BOOK REVIEW

RETRO BAKING

100 Classic Contest Winners Updated for Today

Maureen Fischer

(Collectors Press - 2004)

Retro Baking is one of fourteen titles in the Retro Series of books and cookbooks published by Collectors Press.  This volume features recipes inspired by some of the winning entries from baking contests of the 1940s and 1950s.

Recipe contests and cooking competitions sponsored by the food companies and others were a good method of advertising and a way to encourage consumers to use their products.   Winners and participants were often rewarded in the form of cash, products or by the publication of their recipe.  County and state fairs were another way for homemakers to show off their cooking talents and skills.

The author looks at some of the cooking contests that were popular in the past and provides updated versions of the winning recipes that are responsible for some of our favorite foods today.

Maureen Fischer is no stranger to the world of cooking.  She has professional experience in recipe development, judging cooking contests, writing for cooking publications and also serves as a consultant for several large and well-known food companies.

The recipes are divided into several categories:  Breads and Rolls (15 recipes), Savory Bakery (15 main dish recipes), Cookies (20 recipes), Cakes (20 recipes), Pies (15 recipes) and Other Desserts 15 recipes).  Each section begins with an overview of the popular culture relating to the foods and ingredients in that particular category.

In this cookbook, brand names are not used in the recipes and in very few of the illustrations.  If you're of a certain age, or a collector of vintage culinary ephemera, you'll probably recognize the origins of many of the recipes and illustrations even though they're not specifically named.

Like all of the books in the series, recipes are only part of the story.  You'll find loads of vintage illustrations of prepared baked goods and food ingredients from magazines and recipe pamphlets that were published by the food companies during this time period.

Happy housewives and homemakers, always wearing serene smiles and aprons, prance through the pages  bearing fully loaded casserole dishes, cookie sheets and pie plates.  They're shown standing proudly in front of their modern electric ranges, or holding up ingredients as testimonials to the success of their dish.

The husbands of the 1950s aren't forgotten either.  Typical of the advertising of the era, they're always wearing suits and beaming their approval at the fruits of their wives' labor in the kitchen.  Not until Retro Barbecue: Tasty Recipes for the Grillin' Guy do the men get involved in any of the cooking.

This is a great book for fans of cooking contests, vintage food illustrations and advertising cookbooks.  The updated recipes can be considered an added bonus to the nostalgic illustrations.

Add Retro Baking to your cookbook collection.

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