Beard Lives!

In the world of cookbooks, authors last only a little longer than yogurt. Although the latest hotshot seems almost guaranteed spots on television and the bestseller list, a lot of the folks who paved the way for the current cooking craze are as outdated as yesterday’s sitcom stars.

There is no one more sadly overlooked today than Craig Claiborne, whose “The Best of Craig Claiborne,” (Times Books, $35) has just been published. Imagine! It was only 15 years ago that Claiborne was the most powerful person in food. Food editor and restaurant critic of the New York Times, he helped bring to the public’s attention everyone from Julia Child to Marcella Hazan and Diana Kennedy. In addition, he wrote books--good books, many of them. There are few cookbooks that have been more influential than his first “The New York Times Cookbook,” published in 1961. This new book is a collection of recipes from his journalism and from his previous books.

Meanwhile, James Beard--now almost 15 years dead--seems to be enjoying a second childhood. Only three years ago this giant of the cookbook world had only one or two titles still in print, but lately there has been a wholesale renaissance of his work. Not only are all of his important books back in print, there are also books he never even imagined--collections of his recipes gathered in things like “James Beard’s Salads.”

There is even a publishing competition over Beard. You can choose between Thames & Hudson’s “The James Beard Cookbook” series and Running Press’ “James Beard Library of Great American Cooking.” The latter are by far the best of the reprints, because they stick closest to the original texts. In fact, the only additions to “Theory and Practice of Good Cooking” (Running Press, $22.95) and “Hors d’Oeuvres and Canapes” (Running Press, $14.95) are new introductions by Barbara Kafka and Jeremiah Tower, both of whom were part of Beard’s inner circle.