The Joyce of Cooking: Food & Drink from James Joyce's Dublin

by Alison J. Armstrong, Anthony Burgess (Foreword)

The quintessential Irish cookbook: food and drink from James Joyce's Dublin. A joyous book celebrating the best of Irish cooking. An equally good read.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alison Armstrong was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada as a child. She is the author of several books for schoolchildren, and co-author of the anthology Mythic Voices(then, Alison Dickie), which is used in schools in Canada, the United States, and Australia. A journalist and an active parent representative on educational committees, she lives in Toronto with her husband and her two school-aged children.
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Reviews

[Trina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not exactly food for thought.
If you’re into Ulysses, you might like, or at least recognize, most of the recipes in this silly literary cookbook.
If you prefer the Dubliners, you’re Dead out of luck. Aside from “A Great Ham Peppered with Crust Crumbs” and a custard pudding called “Trifle Gabriel Conroy”, there isn’t much from that great short story. What on earth is a “stirabout”? Or “ladies’ punch”? Or “hopbitters”? You won’t find out here. Pity that, Joyce being a man after the drink more than the food.

[Jc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for a particular type of nerd. If you are not a major fan of James Joyce (as in not only familiar with his work, but have studied at least some serious commentaries), who also has a knowledge of cooking including the history of cooking, enough so that you like to READ cookbooks, not just look up recipes. Armstrong thoroughly examined every mention of food and drink found in the works of Joyce, then did research into the language, ingredients, techniques, and folklore surrounding those food references. She tested recipes that best approximate Joyce’s mentions, and these she presents in this ode to Joyce. Includes breads, roasts and stews, vegie dishes, soups, and even home pharmaceuticals and drinks. A fun work, but probably boring to anyone who is not a kitchen-obsessed Joyce lover.