Picks and Pans Review: Amanda Hesser's

By SANDRA SOBIERAJ WESTFALL, SUE CORBETT, MEREDITH MARAN, OLIVER JONES, LIZA HAMM, ALLISON ADATO

UPDATED 11/29/2010 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 11/29/2010 at 01:00 AM EST

MAGNUM OPUS

To compile the 932-page Essential New York Times Cook Book, Hesser (food52.com) tested 1,400 recipes from 1852 to today.

ANY SURPRISES?

In 1895 they ate raspberry granita.

WHAT'S DUE FOR A COMEBACK?

Forget-It Meringue Torte (1978). You put it in a tube pan and leave it overnight. WHAT got left out? Terrapin [turtle]. I wanted only things people would want to try.

YOUR TWINS ARE NOW 4. DID THEY TEST-TASTE?

Almost every dish in the book; at first I pureed everything. They loved Fruit Marlow (1948).