Booklist's Top 10 Cookbooks!

Top 10 Food Books

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid’s Memoir That Inspired Upstaris, Downstairs and Downton Abbey, by Margaret Powell

In this fascinating memoir of Powell’s life as a kitchen maid and cook in 1920’s England, she writes conversationally, offering cutting and humorous insights.

The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writerss and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook, by Anne Willan and others

Willan and her husband delve into the history of cookbooks.

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz

The latest biography of Julia Child commemorates the centennial of her birth, drawing on her diaries and correspondence.

The Family Meals: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria, by Ferran Adria

Spanish chef Adria brings his innovative molecular gastronomy talent to the home cook which proves to be accessible even to novice cooks.

Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America, by Maricel E. Presilla

Cuban-born Presilla knows just about everything there is to know about the vast history and geography of the cooking of the Western Hemisphere’s Spanish- and Portuguese –speaking lands.

How to Cook Everything: The Basics & All You Need to Know to Make Great Food, by Mark Bittman

Bittman’s gift for focusing on a recipe’s essence becomes even more apparent as virtually every recipe comes with variations to inspire creative cooks.

The Juices: Vinous Veritas, by Jay McInerny

Lauded for his fiction, McInerny has recently become even more renowned in the world of fine wines and turns the subjective art of wine tasting into a more concrete and objective study.

Restaurant Man, by Joe Bastianich

Bastianich has created quite a reputation for himself and anyone needing to learn what it takes to attain real and sustainable success in the restaurant business should read this unique memoir.

Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes, by Anupy Singla

Indian cuisine’s meatless tradition has a long and venerable history that readily adapts to a vegan regimen.

A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies, by Ashley English
English repurposes traditional dishes while staying true to its food legacy and gives foolproof instructions and color step-by-step photographs for making piecrusts right.