Leave Me Alone with the Recipes

Starred review from September 1, 2017
An armful of prestigious collaborators and contributors, hailing from the New York Times, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and other venues, collaborates on this charmingly resurrected and illustrated cookbook from a design pioneer. Thanks to the sharp eyes of one editor, an antiquarian book fair yielded an original copy of Cipe Pineles' 1945 work. Her claim to fame as the first female Conde Nast art director (one of many distinctions) is well documented here via intriguing articles on branding, food illustration, and biographical notes by such fellow professionals as Maira Kalman and Mimi Sheraton. Though recipes number fewer than 30, almost every one of them is featured twice, as a straightforward reproduction of the original and in a modern interpretation of technique and ingredients. Pineles drew on her Eastern European heritage to concoct the dishes, which range from borscht and goulash to chicken soup and potted liver and onions with a soft egg. It's in efforts like these that previous generations are remembered. Kudos to the crew of editors, writers, and designers for reinvigorating Leave Me Alone.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)