Amanda Hesser spent the last six years sifting through the archives of the New York Times to search out the best food recipes that have appeared in that newspaper over the past 150 years. The result is "The Essential New York Times Cookbook-Classic Recipes for a New Century." This massive cookbook could be destined to become a classic.
Hesser is a well known food writer. She started her research for this project by soliciting suggestions from Times readers. The suggestions poured in. Hesser cooked every one of the recipes that actually made it into the book, over 1400 dishes. Many of them were prepared multiple times to make sure that they were just right. In this interview Hesser describes how she tried out all of these dishes on her own family; her husband, and her infant twins. Every recipe was pureed for her babies to taste.
As we enter this holiday season many of us are grabbing our favorite cookbooks to prepare those special meals. This cookbook might earn a place of honor in many kitchens.