A Treasury of Great Recipes, 50th Anniversary Edition: Famous Specialties of the World's Foremost Restaurants Adapted for the American Kitchen (Calla Editions)

What a delight this book is, and how good to have it back in print after a half-century. With a new introduction by Wolfgang Puck and an affectionate "Retrospective Preface" by Victoria Price, the authors' daughter, it is better than ever. To call this a "cookbook" is like calling "War and Piece" a novel: true, but wholly inadequate to describe the contents. This "Treasury" does include scores of recipes for dishes from elegant to homely, collected from across the globe—France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, England, and more—in simple presentation: ingredients to the left, clear instructions to the right. But this book offers far more than that. It is, at once, a collection of recipes, an art book, virtually a coffee-table tome, a travelogue, a time-capsule, a family heirloom, and a philosophy of life. The book's original design by Mary Price— leatherette-bound, with an embossed cover, and magnificent photographs—has been lovingly recreated. Each chapter, dedicated to a country's cuisine, is introduced by husband Vincent in an engaging, conversational style, with which he also introduces each restaurant and preparation. How many of the restaurants the Prices visited, which shared with them their specialties, still exist I have no idea—but it is a wonderful excursion. (Original menus of the 1960s remain preserved, and it's quite a shock to be reminded what you could order for $10.00 fifty years ago.) Culinary masterpieces abound, but there's nothing pretentious about it: the Prices offer us their favorite breakfast items from the old Super Chief to Santa Fe and best hot dogs from the old Dodgers stadium. Alongside James Beard and Julia Child, the Prices were on the leading edge of encouraging Americans to celebrate their own cuisine: a rich amalgam of so many different lands. Accordingly, almost half the book is dedicated to dishes served across the United States.What stands out in this book is a joie de vivre, a genuine love for food and life. When asked why she devoted a lifetime of writing about food instead of seemingly more important subjects like power and money, M. F. K. Fisher wisely replied that to write of food is to speak of love. And love is what abounds in this book, crystallized in Victoria Price's gracious introduction to the book, her family, and her own struggles in the kitchen and at mealtimes. The limit of my own culinary expertise is scrambled eggs and grilled steaks, but, had I received this book fifty years ago, I can well imagine that it might have sent me straight to the kitchen, to learn, to practice, and to enjoy. At my advanced age, this book may yet do so.This is a rare find: the Rolls-Royce of cookbooks, which promises its readers a ride just as smooth (with a well-placed reminder, at London's Harrod's, that any meal will only be as good as the quality of ingredients procured in preparation). Give it to someone you love, including yourself.

Enjoyed recipes that correspond with restaurant menus! Great and surprisingly easy recipes.

Take a step back in time to read the personal details of Mary and Vincent Price. They sound like a down to earth couple that enjoyed preparing meals for their friends and family. In addition, there are a wealth of printed menus from way back when from famous and not so famous restaurants. The low prices are astounding, and the dish names will make you search for the recipes. This isn’t a sit-down and read the whole thing book. You will come back to it often.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law and she loves it! She has a lot of recipes picked out that she wants to try. There are a few recipes that are fun to look at but aren't really for us. Like one of them had pheasant. But still cool to read.The biggest downside to this book is the weight of it. It is not something you are going to want to pack around your kitchen. But that's the price you pay for sooooo many recipes.

The book was in excellent condition. No stains or writing in it. I have wanted this book for a long time and to find it in this condition

Very interesting cookbook. Includes photos of the Price home, restaurants from "back in the day" and some photos of recipes. Also there are menus from some of the restaurants featured, and those are overall pretty interesting to review, both for the pricing and the items that were on menus during that time period. Nice addition to my cookbook collection!

There are a lot of great cookbooks out there if you want to make meals, there are very few that simultaneously preserve otherwise lost recipes from a myriad of once-famous restaurants and only one that does so with introductions that can't help but be read in Mr. Price's inimitable voice.Pour a glass of red, sit down, and peruse. You won't regret it.

Just look at Mary and Vincent's kitchen!Growing up, Scandia was my parents' date night go-to. Us kids never got in the door, but checking out the reprinted menu herein is such a treat. Many of the recipes are a bit old fashioned, from an era when even Scandinavian haute cuisine looks more French than Viking. Also, the recipe formats are a bit odd by modern standards: ingredient quantities are listed within the recipe instead of as a separate prep list. I write out recipes in longhand into notebooks before I cook them, so this is not an issue for me, but be prepared to study and break down the ingredients and steps carefully before you attempt to cook anything.All that aside, this is a lovingly authored book by two super foodies. The pictures and stories tell the tale of a bygone era. Bon Appetit!

I had the original edition but it was stolen along with other items. Who steals cookbooks? So I was thrilled to find this new edition.

As soon as I saw this, I just had to have a copy of this beautful book by Vincent Price and his wife Mary. It is lavish with full colour photo’s not only of the deliscious recipe's but also photo’s showing the rooms inside the Price’s fabulous home. I have enjoyed looking through this aladin’s cave of wonderful food and thorouhly enjoyed cooking and eating these recipe’s that Mr & Mrs Vincent Price also enjoyed eating and cooking. All of these recipe’s are collected by the Price’s as they went from restaraunt to restaraunt as they travelled around the world. There is something for everyone from the top hotels to delightful little family restaraunts selling Good home cooked food. Vincent Price and his wife were no snobs enjoying all and everything from Hot Dogs and Full English Breakfasts to the absolutely mouth watering recipes created from the top Chefs from around the world. Each recipe is easy to make and all produce is what we have in our kitchens and avaliable in most shops and supermarkets. We have created some delicious dishes and look forwards to working through this special beautiful book. I is an honour to own; there is so much to see in this massive heavy tomb.

algo anticuado, y sin ilustraciones ni explicar bien los pasos de las recetas.está bien como libro de coleccionismo, pero para la cocina es poco práctico

VIncent Price è stato, di certo, un attore e un uomo eccezionale. Aveva il dono di trasmettere a chi lo seguiva la passione profusa in tutto ciò che faceva.Quella per la buona cucina è raccolta in questo libro (divenuto famosissimo in tutto il globo) con grande zelo e dovizia di particolari.In effetti questo non è semplicemente un libro di ricette. Vincent Price e sua moglie Mary hanno raccolto le migliori ricette gustate in giro per il mondo e adattate per i gusti a stelle e strisce. Il libro è diviso in Nazioni e per ognuna sono indicati i ristoranti di riferimento con tanto di menu e foto dell'epoca. A Treasury of Great Recipes è un viaggio meraviglioso nel mondo della grande cucina e dei grandi ristoranti, raccontato con grande amore dall' "abominevole" Vincent Price.Il libro è di ottima fattura, un volume "importante" e piuttosto grande, la spedizione è stata velocissima.

rightly described: treasure! beautifully and elegantly written, researched and produced.