I am very glad to be in the good company of Michele Jordan. I suppose we are both more addicts than snobs, but neither of us cares one whit. I think Michele uses both oil and vinegar more in cooking than I do, but that’s all right too since we both know what oil and vinegar are for: They are as necessary to us as water, or almost. And that is as it should be.
M. F. K. Fisher, from the foreword
When I wrote the first edition of The Good Cook’s Book of Oil & Vinegar in 1991, there was no public internet, no email. The California olive oil industry was in its nascence and vinegars flavored with fruits, spices, herbs and more were mostly a thing of distant history. A few producers had introduced raspberry vinegars but otherwise, choices were limited. Balsamic vinegar was not yet ubiquitous. Mainstream supermarkets had few oils and vinegars and it was often necessary to visit several stores before finding, say, toasted sesame oil. If you wanted pumpkinseed oil, it was easiest to plan a trip to France.
The book was published in October, 1992, and by the end of that year, everything had changed. California olive oil stepped onto the national stage that spring and before long, the Internet transformed how we communicate and how we research, putting a breathtaking array of products at our fingertips.
The revised edition of this book explores the changes in the marketplace. New and revised recipes reflect both my evolution as a cook and as a chef and our growing hunger for varied and delicious foods.
