Helen Corbitt Lives!
Well, only in print, actually. Last January, I was taken to task by several readers for publishing a list of favorite cookbooks wherein many of the titles were out of print. Perhaps the longest-out-of-print book in that list was the Helen Corbitt Cookbook, a true Texas treasure first published in 1957, written by the legendary Irish New Yorker and “Texan by adoption,” Helen Corbitt. During her reign as the queen of Texas haute cuisine, Corbitt wrote five cookbooks and upon her death, bequeathed all her papers to the University of Dallas. A few years ago, home economist and lifelong Corbitt fan Patty Vineyard MacDonald took on the task of putting together a collection of Corbitt’s best recipes, including selections from each of her five books as well as previously unpublished materials found in the cooking class booklets and recipe cards that were part of the Dallas archives. The new book, The Best From Helen Corbitt’s Kitchens (University of North Texas Press, $29.95, hard), is just out this fall and it’s a must-have for any serious collector of Texas cookbooks.
For those readers who are new to Texas or too young to remember exactly who Helen Corbitt was and what she contributed to Texas cuisine, the author provides a short and interesting biography. Helen Corbitt was a Skidmore-trained nutritionist and dietician who first came to Texas to teach large quantity cooking and tea room management in the UT Home Economics Department in 1931. She was eventually lured away from UT by the management of the Houston Country Club, which put her in charge of their failing dining operation (she promptly turned it into a winner). After several years at the country club and other high-profile jobs in Houston, Corbitt was persuaded to return to Austin to revitalize the food service operation at the Driskill Hotel, another triumph. Throughout her tenures in both Houston and Austin, quintessential Dallas retailer Stanley Marcus courted Ms. Corbitt, determined to put her in charge of the Neiman Marcus restaurant division. She finally agreed in 1955 and spent the next 16 years as the culinary queen of the Zodiac Room, the Neiman Marcus restaurant operation that was the state’s premier fine dining establishment under her direction. During Ms. Corbitt’s years at Neiman’s, her cooking classes were always sold out and no serious Texas cook or hostess was without a copy of her cookbooks.
Luckily for those who didn’t inherit copies of Corbitt’s books, the new collection offers an appealing cross-section of her culinary creations, updated and modernized somewhat by the author/editor who compiled the book. Rest assured, however, that these are Ms. Corbitt’s recipes and they work as she intended. Her writer’s voice is still very much in evidence, with an enthusiasm and unabashed confidence in the value of her creations that shines through on every page.
Top Food Journalists
Two of this country’s most respected food journalists will appear in Austin this fall. Coobook author and Esquire magazine columnist John Mariani teaches an Italian food class at Central Market (4001 N. Lamar, 458-3068) on Wednesday, September 27. In November, cookbook author and former New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton will visit Austin to sign copies of her newest book, The Bialy Eaters (Broadway Books, $19.95, hard).
This article appears in September 1 • 2000.