Cecily Brownstone (18 April 1909 – 30 August 2005), was a food writer, who wrote several

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

s and articles about food over a period of 39 years. Canadian-born, Brownstone was the Associated Press Food Editor from 1947 to 1986—for thirty-nine years. During that time she was the most widely published of syndicated

food writers Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

. The five recipe columns and two food features she wrote for the Associated Press each week appeared in papers all over the United States, in addition to a number of other countries. Brownstone's personal papers and cookbook collection is the unique expression of her personal interest in and encyclopedic knowledge of American culinary history and cookbooks, and her career in the food field.

Background

She was born in Plum Coulee, Manitoba, in 1909, growing up in Winnipeg, the fourth of five sisters. She attended the University of Manitoba and came to New York City to pursue her studies and to work. She lived in Greenwich Village, appropriately enough in a brownstone house, in a duplex apartment that included a spectacular test kitchen, and that housed her large cookbook collection. Early in her career as a journalist, Brownstone was the Food Editor of '' Parents'' magazine and the Child Care Editor of '' Family Circle'' magazine.

Other work

Brownstone was also a consultant to Carl Sontheimer, president of Cuisinart, a physicist, entrepreneur, and founder of the food processor industry in America. With Sontheimer, Brownstone edited the highly regarded magazine, ''Pleasures of Cooking'', and wrote ''Classic Cakes and Other Great Cuisinart Desserts'' in 1994. She also wrote a book for children, ''All Kinds of Mothers,'' illustrated by her niece, the artist Miriam Brofsky Kley. In 1972 she came out with ''Cecily Brownstone's Associated Press Cookbook.''

Food writers as friends

Cecily Brownstone was a close friend and confidant of James Beard and '' Joy of Cooking'' authors, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, and other noted cookbook and food writers. She and Beard phoned each other almost daily, at 8 a.m., and their friendship is mentioned in two recent biographies of Beard. Brownstone's collection includes 93 letters and postcards from Irma Rombauer and about 45 of Marion Becker's letters. During the last five years of Becker's life she phoned Brownstone for an hour every weekend; they were close friends, and Brownstone is mentioned often in Anne Mendelson's recent biography of Irma Rombauer and her daughter. Brownstone's collection includes signed, inscribed copies of almost every edition of ''Joy of Cooking'', sent to her first by Irma Rombauer, and later by Marion Becker. '' The New York Times''

food columnist The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

Molly O'Neil called Brownstone one of the "cornerstones of authentic cooking in New York." In 1954, Brownstone had the opportunity to travel to Denmark at the invitation of the Danish government. On this tour, Brownstone was invited to tour palaces, dairies, fish canneries, ham factories, and other food plants. Among the other eleven food authors who were invited was

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Margaret Carr Margaret Ann Carr (born 1941) is a New Zealand education academic. She is currently emeritus professor at the University of Waikato. Academic career After an undergraduate at the University of Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington, C ...

. Upon Brownstone's retirement, former ''New York Times'' Food Editor Jane Nickerson wrote: "Of syndicated food writers, she's been the most widely read." Nickerson added: Brownstone's recipes were always "unusual, appetizing, and accurate down to the last one-eighth of a teaspoon of salt." Brownstone's "success derived, in my view, from her sensitivity to readers' tastes and her insistence that recipes give high, appealing results." Brownstone died in 2005 in New York City.

Bibliography

*''Cecily Brownstone's Associated Press Cookbook'' (A.P., 1972) *''Classic Cakes and Other Great Cuisinart Desserts'' (Hearst Books, 1994), with Carl Sontheimer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownstone, Cecily 1909 births 2005 deaths American food writers American women journalists Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Journalists from Manitoba Journalists from New York (state) Women food writers Women cookbook writers Writers from Manitoba 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women 21st-century American women