The Chicken Cookbook by Beverlee Sias - 1969 Book Club Edition

There are hundreds, or even thousands of recipes for ordinary chicken dishes in standard cookbooks, in women's magazines, in the columns of home economists, but these were not the recipes I wanted for my book... Beverlee Sias, 1969

{HISTORY}

You might think that compiling a compendium of chicken recipes would be an easy feat given the amount of contenders in the field. But it actually took San Franciscan cook, Beverlee Sias, several years to gather, test, and perfect all the recipes included in The Chicken Cookbook.

Published in 1969, it contains over 550 pages of poultry recipes gathered from around the world. With the help of many a professional chef, Beverlee chopped, fried, roasted, grilled, baked, steamed, sauteed, and stir-fried her way through each of the recipes included here with a mission to bring as much interest and variety to home cooks as possible. When available, little snippets accompany each recipe offering some backstory into how or where or from whom the dish originated and what makes it the best among its kind. 

Interesting recipes include Gin-Soaked Chicken, Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Pie, Kentucky Burgoo, Chicken with Mushrooms and Olives, Chicken Casserole with Peaches, Chicken Souffle, Chicken Risotto alla Piemontaise, Crisp Cockerel, Iceland Chicken Scrapple, Delicate Chicken Curry, Antique Tangerine Peel Chicken, Tahitian Chicken, Pansit Guisado Hawaiian, Braised Chicken and Pork, Chicken Vattapa, Adobe, Cape Cod Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings, and Grecian Baked Chicken.  

The ultimate compendium for the chicken-lover, this cookbook could easily take you years to cook your way through.  And in the doing of so, you'll globe trot around the world on an extensive culinary adventure that includes countries like Greece, India, Sweden, the Philippines, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, England, Mexico, and every region of the United States among many others. 

Beverlee learned how to cook from her dad, who was a world traveler and a gourmet cook himself. When including each recipe, especially the international ones, Beverlee was a stickler for authenticity. She not only consulted hundreds of books detailing traditional methods, techniques, and ingredients but also learned how to make each interantional one, first-hand from friends, family and professional experts in kitchens around San Francisco. In the preface, Beverlee writes,  "I hope that this book is a representative collection of the most delectable chicken dishes enjoyed by everyone around the world." 

Photo of Beverlee Sias by Dan Meacham, 1970

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• 1969 Book Club Edition
  
• 590 pages including detailed index
• Contains 520 recipes
• Includes original dust jacket

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition, this book is clean and bright throughout and contains no cooking spots, stains or notations. The dust jacket contains some slight chippiness along the top and bottom edge. There is some light scuffing along the jacket's spine and a wrinkle on the bottom right corner on the front.

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (length) x 5.75" inches (width) x 1.75" inches (thickness) and weighs 1.3 lbs