Wherever I go, when I meet someone and the conversation turns to cooking, a surprising (to me) number of people invariably reveal that they don’t cook. Or they’re afraid to bake. Or they make only salads. Or they cook, but they would never do something as involved as making their own vinaigrette or broth or …
As an avid cook for some three decades, I never understand. Don’t they feel the joy of having created something delicious with their own hands? The Zen therapy of losing oneself in the task? Maybe they just need inspiration. Empowerment. A nudge.
That’s where these cookbooks come in. Our annual look at our favorite cookbooks of the year is heavy with volumes whose authors want to get you cooking. Whether a seasoned cook, a novice or someone who is really great at calling for delivery but not so accomplished with a wooden spoon, you’ll find these books layered with recipes you’ll want to eat (or drink, in the case of “Meehan’s Bartender Manual”). To taste them, you’ll need to make them. Or gift them to someone who will cook for you.
Because as holiday presents to yourself or someone on your list, these 10 cookbooks can only lead to good things.
— Joe Gray, Food & Dining Editor
“Bangkok”
By Leela Punyaratabandhu
Ten Speed Press, $35
The author of “She Simmers,” the popular Thai cooking blog, pens a richly detailed ode to growing up in Bangkok. Where most cookbooks about the capital city of Thailand focus on the cheap and abundant street food, she digs into the dishes cooked at home, shedding light on dishes you might never have encountered before. Because she lives for part of the year in Chicago, she also understands the issues of re-creating some of the recipes in the United States. While it might require some legwork to access all the ingredients, none of the recipes is impossible to re-create.
— Nick Kindelsperger
“BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts”
By Stella Parks
W.W. Norton & Co., $35
Want to make the best brownies? Ones where every meager crumb is imbued with more chocolate flavor than you thought possible? “BraveTart” is here to help you get it done. Not only does the cookbook offer a collection of meticulously tested recipes, it also offers wonderfully detailed histories of each of the all-American desserts. Along the way, Parks examines whether or not snickerdoodle is a nonsense word, and debunks the classic Toll House history of the chocolate chip cookie.
— N.K.
“Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook”
By Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu
Clarkson Potter, $35
From the creators of Cherry Bombe, a designerly yet irreverent biannual indie mag, comes this big, bold, beautiful and perfectly pink iconic celebration of feminism and food. The writers asked more than 100 chefs, authors and other inspiring women for their most meaningful recipe. Every dish is shown in vivid, full color, pop art-style photography. Which makes the relatively easy recipe for earthy yet luxurious buttered chanterelles, by Elizabeth and Kitsune restaurants chef and owner Iliana Regan, all the more quietly compelling. (See recipe here.) You may want more stories behind the minimalist recipes; trust me, they’re there, in the food.
— Louisa Chu
“David Tanis Market Cooking: Recipes and Revelations, Ingredient by Ingredient”
By David Tanis
Artisan, $40
Cardoons, I confess, have never called to me much, but David Tanis has such clear instructions (and photos) for prepping them that I’m hungry to try “the artichoke’s feral-looking cousin” at home. And a whole lot of other vegetables too. Tanis, an author who was formerly chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., brings considerable experience and lively writing to a very useful work that doesn’t exclude meat or fish, but lets the vegetables star in most of the 225 recipes. The “Kitchen Essentials” chapter is wonderfully eclectic, telling you how to make everything from yogurt to pork and shrimp wontons to pizza dough. Great photographs.
— Bill Daley
“Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes”
By Alison Roman
Clarkson Potter, $30
Alison Roman sports all the bona fides (food writer, food magazine editor, former chef) to make you trust her as she takes your hand and leads you to the kitchen. More like gently pushes, because like your best friend who’s a great cook, she spends a lot of ink up front persuading you that, yes, you can do this, you can cook. And as your best friend, she speaks to you in a conspiratorial tone and keeps things easy. Her recipes rely less on tricky technique than on clever flavor and textural combinations. Everything seems thrown together in a breezy manner, but the genius is evident. It’s in the matchmaking: burrata with tangerines, caramelized squash and toasted coconut, raw broccoli salad strewn with peanuts. Every recipe seems “highly cookable,” her catchphrase, and craveable. And any chef who admits she likes black olives from a can “that you can wear on your fingers” is someone we’ll follow into that kitchen.
— Joe Gray
“The Illustrated Wok: Hand-Drawn Chinese Recipes from Around the World”
By Lilly Chow, Matt P. Jager and Jonathan White
The Cleaver Quarterly; $25
A fantastical, smart collection of artful contemporary Chinese recipes from around the world comes from the creators of The Cleaver Quarterly, the dearly departed collectible print magazine. The 40 recipes were gathered from celebrated chefs and authors from across four continents. The illustrations, from dozens of artists, show not only the dishes, ingredients and techniques, but also worlds unto themselves. One of the seemingly simpler recipes, Chinese chive and dried shrimp pancakes by Chicago’s Fat Rice chef Abe Conlon and co-owner Adrienne Lo, illustrated by Anna O’Connell, reveals layers of rich detail, but most importantly, food you want to make and eat.
— L.C.
“Meehan’s Bartender Manual”
By Jim Meehan
10 Speed Press, $40
Speak to professional bartenders about their favorite books on their craft, and they’ll likely spout off a list of must-reads: David Wondrich’s “Imbibe,” Dale Degroff’s “Craft of the Cocktail,” Harry Craddock’s “The Savoy Cocktail” book, and Jim Meehan’s “PDT Cocktail Book.” In that last book, Meehan offers a peek into his famous New York bar, but in his latest work, a true textbook, the master bartender goes deeper, with a look at the nuts and bolts of bartending and the industry. From bar design to building cocktails, to detailed illustrations and interviews with distillers, importers, brand ambassadors, career mixologists and writers, Meehan leaves no stone unturned. Whether you’re a pro or an enthusiast, this book is a must-read compendium of technical prowess and craft.
— Joseph Hernandez
“Paladares: Recipes Inspired by the Private Restaurants of Cuba”
By Anya von Bremzen and Megan Fawn Schlow
Abrams, $40
A restaurateur’s life is tough enough under the best of circumstances, but consider what it must be like in Cuba, where governmental red tape and inexplicable shortages of even the most basic ingredients pose formidable challenges. Yet, as this book proves over and over again, the owners of Cuba’s private restaurants survive by using their wits and their improvisational skills and by relying on a network of food purveyors. By telling their stories amid 150 recipes and evocative photos of the country and its food, the authors sketch a vivid portrait of Cuban cuisine today.
— B.D.
“Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking”
By Samin Nosrat, art by Wendy MacNaughton
Simon & Schuster, $35
If Samin Nosrat has her way, you’ll never need a recipe to cook again. Trained at Chez Panisse, founded by the legendary Alice Waters, Nosrat earned her chops by cooking her way up the restaurant ladder, developing a life-changing cooking philosophy along the way. In her excellent first cookbook, Nosrat distills what she learned into a manual for intuitive and improvisational cooking, focused on the four key components in her title. In this vital book, Nosrat demystifies the kitchen, explaining in friendly, confident terms why and how salt and fat enhance and build flavor, respectively; the effect of acidity in balancing out a dish; and knowing how to control heat and thus, the finished dish. You’ll be empowered to cook bravely.
— J.H.
“Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant & Unfussy New Favorites”
By Deb Perelman
Alfred A. Knopf, $35
In an increasingly busy world, Deb Perelman makes cooking simple and exciting, featuring recipes that are inspired by her favorite dishes and flavors. These dishes are accessible and come with an origin story — like wanting the flavors of an everything bagel but also wanting the fluffiness of a biscuit — each written in her colloquial I’m-your-friend-who-shares-your-guilty-pleasures kind of way. There’s everything from breakfast to plant-based mains to desserts, all with beautiful photos that give you the hope that you too can cook. The instructions are clear, and some come with variations that Perelman suggests you give a try.
— Grace Wong
