Recommendations from the FoodStack Library community and those featured in the series, Other People’s Bookshelves Q&A with …
Lisa Ekus Guinness World Record collection of Cookbooks. Image credit Eric Gove Photography. Read more > Sally Ekus Q&A
Our Other People’s Bookshelves Q&A with ... series gives us an insight into the many cookbooks people have, including their favourites and which they would recommend. Whenever a food writer invites us to learn more about their bookshelves, I ask them this question.
‘What cookbooks would you recommend and why?’
I will collate them onto one page and will add more whenever a Q&A post is published.
As a professional recipe tester, I’m drawn to cookbooks with clear instructions, foolproof recipes, and rigorous testing that guarantee great results for any skill level. That’s why I love recommending reliable cookbooks like Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe (wide recipe range), Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Food Lab (perfect for food science lovers), and Jenn Segal’s Once Upon a Chef (with the motto “tested and perfected”). The French Toast from The Best Recipe is still one of the best I’ve made!
For busy friends, I often recommend What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking. Even I need quick meals sometimes, and this book delivers. Most recipes take 30 minutes or less, are easy to make, and are consistently delicious. Try the Peanutty Pork with Brussels or Chicken Parm Sliders, and you’ll see what I mean.
For aspiring bakers, A Good Bake by Melissa Weller is a must. A former chemical engineer turned baker, Weller offers flawless recipes for everything from sticky buns to layer cakes—and even a chapter on fried doughs!
I like recommending cookbooks with well-tested, reliable recipes.
Lastly, I would probably suggest a book focused on intuitive cooking, like How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson, No-Recipe Recipes by Sam Sifton, or the recent What Goes With What by Julia Turshen. These books teach the fundamental building blocks of recipes, while encouraging personalization to suit your taste.
These books offer guidance on improvisational cooking.
I recommend cookbooks written by Black women, because they are still so woefully rare. I can get up on a soapbox on this subject for hours, but suffice to say thatBlack women are some of the most important architects of Southern cooking, and yet our contributions are not well documented or even credited properly to this day. Consider this quote by Journalist John Edgerton:
“Throughout 350 years of slavery, segregation, and legally enforced white supremacy, the vast majority of women of African ancestry in the South lived lives tightly circumscribed [to] . . . domestic kitchens. To them fell the overarching responsibility for the feeding of the South, as well as the duty of birthing and nurturing replacement generations.”
And yet, the vast majority of these recipes were never written, or credit for them was not given to the rightful owners of that intellectual property. Of the 100,000+ recipe collections published over hundreds of years of American history through the end of the 20th century, only 200 or so have been credited to black cooks and writers. Pick up Toni Tipton Martin’s ‘The Jemima Code’ to read more about this important subject.
That is an impossible question to answer, there are so many recommendable cookbooks and new ones published nearly every week. However, like many home cooks, I like exploring different cuisines from around the world. Some recent books that have inspired me in that regard are:
The Woks of Life by Bill, Judy, Sarah and Kaitlin Leung, a multi-generational take on Chinese cooking that is rammed full of fantastic recipes. I often make ‘Three-Cup Chicken’, it’s so simple and delicious.
Sambal Shiok by Mandy Yin is the cookbook of a popular Malaysian restaurant in London. I can’t think of a better introduction to the cuisine. Her ‘Signature Curry Laksa’ is insanely great.
Vietnamese by Uyen Luu is a beautifully designed book and full of straightforward Vietnamese recipes, many of them aimed at mid-week meals for busy people. I recently made ‘Roast Barbecue Pork’ and served it with ‘Hot and Fiery Greens with Anchovies’ and some plain boiled rice and it went down a storm. There are also more complicated dishes like a banh mi made from scratch, including the baguette, for when you are in the mood for a project.
From the top of my head I would say anything by Alison Roman. Several of the dishes from Dining In have become absolute staples for me - from the Tacos al Impostor(genius recipe title if there ever was one!), the Spring Seafood Stew, the Fennel Rubbed Porkchops to the Roasted Tomato Anchovy Bucatini.
When it comes to Ottolenghi, as mentioned above I find myself cooking the most from his new Test Kitchen Series. Both Off The Shelf and Extra Good Things are full of highly cookable dishes that still deliver on the Ottolenghi flavour front but are maybe a little less work than the recipes from some of his other books. Also, hands down the Flavour Thesaurus books by Niki Segnit which are great if you are looking for inspiration (and also include some simple recipes).
Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, I love the shared history of the city told through food. There are recipes I keep coming back to.
A few years ago, Penguin published a cute collection of slim volumes on classic food writing. I highly recommend them; and incidentally they make great stocking fillers.
The Scots Kitchen by F Marian McNeill. Long out of print, search for second hand copies. First published 1929, my edition dates from 1937. It’s a diverse and readable collection of recipes, and not what you might expect. Yes, you’ll find countless ways of using oats and various scone recipes but also a Scots floating island using guava cheese, how to make goose blood pudding, a Hallowe’en cake, essays on the National Larder, and Dr Johnson’s thoughts on Scots hospitality.
Regula Ysewijn’s Oats from the North, Wheat from the South, Pride and Pudding and Dark Rye and Honey Cake. She’s an incredible food historian, her photographs are like still lives and the recipes work.
I have to recommend any of The Silver Palate cookbooks and Sarah Leah Chase’s cookbooks. But there are a couple of others.
I’m always looking for recipes that are really simple. I’m actually quite lazy in the kitchen and since I complain about baking A LOT, if I have to bake, it better be an easy recipe. Food for Friends by Fran Warde fits into that category. As does a regional cookbook I have, Finger Lakes Feast.
I think everyone should have a classic companion, like The Good Housekeeping Cookery Book. For anything traditional, whether it’s rice pudding or a rich fruit cake, it’s in there. In a world of Google, you might wonder why, but there’s something comforting about having an encyclopaedia-like guide at your side without worrying about a screen going blank.
For baking, Dan Lepard’s Short & Sweet is a must. It’s full of clear, approachable recipes that simply work.
For meat dishes, Stéphane Reynaud’s One Knife, One Pot, One Dish is a go-to. The recipes are simple, forgiving/adaptable. They are heavy on slow cooking which is perfect for my lifestyle, where I can throw something in the oven for a main meal and then enjoy leftovers the next night.
For a vibrant alternative to meat, Bold Beans by Amelia Christie-Miller is fantastic. It’s full of creative recipes that feel like an antidote to traditional meat-based meals and a step towards a more plant-forward world.
Finally, Annie Bell’s How to Cook is one I always recommend. With over 200 recipes, it’s the book I wish I’d been given when I left for university. It’s straightforward, practical, and perfect for building confidence in the kitchen.
Oh my, this is SO hard to answer because it depends. What you are looking for? A great collection of well-tested, timeless, and tasty recipes? Any Michael McLaughlin book! Want to bake? Hello Dorie or Rose (both of whom have known me since I was a little girl!). Or maybe you want an agency best-seller that busts countless myths and will keep you at the top of your outdoor cooking game. Easy: Meathead, and stay tuned for the follow up this May! Tried and true vegan recipes? Any Nava Atlas book! Then there’s Toni Tipton Martin’s Jubilee and, and, and…
