Written by Robert Loeb, Jr., former food and drink editor of Esquire Magazine, Wolf in Chef’s Clothing is a self-proclaimed “Picture Cook and Drink Book for Men”. Originally written and published in 1950, there have been several publications since the original, including a paperback printing in September 2000. Rather than using words to describe the steps for the recipes, the cookbook is filled with images by Jim Newhall to illustrate the cooking methods. Loeb dedicates the cookbook “To my father, and my father’s father, and my father’s father’s father, right back to Adam, all of whom spent their lives as the passive victims of feminine culinary caprice – from that first apple to apfelstrudel”.
Loeb states that the purpose of Wolf in Chef’s Clothing is to “enfranchise the male, to unshackle him form the role of refrigerator vulture, icebox scavenger, from being a parasitic gourmet forced to feed on the leftovers of female cookery. Instead, he can become a gustatory eagle, king of the kitchen, and baron of the bar”. Loeb sets out to find simple, tasty, practical recipes that men can easily prepare for a variety of occasions and demonstrate how this can be done with pictures rather than complicated written cooking methods to prepare the dish.
The cookbook is comprised of the following sections, and recipes; in true 1950’s “Mad-Men” fashion there are chapters for Before, During, and After Dinner Drinks, along with Drinks that have “nothing to do with meals”.
- Part 1 – Cooking with Pictures
- Part 2 – Breakfast for Two
- Coffee and various methods of how to brew coffee – drip, percolate, or vacuolate
- Orange Hawaiian
- Oatmeal
- Farnia
- Eggs, scrambled, Easter scrambled, shirred, fried, eggs demi-benedict
- Omelets – French, Spanish, American
- Pancakes
- le toast de Paris
- Waffles
- Part 3 – Sup-Her – a guide to preparing a meal for different types of women
- Gastronomic foreplay
- Tomato juice a l’ocean
- Strawberry Loving Cup
- Broiled Grapefruit
- Sea Food Dorothea
- Wolf-Fare – the Carnivore’s Baedecker
- Steak
- Mignon et Bearnaise – a carnivore’s opera
- Lamb Chops
- Poulet Mason Dixon
- Un-American Activities
- Spaghetti da Vinci
- Shrimp Cobra
- Hamburgers
- Potatoes – baked, a l’onion, fried a la France
- Salads
- Walt Whitman
- Roquefort
- Asparagus Salad
- Salad Subversive
- Les Choux Froids – cole slaw to you
- Salad Dressing Room
- French
- Russian
- Gastronomic foreplay
- Part 4 – Midsupper’s Night Dream
- Welsh Rabbit
- Salmon Salad Marguerite
- Hot Snack Marie
- Follies Minuit
- Casserole Chien Chaud – Franks and Beans to you
- Spareribs
- Crepes Suzettes
- Part 5 – Fresh-Air Fodder – or Picnics and Barbecues
- Delicatessen Special
- Stuffed Eggs
- Pickle-Beef Sandwich
- Cheese Fingers
- Salad Sandwich
- Picnic Punch
- Grilled Steak
- Corn on the Coals
- Bread Francais
- Hot Banana
- Barbecued Tomatoes
- Part 6 – The Solid Teaser – The Cocktail Canape
- C’est la vie Canape
- Canape Fromage
- Urged Sturgeon Canape
- Shrimp a la Marx Canape
- Canape Olive Chaud
- Part 7 – Drinks – The Host’s Liquid Assets
- This section covers the basic liquors to stock your bar with, along with the basic containers and implements for a bar
- Part 8 – Dissolving the Five O’Clock Shadow – or the cocktail hour
- Horse’s Neck
- Whiskey Sour
- Orange Blossom
- Daiquiri
- Sidecar
- Piscolabis
- Bluebell
- Comin’ Thro’ the Rye
- Rob Roy
- Rum and Maple
- Part 9 – Before-Dinner Drinks – aperitifs and cocktails
- Bacardi Cocktail
- Bamboo Cocktail
- Brandy Cocktail
- Bronx Cocktail
- Delmonico Cocktail
- Manhattan Cocktail
- Martini
- Subversive Martini
- Martini Esoterica
- Old Fashioned
- Part 10 – Drinks with Meals
- This section covers what type of wine to serve with different entrees and parts of a meal
- Part 11 – After-Dinner Drinks
- This section discusses a variety of liqueurs, brandies, and cognacs
- Part 12 – Drinks That Have Nothing to Do with Meals
- Beer
- Bourbon
- Brandy
- Champagne Punch
- Eggnog
- Cuban Cola
- French “75”
- Mint Julep
- Brandy Mash
- Planter’s Punch
- Rum Collins
- Tom Collins
- Scotch and Soda
- Rye Highball
Recipes
Welsh Rabbit
The recipe for Welsh Rabbit in a Wolf in Chef’s Clothing is almost identical to a clipped recipe from Mrs. R’s collection.
The ingredients found in the Wolf in Chef’s Clothing are American Cheese, Worcestershire Sauce, beer, dry mustard, red pepper, paprika, and toast; the clipped recipe from Mrs. R adds butter and egg yolks. Here are images for both recipes:
Martini Esoterica and Old Fashioned
Pictured below are recipes featured in the cocktail section for Martini Esoterica and Old Fashioned.
Wolf in Chef’s Clothing is a unique Food and Drink Cookbook, with a lighter twist on the recipes contained in the cookbook and the methods for those recipes. This is a great cookbook for the cook who likes a good laugh, and it would make a great gift for the novice cook, college student, or any confirmed old bachelor that you may know.
Add a little RETRO to your Christmas…
The above items are available on Amazon.
Our Most Recent Recipes
Chili Egg Puff
A vintage recipe card for Chili Egg Puff made with eggs, flour, baking powder, small curd cottage cheese, jack cheese, butter, and green chilies.
Honeybaked Impossible Quiche
A vintage recipe from Honeybaked Ham for an Impossible Quiche made with Honeybaked Ham, bacon, milk, Bisquick, eggs, salt, pepper, onion, cheese, and mushrooms.
Crustless Garden Quiche
A vintage clipped recipe for a Crustless Garden Quiche made with eggs, flour, soda, salt, cottage cheese, cheese, onion, peppers, green onions, and parsley.