No matter if you have a complete lack of cooking skills or unparalleled cooking prowess, some of the best and most fun dishes to make come out of vintage cookbooks — perhaps even beloved family recipes. It could be a famous relative’s dessert or a mouthwatering side dish that was the talk of every family get-together. But if you’re in a hurry and looking for a recipe in a vintage cookbook, Christina Tosi has a tried-and-true method for finding it quickly.
Tosi, the CEO of MilkBar bakery and noted cookbook author, recommends looking for the dirtiest pages in a vintage cookbook or a recipe card collection. During an interview on the “This is Taste” podcast, Tosi revealed some of her inspiration for creating new dishes. “I often use my belly as my guide, so just like what I am I hungry for,” she told host Matt Rodbard. “Another in-road is, I like to make people happy with food, usually dessert.”
Beyond letting her stomach guide her and asking others what they’re craving, Tosi said she likes to frequent yard sales and thrift stores in search of cookbooks and recipe collections. “So many things on the MilkBar menu that are classics that spurred from something that came before,” she told Robard.
Look for secrets between the pages
Taking her love of thrifting and vintage cookbooks a step further, Tosi told Robard that the inspiration she draws from the classic collections can be found on the dirtiest pages, which often signifies that those were among the pages that home cooks flipped to most often. “Pick up the cookbook and find the page that has been dog-eared, turned to, has crumbs laying in the center. … You want the recipe that someone has made on repeat,” Tosi said.
As Tosi noted, even the biggest cooking enthusiasts don’t make every single dish from a cookbook. By flipping to the torn, folded, or worn pages, Tosi noted that cooks of all abilities can find the recipes “that slap, that slay, that hit our tastebuds.” Once a vintage cookbook or recipe collection has been located, Tosi said you can either flip to the page and snap a photo of your new discovery, or buy the book to have for your own.
While the advent of the Internet has made it easy to find any recipe with a few clicks, vintage cookbooks like the ones Tosi favors still have a lot of value for home chefs. Vintage cookbooks usually have helpful information on cooking basics such as simple dishes and measurements. They’re also packed with history, especially if you find a well-worn page for classics like decadent chocolate cake or succulent pot roast.
