Is there a cookbook on your wish list? (Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)When the economy crumbles, people start cooking at home more. In May, the market research firm Information Resources had already reported that 53 percent of consumers said they were cooking from scratch more than they did just six months earlier.
A bumper crop of cookbooks is here to help out in the kitchen. Publishers Weekly talked with cookbook buyers for Barnes & Noble and Borders about their picks for the holiday season.
Books from television food stars are expected to sell well this season, including “Giada’s Kitchen” by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter), “Martha Stewart’s Cooking School” (Clarkson Potter), “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics” by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter) and “Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book” (Clarkson Potter). Surprise hits are expected to include “A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes” by David Tanis (Artisan), “Ten” by Sheila Lukins (Workman), “Baked” by Matt Lewis (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) and “Hello, Cupcake! Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make” by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack (Houghton Mifflin).
Healthy Holidays
30 Days of Holiday Eating,
This series will include a daily tip, tidbit or insight about holiday food.
National Public Radio offers an interesting list of 10 cookbook favorites, complete with pictures, that includes “Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen” by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Clarkson Potter), and my personal favorite, “How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition)” by my colleague Mark Bittman (Wiley).
Gourmet magazine has picked three “kitchen bibles,” but they will cost you. The high-end recommendations include “A Day at elBulli” by Ferran Adrià, Albert Adrià and Juli Soler (Phaidon, 528 pages, $49.95), “Alinea” by Grant Achatz (Ten Speed Press, 415 pages, $50) and “The Big Fat Duck Cookbook” by Heston Blumenthal (Bloomsbury, 530 pages, $250). To figure out why anybody would spend so much on a cookbook, read the original article here.
Epicurious offers a more practical list: The Best Cookbooks of 2008. The site picks “Fish Without a Doubt” by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) as the best overall cookbook. Most entertaining goes to “Eat Feed Autumn Winter” by Anne Bramley (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), suggesting the “Let’s Make a Date Muffins” recipe.
If you’re interested in one of the new books from a top chef at a swanky restaurant, The Wall Street Journal offers an excellent “field” guide to navigating the celebrity chef landscape.
My colleague Julia Moskin was ahead of the game in October with her insights about celebrity chef cookbooks as well as new books from chefs that are “under the radar” but still “mesmerizing.”
Healthy living doesn't happen at the doctor's office. The road to better health is paved with the small decisions we make every day. It's about the choices we make when we buy groceries, drive our cars and hang out with our kids. Join columnist Tara Parker-Pope as she sifts through medical research and expert opinions for practical advice to help readers take control of their health and live well every day. You can reach Ms. Parker-Pope at 
The easiest and most pleasurable way to eat well is to cook. Recipes for Health offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. 
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Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen are the number one resource my husband and I turn to for all cooking advice. The shows are entertaining, the cooks are engaging, and they make dishes dozens of times with different variations to develop the strongest recipe. I recommend them to everyone!
— sarahmasMark Bittman is absolutely one of my favorites too! Has he ever cooked you anything?
The science nerd in me also loves “Cookwise” by Shirley Corriher. Although she uses recipes mainly to illustrate scientific concepts behind cooking and baking, it’s a great addition to any cookbook library.
— RTWI would like to add “The Passionate Vegetarian” by Crescent Dragonwagon to the list.
You do not have to be a vegetarian to appreciate Ms. Dragonwagon’s insights. If you have ever been afraid to purchase a new type of vegetable or grain because you are not sure what to do with it, this book will enlighten you!
— SharonThis is a great list, but it leaves out a significant book consuming population: kids! As a kids’ cookbook author (Jewish Holidays Cookbook, DK), I would have loved to see some titles for children and families. I am happy to provide a list!
— Jill BloomfieldAs much as I want to loathe martha, I do love her cookbooks. And perhaps it is just a sad commentary on my limited social life by saying that through reading Ina’s cookbooks she feels like a friend. Now if they could only match their ingredient lists with my wallet, I’d be a happy camper.
http://everythingchangesbook.blogspot.com/
— Kairol RosenthalAt a time when many people are looking to save money by eating less meat (and as a side-benefit, also lower their cholesterol levels) I’d recommend the Veganomicon.
— Ashley TrailrunnerThis is stick-to-your-ribs vegan fare, not the plate of tasteless lentils many might imagine vegan cuisine to be. Carnivores and vegans alike will love the dishes served up by authors Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
Since this is the Well Blog, I have to second Ashley’s (#6) vote for Veganomicon by Chandra Moskowitz. I’m not a vegan, but lean heavily toward vegetarian, & even my 100% meat-eating son loved her recipe for Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Mango.
Here’s the link:
http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2008/07/veganomicons-quinoa-salad-with-black-beans-mango-is-just-what-the-doctor-ordered—dietary-patterns-longevity.html
But, Chandra’s first cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance is even better, especially for non-vegans. It’s “real comfort food”.
Her Scrambled Tofu paired with Tempeh bacon & herb-roasted potatoes beats any diner’s bacon & eggs hands down.
My other favorite vegetarian cookbooks are anything by Jeanne Lemlin. I like to include her “Simple Vegetarian Pleasures” or her “Vegetarian Classics” with any wedding gift I buy. Delicious, quick & easy.
I do agree with Kairol #5 about Ina aka The Barefoot Contessa. Every recipe is a winner, but they definitely aren’t on the healthy side. And Kairol, you’re right, she does feel like a friend.
Last mention–”the non-cookbook”–I get great recipes (& healhty ones) from http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/
Happy healthy cooking!
http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com
— The Healthy LibrarianI won’t give up red meat but I did buy Bittman’s vegetarian cookbook because I like his How to Cook Everything. And, because there a great many appealing recipes in the vegetarian.
I also like the King Arthur Flour book too. Their yellow cake recipe was a hit with my nephew. And I have to agree with RTW about Shirley Corriher’s book.
Happy Cooking!
— JanieThe NPR article also mentioned a book by the hosts of “The Splendid Table” on NPR. My mom logged on to amazon and bought it shortly after hearing some of the description, and it’s a wonderful book. Last night we had an amazing risotto with brussel sprouts and yams.
— CarolynI have to second the Bittman endorsement. I received How to Cook Everything Vegetarian last year for Christmas and it has become the family bible. I can’t imagine cooking without it. My husband, who was starting to cook for the first time, found it to be very thorough and easy to use. And the recipes are delicious with a lot of room for self-expression, which I like.
— Natalie#2 RTW–if you think the science in Cookwise is interesting, then you’d no doubt love her new Bakewise. Pastry is the real place for science geeks!
— KatieIn the winter I love soup, and my absolute favorite soup cookbook ever is Splendid Soups by James Peterson.
The tips don’t stop with soup either. I am a better all-around chef because of this book.
— daryaThird-ing Veganomicon. I got it out of the library last summer (after waiting for a very long time!), so I only had 3 short weeks to try it out, but I wasn’t disappointed by anything I made from it. I need to remember to put it on my Christmas list so I can get a copy of my own!
— TinaIt shows how middle class (and upper middle class at that) cookbooks are if people are buying them at a time like this. Cook more, use fewer fancy books is how most people most affected by the downturn will be reacting.
You do NOT need a cookbook to tell you how to cook tasty, wholesome, healthy food. If on the other hand you will only eat at home at all if its got ingredients like fennel and haloumi then a fancy and expensive cookbook is probably the first thing you spend your reduced paycheck on.
— Cook more with fewer booksI’d like to add Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone… That, along with Bittman are my kitchen bibles! Veganomicon sounds great, can’t wait to try it! I’m also curious about Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking.. anyone out there using it?
— JillianI have to second Cook’s Illustrated. I love it and think a subscription is a great gift idea in lieu of a cook book.
— BoSox2009Thomas Keller just came out with a book about sous vide cooking - I can’t wait to get my hands on that one! It’s a technique that fascinates me!
— Liz WelshOnly in America, could one consider that buying a cookbook is a way of saving money! Cooking at home using cookbooks–like treadmills bought to save on gym memberships–only saves money if they are actually used to cook from. I’ve started checking cookbooks out from the library to test some of the recipes before plunking down cash to buy. And for that reason after hearing Dorie Greenspan on NPR I thought I wanted her “Baking” book from a couple years back. Lo and behold only one recipe in the book caught my attention (lemon poppy seed muffins) and I found it on the web anyway.
Cookbook lists seem contrived to come up with lists of books/authors you’ve never heard of, celebrity chefs excepted. I have Ina Garten’s first cookbook and though I love her cooking style, I have resisted buying other cookbooks by her mainly because the recipes are often available on foodnetwork.com.
That being said, two cookbooks I turn to year round are Molly Stevens’ All About Braising (goes way beyond pot roasts and has the most clear instructions of any cookbook I’ve seen) and Jerry Traunfeld’s Herbal Kitchen. My feeling is that it’s nice to give someone a glitzy new cookbook, but I like being able to recommend some of the recipes myself rather than just take the word of some food writer. And on the vegetarian front, I favor Peter Berley’s Flexitarian Table, which offers a game plan for preparing identical meals but for the protein course. Doubling to accomodate one side or the other can lead to a totally vegetarian meal or one for the carnivores.
— SeanMartha Rose Shulman has written some of the best vegetarian cookbooks. I have followed her since I lived in Austin in the 70’s. Mediterranean Light and Entertaining Light have never left my shelf of most used cookbooks.I have been making her hummus with yogurt for probably 30 years and every time someone tastes it for the first time they tell me it’s the best they ever ate. Her recipes do not require expensive or esoteric ingredients, because when these books were first written, it was impossible to get a lot of the stuff we take for granted. Definitely worth seeking out for healthy delicious and economical recipes.
— HillarynI’d throw “Super Natural Cooking” by Heidi Swanson. You can get a feel for her style at her blog - 101cookbooks.com - another vegetarian, use-what’s-in-the-fridge-already style of cookbook.
— morganMost useful cookbook I’ve ever owned:
— DeeVegetables Every Day, by Jack Bishop
It’s got entries about each of 60-something vegetables on how to select, store, and general good practices for cooking them, plus a series of recipes featuring each as the main player. I have never used another cookbook so often, and many of these recipes are main stapes in my house now.
With all intended respect to the minimalists who protest the use of cookbooks……
Cookbooks are about inspiration and joy.
Cookbooks are for the gifted souls who “taste in their heads,” and don’t even need to make recipes, to experience them.
Cookbooks are about sumptuous eye candy images of food so beautifully styled, that the reader salivates at the sight of them.
Cookbooks aren’t so much about cooking, as about celebrating food.
Now, if this fractured moment in our history isn’t a time for THAT, then what is the time for it?
Cookbooks… great ones, anyway.. are perfect indulgences for those who treasures them. For cooking, I use my imagination and the internet. For my imagination, I use cookbooks.
— Wesley#11 Katie - thanks! I actually just saw Bakewise on the shelf at my local bookstore, and it’s terrific… I was going to put it on my holiday wish list, but with the economy I may just have to wait until it goes on sale. :-(
Admittedly, I get most of my recipe ideas online– oftentimes I’ll read 4 or 5 and use those to come up with my own adaptation. Adhering strictly to recipes is not my forte. (Except for baking, of course, where the proportions are not to be messed with!)
I like cookbooks primarily for the technique discussions, and then once you know how to do something, you can apply it to whatever you have on hand.
— RTWI stopped buying cookbooks when I discovered epicurious.com. They have something like 50,000 recipes in a free online searchable database.
I can understand buying cookbooks if you’re the kind of person who likes to read cookbooks in bed, but for the rest of us a website makes a lot more sense.
— AmyIn addition to the wonderful books mentioned above (Bittman and Crescent Dragonwagon, whose “Bread and Soup” books ROCKS, I also LOVE anything Anya Von Bremzen has ever written. her “Please To The Table” is an absolute classic.
— peri LyonsHappy Seasonings!