Christopher Kimball
Author of Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook
About the Author
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Series
Works by Christopher Kimball
Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook (2010) 350 copies, 85 reviews
Milk Street: Tuesday Nights: More than 200 Simple Weeknight Suppers that Deliver Bold Flavor, Fast (2018) 339 copies, 4 reviews
Milk Street: Cook What You Have: Make a Meal Out of Almost Anything (A Cookbook) (2022) 138 copies, 1 review
The classic cookbook: The best of American home cooking : together in one volume, The cook's bible and The dessert bible (2002) 101 copies
Milk Street Noodles: Secrets to the World’s Best Noodles, from Fettuccine Alfredo to Pad Thai to Miso Ramen (2023) 84 copies
The Milk Street Cookbook: The Definitive Guide to the New Home Cooking, Featuring Every Recipe from Every Episode of the TV Show, 2017-2021 (2020) 82 copies
The Complete Milk Street TV Show Cookbook (2017-2019): Every Recipe from Every Episode of the Popular TV Show (2018) 74 copies
The Milk Street Cookbook: The Definitive Guide to the New Home Cooking, Including Every Recipe from Every Episode of the TV Show, 2017-2020 (2019) 49 copies
The Milk Street Cookbook (5th Anniversary Edition): The Definitive Guide to the New Home Cooking---with Every Recipe from the TV Show (2021) 36 copies
Cook's Illustrated, Trial Issue 3 copies
America's Test Kitchen 30 Minute Suppers (Cooks Illustrated (96 tear-out recipe cards), Winter 2010) (2009) 2 copies
COOK'S COUNTRY December/January 2007 (Magazine. Cook's Illustrated. Recipes. Cook Book. Cheesecake. Mushrooms.) (2007) 2 copies
Americas Test Kitchen All-Time Best Holiday Recipes: From Our Magazines, Cookbooks, and TV Shows (2011) 2 copies
America's Test Kitchen Special Collector's Edition Best-ever Recipes (All time favorite Recipes from our Magazines, cookbooks and TV shows) (2010) 2 copies
Milk Street Annual 2019 1 copy
BEST-EVER RECIPES 1 copy
Milk Street Annual 2020 1 copy
America's Test Kitchen : Slow Cooker Revolution 2013 , Favorites From the Best-Selling Cookbook 1 copy
Milk Street Annual 2018 1 copy
Milk Street Annual 2017 1 copy
COOK'S COUNTRY October/November 2006 (Magazine. Recipes. Cookbook. Cooks Illustrated.) (2006) 1 copy
Milk Street Annual 2021 1 copy
Milk Street May-June 2018 1 copy
The Dessert Bible 1 copy
Milk Street 1 copy
All Time Best Grilling Recipes (Cook`s Illustrated 20th Anniversary Collector`s Edition, 2012) (2012) 1 copy
America's Test Kitchen - Slow Cooker Revolution - Favorites from the Best Selling Cookbook (2013) 1 copy
Cook's Country Charter Issue 1 copy
Cuisine At Home 1 copy
Milk Street 2018 1 copy
Step By Step Italian Recipes 1 copy
Associated Works
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought - Volume 42, Number 4 (Winter 2009) (2009) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1951-06-05
- Gender
- male
- Organizations
- Cook's Illustrated
America's Test Kitchen
Cook's Country - Short biography
- Christopher Kimball is founder, editor, and publisher of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and formerly publisher of the now defunct Cook's Magazine. He is the author of The Cook's Bible, The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook, Dear Charlie, and The Dessert Bible. He is a columnist for the New York Daily News and the Boston-based Tab Communications. He also hosts the syndicated PBS cooking shows America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen. Other television appearances include the CBS morning shows Weekend Today and The Early Show, where he is a regular contributor.
Kimball lives in Boston and Vermont with his wife, Adrienne, and their four children (daughters Whitney, Caroline, and Emily, and son Charles). Christopher Kimball is a graduate of Columbia University with a degree in Primitive Art. - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Vermont, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Vermont, USA
Members
Reviews
Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook by Christopher Kimball
I see this book has gotten superlative reviews by many luminaries in the cooking realm. Indeed, if you just approach it from the standpoint of a normal reader, you will find it very interesting and probably a good read. (I found it riveting as I initially flipped through its pages.) However, if you really scrutinize this book (and I should note that I was an editor), this book is RIFE with problems. Whoever edited it should be ashamed. Because I read a review copy, I won't get into issues show more that might have been dealt with before the 1st edition came out.
Here are some of my gripes:
Kimball's approach is inconsistent. He does not stick with Fannie Farmer's recipes; instead he picks and chooses which ones he will use (usually with changes, and frequently with changes that one would never have seen in the late 19th century). He also picks and chooses which items will be cooked on the wood stove. Throughout the book, Kimball vacillates between being rigorously authentic and throwing authenticity to the wind.
The tale of the dinner is interspersed with food history, some of which is relevant, and some of which is not. Kimball also speaks of some of his own experiences, and the same can be said of them. Sure, these things are interesting and a "good read", but there is generally little or no transition to the recipe portion of the chapter. It seems like Kimball wants to talk about certain things and has thrown them into the book without regard to relevance or placement.
It REALLY irks me that some of the recipes have to be looked up online! I strongly believe that the whole recipe and all of the recipes written of at great length should be in the cookbook. This is much worse than having to flip around in books that have parts of recipes scattered about.
There are other editorial glitches: wrong tense; disagreement between noun and verb; discourses that are out of chronological order, etc..
Even after reading this book from cover to cover, I have no idea why this title was chosen. Yes, the Kimball mentions in passing that it was a menu in the back of Fannie Farmer's 1896 book, but what exactly does he mean as far as the title goes?
I was going to give this 3 stars only because the average reader will probably like it. But looking over my notes, only a fraction of which have made it into this review, I have demoted it to 2 stars. show less
Here are some of my gripes:
Kimball's approach is inconsistent. He does not stick with Fannie Farmer's recipes; instead he picks and chooses which ones he will use (usually with changes, and frequently with changes that one would never have seen in the late 19th century). He also picks and chooses which items will be cooked on the wood stove. Throughout the book, Kimball vacillates between being rigorously authentic and throwing authenticity to the wind.
The tale of the dinner is interspersed with food history, some of which is relevant, and some of which is not. Kimball also speaks of some of his own experiences, and the same can be said of them. Sure, these things are interesting and a "good read", but there is generally little or no transition to the recipe portion of the chapter. It seems like Kimball wants to talk about certain things and has thrown them into the book without regard to relevance or placement.
It REALLY irks me that some of the recipes have to be looked up online! I strongly believe that the whole recipe and all of the recipes written of at great length should be in the cookbook. This is much worse than having to flip around in books that have parts of recipes scattered about.
There are other editorial glitches: wrong tense; disagreement between noun and verb; discourses that are out of chronological order, etc..
Even after reading this book from cover to cover, I have no idea why this title was chosen. Yes, the Kimball mentions in passing that it was a menu in the back of Fannie Farmer's 1896 book, but what exactly does he mean as far as the title goes?
I was going to give this 3 stars only because the average reader will probably like it. But looking over my notes, only a fraction of which have made it into this review, I have demoted it to 2 stars. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook by Christopher Kimball
Even if you are only a little bit like me -- cookbook collector, America's Test Kitchen addict, history of food and social mores lover, Bostonian -- you are bound to enjoy this book as much as I did. Recreating a blow out meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook, Kimball uses each of twelve courses to highlight interesting aspects of food, culture, economy and life in Victorian America. Written in accessible entertaining prose, I was charmed throughout by this lovely show more book. We see the impact of science and hygiene, marvel at the diversity of food products available, and chuckle at various hiccoughs along the way. I am the keeper of many of my grandmother's recipes. Kimball brought back so many lovely memories of eating at her table -- oyster stews and snow pudding especially.
There are some recipes included for those who would like to cook along. (Unfortunately, not all of the recipes are included in the book and one is directed to Fannieslastsupper.com for the rest. I printed all of them out as I am in fear that the site may be taken down in the future.) I made the Portsmouth cake (a sponge cake with sliced orange filling and orange frosting) which was a tremendous hit. Minor quibbles are that there was no paginated index for the recipes and some recipes lack any statement as to quantities served. I was reading the advanced uncorrected proof copy, so this may have been addressed in the final version.
Overall, quite enjoyable. show less
There are some recipes included for those who would like to cook along. (Unfortunately, not all of the recipes are included in the book and one is directed to Fannieslastsupper.com for the rest. I printed all of them out as I am in fear that the site may be taken down in the future.) I made the Portsmouth cake (a sponge cake with sliced orange filling and orange frosting) which was a tremendous hit. Minor quibbles are that there was no paginated index for the recipes and some recipes lack any statement as to quantities served. I was reading the advanced uncorrected proof copy, so this may have been addressed in the final version.
Overall, quite enjoyable. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Fannie's Last Supper: Two Years, Twelve Courses, and Creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook by Christopher Kimball
I found the entirety of this book to be utterly fascinating. Of course, it probably helps that I love all things Victorian and culinary. Rather than simply documenting the two-year process that led to his recreation of an upper-class Victorian dinner party, Kimball intersperses his narrative with the history of the various the ingredients and methodologies used. The result is an engrossing book that documents a unique period of American history and a very unique dinner party.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook by Christopher Kimball
It looked so promising: effusive cover blurbs, snappy synopsis, nice pre-publication cover art. I guess the cooking community is probably like the sci-fi community or the romance writing community - too small to criticize your fellow writers, even when they've produced something really bad. Or maybe Christopher Kimball, founder of Cook's Illustrated and the guy behind America's Test Kitchen, is the kind of man you don't want to cross. He sort of gives off that vibe, and surely there is a show more good reason why this book is so poorly edited - maybe whatever luckless editor was assigned to whip this haphazard mess into shape was simply too intimidated to pull it off.
I don't mean to just blindly insult this book. As a work of history, it's a failure. Kimball spews an assortment of trivia and facts, some of it barely related and some of it outright irrelevant, hopping decades and sometimes centuries, at no point creating a cohesive picture. It reminded me at times of listening to a wikipedia-addicted nerd on a bad Mountain Dew jag (yes, I've been there); at others, of being trapped in a reference section with someone's genealogy-obsessed aunt (occupational hazard of bookselling). It's a pity, because there are some interesting tidbits jammed in there, but it's thankless work to fish them out. Especially annoying are Kimball's opinions expressed as facts - and herein lies the heart of his trouble with History as an actual genre. Kimball may have very good taste, but fails to see that taste is not an absolute, and cannot be removed from its context. For instance, historians tend to refrain from expressing their personal feelings about medieval food, though most would probably agree that it sounds really gross. I have cookbooks which tell me that fried sago grubs are delicious, something that might be true but which I will not put to the test, and I've been told that many cultures find our Western fixation on congealed blocks of moldy dairy products (aka cheese) to be absolutely vile. Taste is, as you see, relative.
This might seem obvious to you and to me, but not to Kimball. For instance, he compares Fannie to a Martha Stewart 'bereft of taste' and wastes a lot of page space mocking her sadly provincial and ham-handed approach to baking, sauces, and table decorations. He rather bizarrely and unfairly persists in comparing her - unfavorably, of course - to contemporary French cooks, who, being male and in France, were unarguably better-trained cooks. His dislike for poor Fannie runs so deep that, instead of re-creating her recipes, he liberally re-writes them, and sometimes replaces them outright. It starts to seem a little weird that someone with such an active dislike of Fannie Farmer would undertake such a project, and in fact we learn very little about Farmer (except, of course, that she was a crappy cook). Fannie, though, is just a convenient excuse for Kimball to try out his authentic Victorian cookstove in his authentic Victorian house. He does unbend enough to permit the use of blenders, refrigerators, and other modern appliances, rendering his claim to have authentically recreated a Victorian dinner even more dubious.
The snidely avuncular mockery of Fannie and her fellow Boston Cooking School cooks persists to the point where it begins to smack of sexism, despite Kimball's pointed inclusion of a woman on his cooking team. There's a particularly sad interlude towards the end where Kimball is describing an ice sculpture that he's had carved for the occasion. The sculpture, of a mermaid, is initially compared to Annie Sprinkle - but by the end of the dinner, Kimball snickers, she instead resembles a woman who has had two children.
It was at this point that I started to wonder what the editors had been thinking. Who is the target market for this sort of genteel food writing? Women. Middle-aged, middle class women, with an interest in food history and very possibly an affection for Fannie Farmer. Some may have had children, and may not enjoy being compared to a melting ice sculpture. I think that it will very likely sell well - in a tidy pile at the local Big Box Bookstore, it will probably look to a lot of guys like just the thing to get Mom for Christmas. Guys, please consider what this book might do to your mom's feelings.
But what about the food, right? These recipes are here to try to impress you, not to actually be attempted in your home. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you will run right out to buy a live turtle for boiling, or get a box of cow feet for gelatin. I think, though, that anyone so inclined probably already had some recipes on hand.
The last chapter - about modern convenience food and how it erodes our quality of life - is sad, thoughtful, and well-constructed. It softened up the edges of my rage a bit, but mostly made me wish the rest of the book had not been so awful.
PS I've since removed star no 2, because every time I shelve in the cookbook section and see this book I get annoyed all over again. show less
I don't mean to just blindly insult this book. As a work of history, it's a failure. Kimball spews an assortment of trivia and facts, some of it barely related and some of it outright irrelevant, hopping decades and sometimes centuries, at no point creating a cohesive picture. It reminded me at times of listening to a wikipedia-addicted nerd on a bad Mountain Dew jag (yes, I've been there); at others, of being trapped in a reference section with someone's genealogy-obsessed aunt (occupational hazard of bookselling). It's a pity, because there are some interesting tidbits jammed in there, but it's thankless work to fish them out. Especially annoying are Kimball's opinions expressed as facts - and herein lies the heart of his trouble with History as an actual genre. Kimball may have very good taste, but fails to see that taste is not an absolute, and cannot be removed from its context. For instance, historians tend to refrain from expressing their personal feelings about medieval food, though most would probably agree that it sounds really gross. I have cookbooks which tell me that fried sago grubs are delicious, something that might be true but which I will not put to the test, and I've been told that many cultures find our Western fixation on congealed blocks of moldy dairy products (aka cheese) to be absolutely vile. Taste is, as you see, relative.
This might seem obvious to you and to me, but not to Kimball. For instance, he compares Fannie to a Martha Stewart 'bereft of taste' and wastes a lot of page space mocking her sadly provincial and ham-handed approach to baking, sauces, and table decorations. He rather bizarrely and unfairly persists in comparing her - unfavorably, of course - to contemporary French cooks, who, being male and in France, were unarguably better-trained cooks. His dislike for poor Fannie runs so deep that, instead of re-creating her recipes, he liberally re-writes them, and sometimes replaces them outright. It starts to seem a little weird that someone with such an active dislike of Fannie Farmer would undertake such a project, and in fact we learn very little about Farmer (except, of course, that she was a crappy cook). Fannie, though, is just a convenient excuse for Kimball to try out his authentic Victorian cookstove in his authentic Victorian house. He does unbend enough to permit the use of blenders, refrigerators, and other modern appliances, rendering his claim to have authentically recreated a Victorian dinner even more dubious.
The snidely avuncular mockery of Fannie and her fellow Boston Cooking School cooks persists to the point where it begins to smack of sexism, despite Kimball's pointed inclusion of a woman on his cooking team. There's a particularly sad interlude towards the end where Kimball is describing an ice sculpture that he's had carved for the occasion. The sculpture, of a mermaid, is initially compared to Annie Sprinkle - but by the end of the dinner, Kimball snickers, she instead resembles a woman who has had two children.
It was at this point that I started to wonder what the editors had been thinking. Who is the target market for this sort of genteel food writing? Women. Middle-aged, middle class women, with an interest in food history and very possibly an affection for Fannie Farmer. Some may have had children, and may not enjoy being compared to a melting ice sculpture. I think that it will very likely sell well - in a tidy pile at the local Big Box Bookstore, it will probably look to a lot of guys like just the thing to get Mom for Christmas. Guys, please consider what this book might do to your mom's feelings.
But what about the food, right? These recipes are here to try to impress you, not to actually be attempted in your home. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you will run right out to buy a live turtle for boiling, or get a box of cow feet for gelatin. I think, though, that anyone so inclined probably already had some recipes on hand.
The last chapter - about modern convenience food and how it erodes our quality of life - is sad, thoughtful, and well-constructed. It softened up the edges of my rage a bit, but mostly made me wish the rest of the book had not been so awful.
PS I've since removed star no 2, because every time I shelve in the cookbook section and see this book I get annoyed all over again. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 282
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 4,733
- Popularity
- #5,317
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 113
- ISBNs
- 104
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