Misleading? No, Lying Advertising

Food & Wine pulled a major bait and switch on me.  I am not best pleased.  The offer was that if I would renew my subscription they would sweeten the deal by including "Our 20 Best Recipes Ever!" (basically a pamphlet) as well as Food & Wine's "Best of the Best - the Best Recipes from the 25 Best Cookbooks of the Year," a hardbound book. 

When you boast that "Macaroni and Cheese with Buttery Crumbs" is one of your best recipes ever, you're not that good a cook, are you?  Many people have have mastered mac and cheese from scratch by age 12. 

I glanced at "Tofu with Spicy Meat Sauce" and wondered briefly if I was hallucinating.  I thought tofu was a meat substitute.  It is and I wasn't.

Of note, but not much - Robert Duvall's mother's recipe for pan-friend crab cakes.  No disrespect, Mrs. Duvall - fine boy you've got there and all, but I have never heard your name associated with cooking, fine or otherwise.

The hardcover book is truly insulting to any intelligence greater than that of a horsefly.  You remember the part about "from the 25 Best Cookbooks of the year?" (2012 being the year in question)

"Molto Batali" was published 5/3/2005 which is not 2012.
"The Mozza Cookbook" was out in 20/25/2011. 
Same for "Essential Pepin" published 20/'18/2011.

This 280-page "book" is nothing more than an advertisement for the books listed.  Of the 25 books listed, from which the recipes in this book have been selected, I'd only heard of 10 of the chef-authors. 

Using an ad to sell more advertising ... the backlash is that Sauveur made a similar offer and I was considering it.  Not any more.  I'm reminded of the remark attributed to Judge Judy, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."