New York Times Cookbook and the Origin of Recipes
I recently received this New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne (1961). Although Claiborne is given credit as author, many of the recipes were developed under Jane Nickerson‘s editorship. Jane was the NYT food editor from 1942 to 1957. Claiborne replaced her in 1957. A review by Anne Mendelson of a new edition of the cookbook, noted Nickerson’s contributions to the book.
I was curious about what Claiborne wrote about Nickerson in the first edition of the cookbook. From the Preface:
“There are many people to whom full credit is due for the quality of The New York Times Cook Book. First of all Jane Nickerson, my esteemed predecessor, the first food editor at the New York Times. A woman of exquisite taste and inquiring mind, Miss Nickerson (or more accurately now, Mrs. Alex Steinberg) is the mother of four children and lives in Lakeland, Florida.”
He also wrote that the recipes were collected from those that appeared in the NYT from between 1950 and 1960.
