Christopher Kimball invented potato salad, and the remix, too, probably

Via the Grinder, sketchy behavior from the folks at Cook's Country, the Paula Deeniest arm of Christopher Kimball's publishing empire. Blogger Alosha's Kitchen posted her variation on a potato salad receipt that had appeared in Cook's Kitchen. Kimball's Internet rentacops told her to take it down. She pointed out that she had made significant modifications to the receipt, and they said they did not permit their receipts to appear in altered form. Read the whole tawdry thing here.

As far as I can tell, the CI/CC/ATK positiion is legally, morally, and intellectually untenable. They will, if you ask give you permission, to post one of their receipts on your blog, as long as it is unaltered. But because they test them so assiduously, they will not let you post your revised version of their receipt. Thus, presumably, one could post a different potato salad receipt, as long as you did not mention that it had something to do w/ the CI/CC/ATK version. But the only way they could enforce that would be if it were illegal to mention the name of their publications. To the best of my knowledge, one cannot restrict someone else from mentioning the name of a publication or other entity, as in

"Christopher Kimball is a joyless mandarin, who presides over a triumvirate of media outlets, Cook's Illustrated, Cook's Kitchen, and America's Test Kitchen, which are based on the premise that food is fundamentally unpleasant, and that only through obsessive testing of food preparation techniques, can the metabolic necessity of eating be made tolerable."

This is clearly a case not of who is right, and who is not, but who has lawyers on retainer, and who does not. It is a variation on a SLAPP suit.

Also, this is potato fucking salad. Kimball is not sitting on a cure for AIDS, which, if patented, would make him rich beyond all worldly imagining. Chris Kimball, Cook's Country, and Debora Broide Publicity, (their PR jackals) can all piss up a rope, as far as I'm concerned. Here's an email address for the PR people, if you have questions: [email protected]

Comments

[Rose's Lime]

Dear Chris Kimball:

The CC potato salad recipe specifies 2 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes... but what I'd like to know is how many potatoes are used in the ATK tried and true recipe?

Is 4 8oz potatoes optimal?

If I have 5 7oz potatoes should I trim 4/7ths off the 5th potato? Or should I trim 4/35ths off each potato? Or should I just scale the recipe up by 4/32nds?

[mary]

Very good! they do seem to strangle all the joy out of good food. I went to cook's country tasting today and was treated to 3 samplings of lukewarm tartare sauce, brownies prepared from mixes, and microwave popcorn. In exchange they told us that we dressed nice. Well -- we are the unwashed country folk afterall.

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