Annual Cookbook Issue : Shopping for Millions: America’s Cookbook Tastemaker

Pat Adrian, who may be the most powerful person in the rarefied world of cookbook publishing, was sitting at her desk on the third floor of the Time-Life building in Manhattan, thumbing through the new, “Sunset All-Time Favorite Recipes,” when she spotted a recipe she had to have. It was for split pea soup--not some ordinary stove-top version, but a soup baked in the oven.

“If a manuscript comes in and I rush down the hall and Xerox a recipe to try next weekend because it intrigues me, I know it’s a book to pay attention to,” she says.

And Adrian, director of the HomeStyle Books division of Book-of-the-Month Club, definitely wanted to bake the pea soup.

If she actually makes the soup--and likes it--Sunset may finally break into the Book-of-the-Month Club.

While Adrian, who buys all Book-of-the-Month Club cookbooks, places titles in the Home-Style catalogue from more sophisticated authors like Paula Wolfert, Diana Kennedy and Patricia Wells, she is careful not to get too up-market. Not all 170,000 book club members are creative cooks. Some simply need to put dinner on the table every night.

“That’s what the Sunset book would be for,” Adrian says, “everyday family-type cooking.”

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A cookbook, to Adrian, is more than just a book--it’s a way to see how America lives, to look at trends, to see what’s going to be hot and what’s not.

And because she commits to book purchases nine months before the book will be published, Adrian is probably in a better position than anyone else in the country to know what all the publishing companies are working on.

“When a new book comes in, I need to know whether to expect two more that season or whether this one is it,” Adrian says, “I don’t want to buy the wrong chicken book, the wrong tomato book. I want to buy the best one.”

For example, five years ago the manuscript for Rose Levy Beranbaum’s hefty “Cake Bible” came across Adrian’s desk. Three days later Susan Purdy’s “A Piece of Cake” arrived. The word was good on the Purdy book, but it was much smaller than Beranbaum’s “Cake Bible” and Purdy wasn’t as well-known as Beranbaum. Plus, Adrian had heard that Morrow planned to spend a lot of money publicizing Beranbaum’s project. Releasing both books in the same season meant they would be reviewed simultaneously and be in competition with each other in the stores.

“Susan Purdy had less clout as an author at that time so she would have been hurt,” says Adrian. “I convinced her publisher to postpone the book for a year with a promise that I would make it a main selection. Everybody benefited. It was perfect.”

Weekdays, Adrian’s time is spent reading and discussing cookbooks. “I can’t say where my professional career stops and my personal interest in cooking and cookbooks begins,” she says. “It’s all one blur.”

Weekends, she spends her time in the kitchen. She cooks from about 15 books on a regular basis, including Bernard Clayton’s “Soups and Stews,” James Beard’s “American Cookery,” Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso’s “Silver Palate” and “New Basics” cookbooks, “New York Times Cookbook the revised,” Annie Somerville’s “Field of Greens,” “Cooking Under Pressure” from Lorna Sass, “Verdura” by Viana LaPlace and all of Marcella Hazan’s books.

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Adrian won’t consider books that call for a lot of packaged ingredients. Canned tomatoes and canned chicken broth are allowable. But no cream of mushroom soup or other canned vegetables. “There is no excuse to ever use canned string beans,” says Adrian. “They are disgusting.”

According to recent surveys, most HomeStyle members live on either the East or West coasts. (Its biggest competitor, Better Homes & Gardens, has claimed most of the Midwest.) HomeStyle members dine out often at the newest and trendiest restaurants. So naturally Adrian offers books coming out of these kitchens. “Stars Desserts” by Emily Lucchetti (pastry chef at the popular Bay-Area restaurants), “Adventures in the Kitchen” by Spago’s Wolfgang Puck and “China Moon” by Barbara Tropp (she runs China Moon Cafe in San Francisco), have all sold well. The new “Home Cooking With a French Accent” from Citrus’ Michel Richard has just been offered as a main selection.

“I don’t think many people actually cook from a Wolfgang Puck book,” Adrian says, “They buy it because they want to know what all the fuss is about.”

But then, many HomeStyle members don’t cook at all. They collect. They are the people who come home from work, grab the latest cookbook and head for the bedroom to read. “They feel perfectly content,” says Adrian, “and I’m perfectly happy to have the sale.”

Despite the glut, Italian cookbooks continue to lead cookbook sales at HomeStyle club. “People just can’t get enough pasta and pasta sauces” she says. Drop-dead dessert books also move. And for some strange reason, the same people who buy “Death by Chocolate” and “Gooey Desserts” also buy books on diet and nutrition.

Vegetarian books are also big sellers. So are books on bean cookery. Somerville’s new “Fields of Greens” and Faye Levy’s “International Vegetables Cookbook,” are already selling nicely for Adrian. La Place’s “Verdura,” published several years ago, continues to be a good seller. “Joy of Cooking,” is still the best seller of all time. And spicy books, such as chef Mark Miller’s “Coyote Pantry,” are hot, hot, hot.

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“When you give up high fat content and calories coming from cholesterol, you’re giving up a lot of taste,” says Adrian, “To enjoy the food you need herbs and spices that really make a statement. And what makes a stronger statement than chile peppers? You’re trading clogged arteries for heartburn.”

Even with all this good cooking going on, the hit of the year for Adrian is Jeff Smith’s, “The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian.” Though the populist chef’s books have been called everything from sloppy and superficial to confusing and condescending, his millions of fans have sworn allegiance since he began cooking on television in 1973. “Oh, it breaks your heart,” says Adrian. “What can you do?”

Another book she says she would have been a fool not to buy is Paul Prudhomme’s new low-fat book, “Fork in the Road.” Despite the fact that the chef claims a weight of 390 pounds--not exactly a shining example of healthy eating habits--the book is selling nicely. “The credibility . . .” Adrian laughs, “this man claims his ideal weight is 325 pounds. You know he puts that pork chop on his plate.”

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Because of her power, editors and authors are constantly wining and dining Adrian. “They know that giving me that kind of attention isn’t going to make me buy a book,” says Adrian. “It’s more a working session. They’ll ask for ideas.”

“Rose’s Christmas Cookies” by Beranbaum was Adrian’s idea. “Ready and Waiting,” by Rick Morrow came about because Adrian visited Macy’s Cellar and noticed all these crockpots for sale, but no crockpot cookbooks. “Great Food Without Fuss,” a collection of “best of the best” recipes was written by Fran McCullough and Barbara Witt because Adrian was having a hard time filling February and August main selection slots. It was also Adrian who suggested book editor McCullough as co-author of the book. “These books won’t work without a strong voice,” she says, “and she and I really go back. It’s a very incestuous business. People change jobs, but the faces stay the same.”

And she knows that any of those faces could be waiting to fill her shoes at any moment should she falter. “I love my job and there are so many people who want it,” she says. “It’s kind of scary. I’m always walking around looking back over one shoulder.”