Reading Food : Fannie Farmer: The Kitchen as a Time Capsule : Revisions: The 13th edition makes the previous one seem minor. America’s way with food has undergone a revolution.

I have spent the last 16 years cooking my way through 100 years of Fannie Farmer cookbooks.

It started in 1974 when I was asked to revise the 12th edition. The goal was simple: The previous edition, answering the needs of the ‘40s and ‘50s, had used many shortcuts and convenience foods, and now the book was to be restored to old-fashioned principles of cooking. The job took five years, and the book was published in 1979.

I’ve just finished yet another revision (the 13th edition of “The Fanny Farmer Cookbook” was published last month), and the changes in this revision make those in the last one seem minor. Because over the last 11 years, American cooking and eating have undergone a complete revolution.

During that time the dominance of French food has been challenged; we now favor Italian, Southwestern, Thai, Mexican and Asian food. The soft, mellow notes of cream and butter have given way to clear, sharp flavors. And subtlety--once a highly prized commodity--now takes a back seat to boldness. We’re into peasant food with bold flavors and coarse textures; those snowy, tender dinner rolls have been replaced by earthy, thick-crusted breads.

To keep up with changing tastes, I deleted 175 of the 1,981 recipes included in the 1979 edition and added 325 new ones. You won’t find Onion Soubise, for example, in the new cookbook. This slightly sweet onion cream sauce seemed dated--too rich, too fattening, too cooked. What’s more, it was complicated to make: You had to chop the onions, cook them in butter, make a white sauce and then add heavy cream.

Sauce Robert, one of the oldest French brown sauces, also got the ax. Although it still tastes fine, it is thickened with flour and seemed too heavy. In its place you’ll find Spicy Peanut Sauce, with a sharp, keen edge that reflects the amalgamation of cultures.

While many recipes got cut out, many new ingredients were added: The number of foods in our larder has multiplied dramatically. In the 1970s, foods such as cilantro and fresh ginger were confined to ethnic groups. Now everyone is using them. We’re on a first-name basis with goat cheese, olive oil, fresh basil, arugula, tomatillos, peppers both sweet and fiery and tropical fruits galore.

These new ingredients have changed our tastes. For many recipes, I found I had to raise the seasoning level another octave. I’ve increased the amount of garlic in sauces, and I’ve introduced fresh peppers. Hot pepper oil is recommended in some cases, which was unheard of a decade ago.

More heat--but less salt. In all but the baking recipes, salt is now added to taste. And in keeping with the new-found interest in healthy eating, I’ve added a chart for people who want information about calories, cholesterol, fat and protein.

Reducing fat has become a major concern, so I dropped complicated recipes that used an excess of fat, such as Kippered Herring in Cream, Creamed Sardines, Crabmeat Terrapin and Planked Shad with Creamed Roe. In other recipes, fat has simply been reduced. In Scalloped Fish, I was able to replace 1 1/4 cups of cream with the same amount of milk without harming the dish. But I found that some dishes, such as Crab Newburg, were completely compromised by reducing the fat, so I simply left them as they were.

One of my major aims in this revision was to simplify recipes. People don’t seem to be spending as much time in the kitchen as they once did, and I looked at each recipe to see if it could be made easier. Rich Coffee Ice Cream called for two cups of cream and fresh ground coffee, which was added to a cooked custard. In the end, the liquid had to be strained through cheesecloth. The revised recipe is made with an equal mixture of milk and cream, which reduces the fat, and instant coffee instead of grounds, which eliminates the need for straining. Best of all, the simple recipe tastes as good as the complicated one.

When I was done, I discovered that to complete a basic cookbook that really reflects the way we eat, three new chapters were needed: on grilling, on meatless dishes and on microwave cooking.

Even 10 years ago, vegetarian cooking was still thought of as a cult. And no wonder: Much of what was out there wasn’t very good (bean sprouts, underseasoned avocados and thick, clumsy sandwiches). You had to be a true believer to eat that stuff.

Now vegetarian recipes--thanks largely to people like Debbie Madison, who pioneered innovative cooking at Greens in San Francisco--have advanced to such a degree that the meat isn’t even missed. Witness such fine meatless dishes as Vegetable Cobbler.

But it is the microwave oven that has caused the most changes in the kitchen, and it’s the thing that proved the most challenging to me. When I was preparing the 12th Edition, only about 5% of American homes had microwaves; now 85% have them.

With two assistants I tested almost a thousand recipes in the microwave, including cakes, breads, vegetables, fruits and meats. We then made comparisons with conventional cooking methods.

In many cases, the savings in time between the stove and microwave weren’t that great. Eggplant and onions took five minutes regardless of the method, and spinach and scallions took two. Winter squash, however, took 40 minutes in the oven but only six in the microwave.

The other great challenge in preparing this book was figuring out how to deal with food safety. In 1979, food safety was not really an issue to most Americans. Today, despite our freewheeling eating style, we suffer from deep anxieties about food safety.

In the last year the problems have exploded. It became so alarming--salmonella in eggs and chickens and parasites in fish--that I was obliged to address the issues confronting the home cook.

You’ll find no raw fish dishes, and the steak tartar was removed because it called for both raw beef and raw egg yolk.

It is the egg that has been particularly troublesome. What do you do about Caesar salad, meringues, poached eggs, mousses, ice cream and mayonnaise? I decided that since they are classics, I would leave them in--but I included a boxed alert about the dangers of salmonella.

Americans do have a new respect for the classics. This made me happy, as I was able to restore many recipes that were excluded in other editions. You’ll find Wasp Nest Cookies, Parker Brownies and Country Captain, an East Indian curry dish first published in the 1857 edition of “Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book.”

Revising this cookbook made me see the American kitchen as a sort of time capsule. And it makes me wonder: What will the next revision look like?

SPICY PEANUT SAUCE

5 ounces chunky peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hot chile oil

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, water, sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, cilantro and chile oil in bowl of electric mixer. Beat well. (Do not use food processor because it may distort texture and color of sauce.)

Place in covered container and store in refrigerator up to several weeks. Makes 1 cup.

SCALLOPED FISH

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or green onions

1 cup toasted bread crumbs

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 cups milk

1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) cooked fish, flaked

1 tablespoon dry Sherry

Salt, pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until tender. Stir in bread crumbs and toss. Remove and set aside.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Stir in flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. Slowly add milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add fish and Sherry. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir until blended.

Spread half fish mixture in buttered shallow baking dish and cover with half of bread crumbs. Top with remaining fish and bread crumbs. Bake at 425 degrees 20 minutes until sauce bubbles. Makes 4 servings.

COFFEE ICE CREAM

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup milk

1/3 cup instant coffee granules

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash salt

Combine whipping cream and milk in heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat to boiling. Add coffee granules and blend.

Beat together sugar and eggs until pale and thick. Add little hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium heat until slightly thickened. Be careful not to boil.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Makes 3 cups.

WINTER VEGETABLE COBBLER

1 turnip, peeled and cut into bite-size wedges

1 russet potato, peeled and diced

1 celery root, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup butter

Cobbler Dough

Place turnip, potato, celery root, onion, carrots and parsley in 2-inch deep, 8-cup ovenproof baking dish. (You should have about 6 cups vegetables.)

Blend together chicken broth and cornstarch. Pour over vegetables and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix to blend. Dot top of vegetables with butter. Arrange Cobbler Dough over vegetables.

Bake at 325 degrees 55 to 65 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and crust is brown. Test vegetables for doneness with tip of knife or skewer. Makes 6 servings.

Cobbler Dough

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cubed chilled butter

3/4 cup whipping cream

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Scatter cubed butter over top and work in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using fork, slowly stir in whipping cream until roughly mixed. Gather dough into shaggy mass. Knead 5 or 6 times. Roll out on lightly floured board to size of top of baking dish. (Dough should be about 1/4-inch thick.)