Antique 1889 Cook Book by Oscar of the Waldorf by Oscar Tschirky Condition:pre loved acceptable shape. Binding separating. Some water damage signs on the top grain of the book cover. Normal page yellowing for a book that is over 100 years old. No writing on pages. Oscar Tschirky book with the massive recipe collection by the great matre d of the Waldorf Astoria. Oscar Tschirky (1866-1950), better known as Oscar of the Waldorf, was one of the more colorful figures in the history of the food world. Brash, brilliant, Swiss-born, he achieved immense prominence hosting first at the great Delmonico restaurant in New York and then as matre dhtel for fiftyyears at the WaldorfAstoria. Celebrated through the heart of the Gilded Age, he came to know the movers and the shakers in the highest levels of business and societysought, flattered, and well-rewarded for the favors he was able to bestow. Whether staging a gigantic banquet for the rich and famous or arranging a much desired social introduction for those who aspired to enter that elite world, he was a one-man center of power. During his reign he served every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin D. Rooseveltand served them well. A master of food and wine, he was often referred to as chef, and while that was never the case, he was regarded as such an authority that he issued in 1896 a gigantic cookbookmore than 900 pages, with close to 3000 recipeswhich became a best seller and held that position for many years. Written for those who already knew food, it is at the highest level, more anaide-mmoireof the dishes it covers than a set of meticulous instructions. A typical turkey recipe begins Singe, draw and truss the bird as for roasting; peel fifty or sixty chestnuts and blanch themempty two marrow bones. Its all very cookable and very wonderful but definitely not for the timid. Delivered in prose form (no handy ingredient list at the top), it makes for wonderful browsing and reading. In writing this up, Nach found at one point that he had soaked up more than 20 recipes before putting down a single word. Not deigning to over-popularize the book with photographs, Tschirky included only one single illustrationa highly flattering picture of himself as the frontispiece.