Book Review: The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

I recently received a review copy of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin. 

The book has about 20 cocktail recipes and 50 food recipes. 

Cocktail recipes include the standard Manhattan, Martini, Bloody Mary, Whisky Sour, etc. but also some drinks more stuck in the 1960s like the Stinger, Brandy Alexander, Tom Collins, and Blue Hawaii.

What is interesting about both the drink and the food recipes is that the authors didn't just hear a reference in the show to a Blue Hawaii and then print a standard recipe for it: in every case possible they found the actual recipe as made in the 1960s at the same restaurants or bars in which the the dish was ordered in Mad Men. 

Thus the Sidecar comes fromP.J. Clarke's, the Algonquin Cocktail comes from the Algonquin Hotel,  and the Stork Club Cocktail comes from the Stock Club Bar Book. I didn't see any recipes that blew my mind in their Sixteies-esque uniqueness and cocktail nerds like you have access to these recipes in several books. 

I think people who cook would get more use out of the food recipes, which are more products of their era (Chicken Kiev, Turkey Tetrazzini). And for anyone throwing a Mad Men theme party, this is the book will give you the whole menu. 

Get the book from Amazon here.