Did you resolve to prepare more of your own meals in 2018? If you haven’t spent much more time in your apartment kitchen this year than you usually do, don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time to turn things around, and no shortage of superb new or newish cookbooks that can help you accomplish your goals. Here are a dozen contemporary cookbooks that critics and home chefs agree are first-rate. With these cookbooks and the right kitchen tools and gadgets, you can transform your cooking dreams into reality.
First We Eat: Good Food for Simple Gatherings from My Pacific Northwest Kitchen
Portland-based Eva Kosmas Flores fuses her culinary, photographic, and gardening artistry into this splendid collection of dishes that capitalize on her Greek heritage and bountiful Pacific Northwest garden. From seed to plate, no part of the food preparation process is left out in this seasonally arranged collection of recipes.
Giada’s Italy
Food Network icon Giada DeLaurentiis takes us on a personal culinary journey to reconnect with her native Italy. Giada left Italy as a child, but not before establishing deep connections to rich family dishes discovered in her grandfather’s kitchen in Rome. Her journey is laid out as in Italian meal, from light antipasti and lunch sandwiches to elaborate seafood dinners.
Gather & Graze
Top Chef champion Stephanie Izard delivers just what we’ve craved from her family of highly-lauded Chicago restaurants. Gather & Graze features recipes that can help us create her standout dishes at home for our friends. She electrifies party favorites, offering up banh mi burgers, duck leg confit, and offbeat riffs on desserts like Goat Cheesecake topped with pretzel whipped-cream and beer caramel.
Japan: The Cookbook
Sheathed in an elegant bamboo graphic cover, this compendium of 400 Japanese recipes begs exploration. Thoughtfully organized by course, from noodles to delicately vinegared seafood, our journey through Japanese culinary tradition is led by Nancy Singleton Hachisu, a California-born expat with more than 30 years’ experience living and cooking in Japan.
The Austin Cookbook
Paula Forbes, founding editor of leads our exploration of the foods and backstories that make the Texas capital one of America’s most talked-about food cities. Austin sits at the confluence of varied culinary traditions and this book follows the branches, from southern, to Mexican, Tex-Mex, barbecue, and, of course, the iconic food trucks that help “Keep Austin Weird.”
The Flavor Matrix
For anyone fascinated by the science behind cooking, flavors, and pairing, this cookbook is essential reading. James Briscione, champion of Chopped and director of culinary research at the Institute of Culinary Education, created this guide with the help of IBM’s Watson supercomputer. Together, they create 58 matrices explaining why ingredients pair together and how we can get the best results from those combinations in our own kitchens.
The L.A. Cookbook
Los Angeles is home to one of the most dynamic food scenes on the planet. In this new cookbook, celebrated food and travel writer Alison Clare Steingold takes us through the spots and recipes that define L.A. food and, by extension, L.A. living.
Between Harlem and Heaven
Alexander Smalls and JJ Johnson are the chefs at the center of Harlem’s Afro-Asian food scene. This collaboration traces their own culinary backgrounds, which include recipes originating South Carolina lowcountry, the Caribbean, Ghana, and elsewhere the African diaspora has scattered.
Shaya: An Odyssey of Food
James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya creates a rich autobiographical arc in his debut cookbook. But this doesn’t get in the way of the recipes that define his celebrated trio of New Orleans restaurants. Shaya’s food fuses his Israeli heritage, love for Italian cuisine, and adopted home in America’s South. The result: Dishes that defy borders and fixed food tradition.
Eat a Little Better
In Eat a Little Better, Sam Kass gives us a glimpse into life inside the 44th presidency. As personal chef to the Obama family in Chicago and food policy advisor to Michelle at the White House, he helped shape the national conversation about realistic strategies for healthy eating. His recipes are approachable, healthy, and appealing. In this cookbook, each is accompanied by a story that ties them to the First Family.
Lagom
Everything in moderation, including moderation. The Swedish title of this book defines the simple and balanced Scandi approach to moderation that author Niki Brantmark embraced in her adopted home of Malmö. From family dynamics to food, everything is kept in balance. Never too little, never too much. That’s Lagom.
Korean BBQ
Bill Kim, Chicago’s master of Korean barbeque at Urbanbelly and bellyQ, delivers an approachable guide to creating his iconic dishes in our own kitchens. Korean BBQ offers alternatives where traditional ingredients may prove hard to source. Kim creates approachable methods to creating unique Korean sauces and flavor profiles for dishes centered around pork, fish, tofu, and veggies.
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View All Posts by Jason Ernst