Still waffling on the…

Still waffling on the title thing, and I need to nail it down soon so I can do some promo work. Right now, the contenders look like:

  • Isle of Delight: a Sri Lankan cookbook
  • A Taste of Serendib: a Sri Lankan cookbook
  • A Taste of Serendipity: a Sri Lankan cookbook
  • Three Large Onions: a Sri Lankan cookbook
  • Chop Three Onions Finely: a Sri Lankan cookbook
  • Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves: a Sri Lankan cookbook
The resplendent thing isn't working for me. Votes?

11 thoughts on “Still waffling on the…”

  1. I’ve got to say I like “Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves: a Sri Lankan cookbook”. It’s straight-forward and still interesting. It sounds a little mysterious.

    I like both of the onion ones too, but they sound almost like a southern cookbook title.

  2. The onions aren’t doing it for me, and though “serendipity” is certainly a wonderful word, the first three titles aren’t very distinctive. I think you should go with your gut response and use the Cinnamon one. So what if those spices aren’t specific to Sri Lankan cooking? The recipes will speak for themselves. The Cinnamon title stands out, it reads purty, it’s evocative of food I want to eat.

  3. Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves: a Sri Lankan cookbook — I love this title. The sound and rhythm are right; the spice names play with your sense memory; it makes you want to race home and cook something immediately. (It even has the right look to it: those voluptuous Cs, curvy S — perfect on a cover.)

  4. My associations with these titles may be odd, but what I get is: “Serendib” -> historical recipes; “Chop Finely” -> tedious work; “Cinnamon, Cardamom, and Cloves” -> “who gave me this jolly red nose”.

    I like “A Taste of Serendipity”–especially given the serendipity that the person you called for publishing advice wanted to publish the book.

  5. I vote for
    Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves: a Sri Lankan cookbook and more!

    This eliminates the weakening effect of “(mostly)”
    while keeping the “truth in advertising.”

  6. Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves: a Sri Lankan cookbook

    Love this one, it’s got good music to it; pretty much dislike the others.

    Can’t wait to buy a copy of this cookbook, MA!

  7. Is there another way to phrase the “Chop three onions finely”? (i.e. a way that might make it sound less like a lot of work and more like the labor of love?

    Perhaps “First chop three onions…”
    (or “Start with three onions…”)

    I guess I personally like the action element of the “Chop” and for me the description of starting to learn to cook by starting with chopping onions, but never, even now, quite getting them exactly as good as your mother is what most resonated for me in your essay that starts the book – the image of a young child starting out cooking by learning to chop onions is also a memorable one”

    anyway just my current thoughts…

  8. Just to put in my two cents…I’m afraid I really don’t like the “Three C’s” all that much. It makes me think (perhaps ignorantly–I’ve never gotten to try Sri Lankan food) that all the recipes might taste somewhat the same, because it seems to imply that they all share those ingredients.

  9. Scanning through the titles I must say the one
    that caught my eye the most is “Chop Three Onions Finely” because it’s cute. Well, *I* think it’s cute!

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