Some Cookbook Recommendations

My Favorite Cookbooks

Hey, everyone.

Today’s post is all about cookbooks.

I love cookbooks. I have a huge collection of them at home, and I’ll often stop by my local bookstore when I’m passing through that neighborhood just to check out the latest selection and flip through some interesting ones.

But there’s a problem with the cookbook industry. A lot of cookbooks are written for the wrong reasons. Publishers and agents will seek out popular chefs, arm them with a team of ghostwriters, and pop out a cookbook or two simply because they know it will sell on a wave of hype. A lot of the recipes in these cookbooks are untested, unreliable, and not particularly useful.

On the other hand, there are some great cookbooks that you’ll rarely hear about in popular food media. It can be hard to figure out which ones are worth buying, so I decided to put together a guide of my own. This isn’t a comprehensive guide to every cookbook you need. Rather, it’s a list of cookbooks I’ve personally owned, cooked from, used as inspiration, and that I recommend.

I hope this is helpful! Let me know if you have any questions or any recommendations for books I should check out!

Myles

The Best Cookbooks for Learning

These are my favorite cookbooks that don’t just cover individual recipes but also arm you with high-level concepts that will allow you to improve your cooking.

The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez Alt

I read this book when I was in cooking school, and to this day it’s probably the book that’s taught me the most about cooking. I’ve long said that cooking is an art, but one for which understanding the science helps you to be more creative. This book is all about the science of cooking, and it’s super comprehensive.

Whenever someone asks me for a book to start their cooking journey, this is the one I recommend.

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

Learning to cook a specific recipe is like learning to play a single song on piano. Reading SFAH is like learning music theory. Samin Nosrat does an amazing job of covering the high-level concepts that transcend individual recipes. It’s one of my favorite cooking books ever written. And it also has a ton of great recipes.

Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden

Joshua McFadden is both a chef and a farmer, so he’s an expert on all things vegetables. This book is like a cross between a vegetable encyclopedia and a cookbook. He breaks the year down into four seasons, lists the vegetables that grow in each of those seasons, offers insight into how to select, prepare, and cook them, and then gives a few fantastic recipes for each.

This is a great book to have on hand if you’re frequenting farmers markets and want to cook more seasonally but don’t always know what to do with what you buy.

Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi

Yotam Ottolenghi is a legendary recipe developer. His books are all fantastic— the recipes are fun, flavorful, approachable, and super well-tested. Flavor is one of my favorites not just for the recipes, but for the “theory” sections where he talks about the art and science of how to build flavor.

Some Personal Favorites

This is an assorted collection of some of my personal favorite cookbooks.

Gjelina by Travis Lett

A beautiful ode to California cooking from one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world.

Mission Chinese Food by Danny Bowien

Danny Bowien is one of my favorite chefs. He’s known for super creative combinations and loud, assertive flavors that are just delicious. This cookbook is cool because it reads like a book. Danny has an amazing story, and I’ve always been inspired by his perspective and approach to food.

Tacos - Recipes and Provocations by Alex Stupak

Alex Stupak started his career as a molecular gastronomy pastry chef before pivoting to tacos. He approaches Mexican food from the perspective of a highly technical outsider who wants to understand things from first principles. He analyzes and explains concepts super well, and his recipes for staples like salsas, barbacoa, and cochinita pibil are all really good.

Tu Casa Mi Casa by Enrique Olvera and Daniela Soto-Innes

This is another great Mexican cookbook with solid recipes geared towards home cooks.

Heritage by Sean Brock

Sean Brock is another one of my favorite chefs, and he’s a great starting point if you want to explore regional American southern food.

Mister Jiu’s in Chinatown by Brandon Jew

Mister Jiu’s is an incredible modern Chinese restaurant in San Francisco led by Brandon Jew. This is a fairly “cheffy” cookbook, and some of the recipes are super complex. But I love Jew’s perspective on cooking and the wisdom he shares throughout this book.

Night + Market by Kris Yenbamroong

I ate at Night + Market a bunch when I lived in LA. This book was my guide as I first started cooking Thai food at home. It’s full of fun recipes with really big flavors, and many of them are quite approachable for home cooks.

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Marcella Hazan is the godmother of Italian cooking, and her books are incredibly comprehensive. I’m still cooking my way through this one, but it’s proven to be an amazing resource for learning this cuisine.

Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto

A fantastic beginner’s guide to Japanese cooking.

Baking / Bread

Bread Book by Chad Robertson and Jennifer Latham

Chad Robertson is widely considered to be one of the best living American bakers, and he’s been my personal sourdough guru. I love Tartine Bread (his first book), but Bread Book is my favorite. Some of the recipes are a bit advanced, but I love his many creative ways of utilizing sourdough, from tortillas to pasta and more.

Sourdough by Science by Karyn Lynn Newman

This is a great resource for anyone who is new to sourdough baking. Newman lays a great foundation of knowledge based on the science of sourdough, and her recipes are very good and reliable.

Masa by Jorge Gaviria

If you’re interested in masa, and especially in making your own masa from scratch, this is an amazing resource. I used to work for Jorge at Masienda (which makes the best masa harina, by far) and he really knows his stuff.

Pizza Czar by Anthony Falco

This, along with the Roberta’s cookbook, were my introductions to mastering pizza dough. Falco is a world-renowned pizza expert, and this book is great because of the breadth of content. I especially like that he includes sourdough and commercial yeast versions for each dough recipe.