I have a few recipe books myself. Elixabeth Moxon (1800, it's a late edition), a hand-written recipe book from Scotland from about that time, Mrs Beaton (rite of passage for any English gentleman in their 40s to have cooked from this), French Cuisine for the English Kitchen (1960s), Nordic Cuisine (this book doubles as a storm shelter in case of tornadoes), a bunch of notes from a Roman cookery mailing list, a paperback of Forme of Currie, and a collection of my mother's recipe cards. I'm slowly typing the more interesting stuff up into a book I can distribute to relatives.

As such, I find anyone fascinated in cooking to be worth listening to. I'm serious, but I'm eccentric. A serious fan who makes excellent sense - such as yourself - is somewhat rarer.