Death of the cookbook?

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Posted at 2:02PM, 29 February 2008 by Jenni Muir - food writer

When was the last time you flicked through a cookbook to find a recipe rather than searching for one on the internet? Are you starting to buy fewer cookbooks, or is the temptation of TV food programs so great that you've just got to have souvenirs of your favourite series

An article in last week's edition of trade magazine The Bookseller suggests that while the home reference area is the most vulnerable to free online publishing, sales of most categories, including cookbooks, have been rising over the last seven years.

In fact the food and drink sector of the book trade grew by 17 per cent from 2006 to 2007 alone. According to one of the big cookery publishers, "with cookery, you're buying into a personality, a bit of that magic, and a lovely object that goes beyond the basic reference." But I'm not so sure. It may just be that we are still working our way towards the tipping point.

These days it's not essential to buy a TV chef's book in order to get 'a bit of that magic' - some of them are spread so widely over the media they are practically unavoidable.

And it's only recently, really, that website design has been able to deliver the kind of 'food porn' hit that many of us are seeking when we buy cookbooks.

Recently, visiting friends in the country, I walked into their kitchen to find the computer hooked up at the table, with a lovely-looking recipe from this very website on screen. They got the idea from a friend in the village and now keep the laptop in the kitchen almost permanently. "It's so much easier than going to the computer upstairs to look up recipes and then print them out," they said. True. But why weren't they using something from the sizeable row of cookbooks sitting on their kitchen shelf?

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1-20 of 25 comments

cooks diary

29 February, 4:46PM
cooks diary

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smartie

29 February, 8:16PM
smartie

Books will NEVER become a thing of the past. I use the internet almost every day but some days its just not enough. Curled up on the sofa with Delia, Nigela, and Jamie and a cup of tea is heavenly. My laptop is not nearly cuddly enough. My family know how much I love cookery books, I got 6 for Christmas (all different) I use the Good Food web site and subscribe to the magazine. You can't get enough of a good thing!!

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cheekycooker

1 March, 1:58PM
cheekycooker

as well as using cookbooks as a reference i also enjoy reading them as they can be very informative.if i spill anything on my cookbooks it normaly wipes off however if spilt on a laptop i suspect that it would be quite a lot more to replace.

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Sarah

1 March, 2:27PM
Sarah

I would never stop buying cookery books, I read them like a novel - cover to cover imagining and savouring each recipe and planning occasions simply so that I have an excuse to indulge myself in the cooking of a chosen recipe. Yes I use the internet - and this site the most - but only as quick look up tool, not as a book replacement.

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Belit

1 March, 7:21PM
Belit

I rarely search for and cook recipes to the letter anyway. I mostly use recipes - online or on print - for inspiration, then adapt ideas to whatever I have at home and the occasion. A computer can never substitute curling up with a book. Not for fiction, not for food literature, not even for stuff I read for work.

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fiona

2 March, 12:02PM
fiona

ditto Sarah and Smartie - my book shelves are full of cookery books and there are usually several at the end of the sofa - along with a pile of good food mags. Long live books!!!! (& thats all books)

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Winpenny

2 March, 7:50PM
Winpenny

well I'm reading this on the laptop in the kitchen, having been looking up a recipe, so what can I say! I use a mix of recipes from magazines and books as well as looking up recipes on the internet which is very convenient. However for me, using the laptop will never replace the pleaseure of reading and re-reading cookbooks.

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Ben

3 March, 2:49PM
Ben

You have to have a cook book to leave stains on the pages of your favourite recipes!

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James

3 March, 5:46PM
James

A book shelf full of cookery books looks great when your friends come over and see the row of books - they almost believe you use them all the time. Actually take the book into the kitchen and cook something out of it? Oh no, you might get splashes of gravy or cake mix on it - and that would ruin your prestine homage to TV food gold. At least printing it off the computer means you can hang the recipe out to dry once you've finished cooking. Oh and the one you found on google might just be ten times easier.....

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Hanna

4 March, 1:22PM
Hanna

I use my cookbooks weekly, and yes, some of them have stains which some people would definitely hate! But I love it, I like to show I actually use my books. I wouldn't take my laptop to the kitchen though, the damage could be so much greater.. printing is not an option, I actually write recipes from Internet to those cookbooks as an alternative or so. I have notes in the empty sides of my Bible, why wouldn't I do that to my cookbooks also? I combine my cookbooks and Internet and my personal notes. The best cookbooks are filled with everything, even stains. And I'm a hardcore Internet user.

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Shirley

4 March, 2:45PM
Shirley

I am the same as you Hanna I use my cookbooks all the time, stains and all.

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BB+BuB

4 March, 3:36PM
BB+BuB

I totally agree with smartie. I love cookbooks! I am always buying more and more on Amazon, and always looking at them in my local book shop. I will never stop using cookery books. I love sitting down and looking through them, it makes my happy. My family, my partner and my friends keep on saying 'What another cookey cook?!' I just smile : )

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wildspiritart

4 March, 6:31PM
wildspiritart

Ok, I admit it. I take my laptop into the kitchen and cook following recipes found online or saved to my hard drive. Maybe I don't mind living life dangerously because as a bead artist, my laptop already gets a bit of a hard time with flying debris! However, there is nothing nicer than browsing through a beautiful cookbook with inspiring photographs on days when I have time to choose something that really speaks to me rather than just feeding the family in a hurry.

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Maz recipes

5 March, 7:09AM
Maz recipes

I do rely on this website for my recipes at the moment as i am travelling. But miss all my cook books back home dearly. My partner actually bought me a cook book for christmas and i have to carry it about with me, so i wont be buying any more until it is time to return home then i will stock up because there is nothing better than a Sunday on the couch surrounded by cook books :-)

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Issy

5 March, 7:15AM
Issy

Like Winpenny I too found this while looking for a recipe. I use the internet almost daily for inspirational recipes for what I have dragged out of the fridge/freezer or cupboard to make a meal out of. I do use my well worn cookery books a lot but now that I am retired I don't have the time to sit around reading and this site is my favourite for a quick FIX of recipes

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crazyfox

5 March, 9:47AM
crazyfox

I do look through my cookbooks but probably not as much as i used to. I use this website for most of the recipes for family meals now. I print the recipes off and put them into a plastic wallet then all in an A4 binder. This is in the cupboard up above the cooker!. I look on here every day as its so useful and inspiring. I just wish i didn't have to come to work every day, i'd happily stay at home to cook and bake!

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margaret

5 March, 11:25AM
margaret

How wonderful to discover I am not alone! I have hundreds of cookbooks collected over 40 years - I read them in bed at night; on the computer I have my own database built up over ten years plus a diary of meals I have prepared for guests; I also revel in the limitless supply of recipes and information on the internet. For the keen amateur cook, a combination of books and the internet supply limitless riches of flavour, invention and experience.

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cooks diary

5 March, 11:26AM
cooks diary

I love my cookery books, I have over 50 and still collectings,stains as well ,I do admit to using the laptop sometmes.

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Deirdre

5 March, 11:34AM
Deirdre

I quite agree with most of what has gone before. Nothing can replace books for curling up on the settee with a cuppa. However, for a quick fix for family meals, the internet is great. I too print recipes out and, when I get the time, will put them all in a binder. I already have a 3-inch binder with cuttings from the magazines over the years!

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Lucy

5 March, 12:26PM
Lucy

I truely hope Cookbooks don't become thing of the past. I love books in general but there is nothing more exciting than getting home with my new cookbook and flicking through. I made cookies from one of Nigella's only last saturday. I admit, I do use the goodfood website but I print off recipes and put them in my own personal cook book for future use.

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