I am often skeptical of big, multi-purpose cookbooks. I'm something of a Joy of Cooking girl myself (particularly the edition printed in the late sixties/early seventies) and so I don't always see the utility of having additional huge, all-encompassing cookbooks taking up space on my shelves when I'm always going to turn to Joy.

However, as soon as I opened up the Culinary Institute of American Cookbook, my dedication to Irma Rombauer's opus started to crack just slightly, making me think that it might be a good idea to open myself up to a few more large tomes. There are a number of useful tricks in the introduction, including one that made me slap my hand to my head with its useful obvious. They advise to keep a stick of butter in the freezer and then use a vegetable peeler to detach small bits which will then easily melt on veggies or toast. Genius!

This is a book written and designed for home cooks (as opposed to many of the CIA's publications that are intended for students at the Institute). It's printed on a combination of glossy and matte paper, so that there are several sections of gorgeous pictures, scattered among larger sections of recipes. I was a little disappointed in the recipes, as they seem to be the same collection of world cuisine we see all over these days. There were a couple of recipes that caught my attention, though. I've earmarked the Warm Black-Eyed Pea Salad (page 45), Garlic Cheese Grits (page 183) and Chedder and Thyme Muffins (page 254).

Bottom line: If you have a full-to-bursting shelf of cookbooks, you don't need this book. However, if you're shopping for a cook that is just moving beyond beginner status, this could be a great book to help them walk down that path.