Book Review: The New Bible Cookbook
Sue Cameron
Xulon Press
Published in June, 2010
250 pages
ISBN 978-1-61579-291-7
The New Bible Cookbook is a mix of brief Bible-based reflections and easy-to-make recipes. Sue Cameron is very up-front in her statement explaining that she does not discriminate against other religions but values them. Her faith of choice just so happens to be Christianity, which explains the use of Holy Scripture for the nuggets of insight she shares.
The recipes contained in The New Bible Cookbook are not what you think. There are no mentions of locust, hard to find spices and virtually unheard of raw ingredients. Instead, everyday items – such as cream of mushroom soup, frozen spinach and honey – feature front and center in the recipes.
I must confess that I was startled (and heartened) to find bacon in one of the recipes. While I do not remember its being in the Bible – other than in the general sense via an Old Testament prohibition for the children of Israel – I most certainly enjoy bacon on my plate. The recipes are easy to follow and make. Couple them with the daily nuggets of wisdom and it quickly becomes apparent how the author can combine spirituality with cooking.
Will this book change the way you eat and get you back to eating like they did in biblical times? Probably not. Does the book offer revolutionary spiritual insights that will cause a radical paradigm shift in the way you see life, death and everything in between? No, once again probably not.
That said, put the two together and you may be in for a deeper relationship with God and some healthier eating choices along the way. In this way, The New Bible Cookbook achieves what some of the more obscure books (some of which actually do advocate the eating of insects) cannot accomplish: present a workable meal plan (against the spiritual backdrop of Christianity) that is acceptable to the American palate. Yum!
