Imagine carefully testing several thousand recipes for a beloved cookbook. Then imagine coming up with 600 brand new ones. Now imagine doing all that in your home kitchen—without a dishwasher.
That’s what John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott, did. They started almost a decade ago. Why? They wanted to fix up a family heirloom. That treasure was The Joy of Cooking.
Mr. Becker is the great-grandson of Irma S. Rombauer. She self-published The Joy of Cooking in 1931. That means Mrs. Rombauer handled the business and expense of writing, editing, printing, and promoting herself. People have loved the book ever since. Twenty million copies have been printed. Some call the book “the Swiss Army knife of cookbooks.” For decades, Americans have relied on this old book to show them what it means to be a home cook.
But times have changed. People’s tastes have changed. So Joy of Cooking has changed too. (Did you notice its title no longer has “The”?) The book has been revised (edited) many times. During World War II, food was rationed in the United States. People could buy only a limited amount of certain items. So in 1943, the book included recipes that used ingredients frugally. In the 1950s, railcars and trucks had good refrigeration for the first time. Frozen food became everyday fare instead of a luxury. So in 1951, a section on frozen foods was added. The newest edition has advice for using an Instant Pot. It has more vegan recipes too.
Mr. Becker and Mrs. Scott tested out the old recipes. They wanted to make sure each still worked. “Really, ingredients do change,” says Mr. Becker. For example, he says pork loin is not as fatty as it used to be. Changed ingredients will work differently in recipes.
The couple added 600 new recipes. Readers from 1951 may remember old American favorites like Banana Bread Cockaigne—banana bread with lemon zest in the batter. But Guyanese pepperpot, Thai-style wings, lamb shawarma, and kimchi mac and cheese? These new global additions might make readers scratch their heads . . . and hopefully lick their lips.
Mr. Becker calls Joy of Cooking “a living book.” Hebrews 4:12 calls the Bible “living” too—but for a different reason. A cookbook might “live” because it adapts and changes. God’s word stays the same. It lives because it transforms hearts and minds.
