarantee that the recipes will taste good or be easy to make.  But he does assert that the recipes have been tested by himself and other bloggers.  Popek selected a variety of interesting recipes that may have sounded delicious to him or they may have just been legible.  He said that some of the recipes are incomplete or they may contain unknown shorthand.  Despite these drawbacks, he tried to keep the recipes intact as much as possible and let the reader explore and unlock their secrets.


In our review,  we were naturally drawn to some of the many ethnic recipes that the author recovered.  Since it is autumn, we decided to try the Jewish Apple Cake.  The original recipe was typed on a 3X5 index card!  (Each recipe in the book includes an image of the original recipe along with the legible, translated recipe provided by the author).  We followed the directions of the original recipe explicitly and the cake turned out perfect!  It was easy to make - only a few steps with simple, easy to find ingredients.  This recipe came from a by-gone era so we took the author's advice and experimented with it to make it even better.  We decided to add a butterscotch sauce to the original recipe which takes this fall classic to a new level.  This book contains many delicious recipes.  But it is also interesting to just look at all of the old, handwritten recipes in this collection and imagine the kitchens from which they came.  IRS gives Handwritten Recipes 4 out of 5 stars.