I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a great cookbook. I’m currently working on my third book (wow…) about Brunch and as it carefully, lovingly, stressfully, curiously, and haphazardly takes shape, I think a lot about how to make it great.
‘Great’ is both elusive and subjective. I think it’s about being of service, being creative, communicating what’s beautiful about food and what’s beautiful about life. Easy. Super easy. Luckily, I have shelves full of useful, beautiful, encouraging, inspiring… downright GREAT cookbooks to absorb as I make my own.
Let’s talk about cookbooks: the good, the great, the inspiring.
โข So much of the information we take in comes from our computer screens, our phone screens, our electronic books (is that what they’re called?). One thing we’ve lost in this new transmission of information is FEEL. A great cookbook feels good to the fingertips. It’s the kind of canvas bound, thick papered book that you want to run your hands over before opening. Feel, for savoring. One feel-good cookbook in my collection is Jamie At Home. Its canvas cover, thick paper, and colorfully playful interior make it feel just… special, every time I take it down from the shelf.
โข I eat with my eyes. Ok… so I mostly use my mouth, but my eyeballs have a lot to do with how much I enjoy what I eat. A great cookbook often has really stellar photography. Mouth-watering, hunger-inducing, bright-light food photography. I always reach for The Kitchy Kitchen when I need inspiration for approachable, everyday food. The photography is clean, simple, special… and just makes me feel like I’m living a good good life.
โข Some of my favorite cookbooks have a laser point focus, or a specific niche to tease out. Such focused cookbooks can be a wealth of knowledge… like little cooking encyclopedias. I love The Perfect Egg for all things eggy from breakfast to dessert, and an old cookbook called The New Complete Book of Pasta when pasta is on the brain. One of my favorite baking books of all time: The Cake Bible… it really is.
โข I call upon a part of my brain called my Food Brain to think up the recipes I post here and in my cookbooks. It’s not rocket surgery but my Food Brain needs feeding. Great cookbooks are out-of-the-box and mega creativity. Hellloooooo: Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook. Related: Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies. Be about it.
โข I’m a self-taught baker. Translation: I don’t make very good baguettes and I’ve messed up more chocolate mousse than I care to mention. For me, great cookbooks are those that nail me with technique. It’s about rules and regulations. I splurged on this Advanced Bread and Pastry just after I had finagled my way into my first bakery job. It was a tremendous help in terms of technique and ratios. School yourself… or let Julia Child school you: Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Classic and essential.
โข A really supreme cookbook is a feel-good, approachable, new classic. One of the best examples of this is Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: from my home to yours. It’s classic yet inventive, and rooted in solid technique. Dorie is a master / my hero. Other feel-good very new classics is Food52 Genius Recipes and The Gourmet Cookbook.
This is barely the tip of the iceberg. Really… there are just too many great cookbooks to mention. There are many more great cookbooks coming out this Fall! We’ll talk about those soon. I’m really excited.
xo Joy
42 Responses
Amazing. Thank you, Joy. Mastering the Art of French Cooking is one of my all-time favorites, I found an original edition at a Half Price Books and have treasured it ever since. Photography is essential, especially when cooking with out-of-the-box ingredients because we humans ARE visual creatures and if something looks appealing we are so much more willing to give it a shot. This is key for those of us who work with whole foods that really aren’t considered mainstream. I love your gluten-free recipe especially, and have even adapted some of your other recipes to be gluten-free and even grain-free. The possibilities are endless if you have your techniques down pat. I love your writing style and your photos and will definitely be looking forward to your new book!
-sara
https://almostpaleokitchen.blogspot.com/
Absolutely love these points – I’m just starting to put together ideas for a cookbook myself (I put one together a few years ago and am now feeling stupid enough to do it again), and I’ve been asking myself the same question… Time to sit down with a pot of tea and a pile of my favourite cookbooks! Also very much looking forward to your book – brunch is one of my favourite things, and if your blog is anything to go by, it’s going to be incredible!
There are so many great cookbooks out there it’s hard to choose! I definitely am looking for a clean design, beautiful and striking photos, and fun yet accessible recipes.
https://chatterboxnewyork.com
My family calls my cookbook collection my “fictional reading” because I read them like fiction! There’s nothing like a great cookbook. FYI, there’s a group of us baking our way through Rose Levy Beranbaum’s latest book, The Baking Bible. We already baked through Rose’s Heavenly Cakes. You can see the hosting blog here, if you want. https://rosesalphabakers.blogspot.com/
Can’t wait for your new book to be on the shelf!
Where’s the “like” button? This was fun. I have your first cookbook and love it! Funny thing – I often turn to it to figure out how to make buttermilk. :)
I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately as well. I’m in the process of writing my first cookbook, and whenever I’m feeling in a rut, I turn to my favorite cookbooks for inspiration. Right now, I find my own ideas about taste and technique continually pushed by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem. Thanks for sharing!
I found a few new cookbooks- thanks. Really enjoyed reading this post and the feel under the fingertips is often key to even opening up a cookbook! Thanks…and those shoes in the top shot…swoon!
Lovely books! This would be great to read before writing my first cookbook (eek!) which is now at the printer. Taking notes though for the next one when that happens :)
Congrats to your #3!! :)
xo
Growing up my mother always had “The Joy of Cooking”. Still good for classic “go to “recipes. My whole family are great cooks especially my dad. Nigella is probably my most used ” How to be a domestic goddess”. I also have great cook books from Rick Bayless, The Mexican Kitchen, Jacque Pepin and Martha Stewart for classics. I always add my own twist. The Beaufiful Mexico cook book and all in this series are pretty great, but sadly out of print now. If you can find one at decent price,buy it! I have two of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cook books and love those too! I have too many! My dad bought me a vintage copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the art of French Cooking, which is great to read, ( perfect instructions) and cook from. I almost forgot Mariam Cunningham’s” lost recipes” and “The Meat Club Cook Book” by three authors, whose names escape me now. Of course often now I use great food blogs(Joy!) and Smitten Kitchen are two favorites.
Maida Heatter’s “Book of Great Chocolate Desserts” is another winner. She’s from Marion and Julia’s era. You can get her books at great prices, she’s another amazing baker worth checking out!
My bookcase is bending with my collection of books and no matter what electronic device is available, I always head to those book shelves for inspiration. My perfect book must have amazing photography because that’s already a huge interest of mine, but not just of the finished dish. Each recipe needs a story or background with photographs…ingredients, action and messy shots are all my favs :) Can’t wait!
Well I just added a bunch of cookbooks to my wish list! :)
But seriously…I need to know about your shoes. Because those are going on my shoe wish list for sure.
Love your post!! I also used cookbooks to prepare different types of recipes!!
Hugs,
Love from http://www.trangscorner.com {a lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and food blog}
Can’t wait for your new book! So exciting!
I echo what others have said. One of my favorite things is a photo for each recipe. That always makes me enjoy a cookbook more. It’s the enjoyment of the photography along with the side of my brain that needs to see what the dish could look like when I make it.
I read the subject line and then i read “I’m writing a cookbook about brunch” and i thought, well being about brunch is what makes something a great cookbook!
All that aside, I think that consistency of recipe quality (which should go without saying but) is essential. I think that’s why blogger cookbooks are appealing. There’s already the proof around consistency. Personally, since I cook with both cups and a scale, I like it when a recipe gives me both weight and relative options, esp. with flour.
What I don’t need from a cookbook: I don’t need a cookbook to reinvent the wheel every time. I just borrowed the my new roots cookbook and so much space is taken up with the very basics. It seems to be a bit at odds with what the cookbook is about. For basics, I’ll get a great tome like vegetarian cooking for everyone (which I think is one of the best cookbooks of all time for many reasons.) I borrowed the My New Roots book because I know I already like her recipes. I would have liked more recipes and less filler.
I can’t put my finger on what quite makes a cookbook ‘the one’- but if I go to bed reading it like a novel, then I know I’m onto a winner. I’m currently loving Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook- it’s both a delight to look at as well as getting meal inspirations! You’ll love the little illustrations inside it.
I cannot wait for your next cookbook!