A Few Good Cookbooks

Though I have always liked collecting books (and giving away books), my cookbook collection has never been really large. It has grown in the last few years, however, through awesome birthday/Christmas gifts as well as a few purchases. I never wanted to have cookbooks just to have them; I do not treat them as collectibles in the way I might with owning a large book of Van Gogh’s work, for example (which I do). This is not because I do not consider them art; they most certainly are, from the creativity put into recipes, to the beautiful photography, to the book designs themselves; all art. However, beyond being beautiful items at home, I also want cookbooks that are creatively inspiring, practical for regular use, or both. Functional books.

I previously shared the cookbook photographs above via Instagram. I mentioned on my film and television space Cinemacked that Salt Fat Acid Heat was one of my favorite television shows that I watched in 2018 and that “Samin Nosrat is a gem who captured what is magical about people, food and culture.” I cannot wait to read the book, which I received as a Christmas gift. A practical favorite is The Complete Cooking For Two Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen. I mentioned in the past that my current favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is in that book. The 3-Ingredient Cocktails book by Robert Simonson is such a great resource to learn fundamentals about common cocktails very quickly. 

Below is a list of my current small cookbook and food stories/food education book collection.

Cookbook collection:

American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind More Than 125 of Our Best-Loved Cakes - Anne Byrn

Dinner Illustrated: 175 Meals Ready in 1 Hour or Less - America’s Test Kitchen

Eat Delicious: 125 Recipes for Your Daily Dose of Awesome - Dennis Prescott

Peppers of the Americas: The Remarkable Capsicums That Forever Changed Flavor - Maricel E. Presilla

Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook: A Mouth-Watering Treasury of Afro-American Recipes - Pamela Strobel

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking - Samin Nosrat

The Baker’s Appendix: The Essential Kitchen Companion, with Deliciously Dependable, Infinitely Adaptable Recipes - Jessica Reed

The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent - Jessica B. Harris

The Baking Bible - Rose Levy Beranbaum

The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook: 650 Recipes for Everything You’ll Ever Want to Make - America’s Test Kitchen

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South - Michael W. Twitty

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs - Karen Page

The Kitchenista Diaries: 2016 Holiday Recipe Collection - Angela M. Davis

The Kitchenista Diaries: Volume 1 - Angela M. Davis

The Perfect Scoop, Revised and Updated: 200 Recipes for Ice Creams, Sorbets, Gelatos, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments - David Lebovitz

3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon - Robert Simonson

There are quite a few awesome cookbooks that I am interested in getting next, but even the few I have so far are ones that I still return to, to read parts that I have not read yet or to try recipes that I have never tried before. I really like how they make my time in the kitchen even more interesting and fun.