Geoff Wells

MY FIRST COOKBOOKS — THE BASICS delivers what its title promises: a basic introduction to cookery. The recipes range from breakfast through supper and desserts and are thoroughly northern North American in content. There are no multicultural recipes to be found, and there is no adaptation for dietary needs. Still, for anyone who wants to learn basic methods and ingredients, these recipes are solid.

I had two concerns with this book: audience and assumptions. The authors' sense of audience seemed inconsistent. Alongside warnings to use oven mitts appear recipes that call for 50 mL of rum. Do most children know about rum? Similarly, some supper recipes involve ingredients that require a substantial budget to acquire. The authors seem to assume that most families have ample, middle-class food budgets, and that's simply not true. If a child has a parent or other experienced adult overseeing the planning of these meals, these recipes could provide the foundation for a love of cooking. But that intention doesn't come through clearly in the book.

I was also surprised by the authors' several snarky asides about sugar and chemicals in food. These authors recommend using commercial mayonnaise (which they note doesn't require refrigeration because of its chemical content) and use canned soup as a base for a number of recipes. I was uncertain whether the authors do or do not endorse industrial foods; and if they do not, why not teach kitchen novices how to cook these recipes from scratch using whole foods? A few recipes hint at scratch preparation; perhaps that's for a more advanced volume.

Reading this book was somewhat nostalgic for me. In some ways it reminded me of a cookbook for kids that I bought through a Scholastic mail order in elementary school, and also of the cookbook RECIPES FOR YOUNG ADULTS I received in grade seven home economics class. My own cookery is now beyond the recipes provided in this book, but MY FIRST COOKBOOKS — THE BASICS is a fair starting point for anyone new to the kitchen.

** As an aside, the ebook of this title reminds me how important it is for self-publishing authors to retain the services of a qualified, professional editor. The large number of errors in the text (fused and comma-spliced sentences, clunky phrases, formatting problems, etc.) detracted from my reading experience. Commercial publishers pay editors for a reason; self-publishers harm their credibility when they don't attend to the details that signal professionalism, quality, and trustworthiness.… (más)