World's best cookbooks

[CKatCook]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but "The Silver Spoon" is my go to book for italian. Deserts by the Yard, by Sherry Yard for desserts.

[DanM]

I will need to add two books by the amazing Irish Chef Denis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso. His book Cafe Paradiso Seasons will open your eyes to vegetarian cuisine. Wild Garlic Gooseberries and Me is filled with his experience, thoughts, musings, stories, and humour of his favorite fruits and vegetables.

Dan

[Gruzia]

I'll nominate Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless - it's the sort of book that you turn to for easy week night meals and the flavors are outstanding - bright, savory and satisfying. I've not made a recipe out of here that I didn't love.

[Moopheus]

Here's the list to date, alphabetically by title:

I was looking this list over, thinking that it was a nicely global list, covering a wide range of cooking styles and international cuisines. But (to the extent that I am familiar with the contents of the books) I then noticed that northern and eastern Europe are not well represented. Also nothing about Africa, though I think that there are not a lot of good African cookbooks published in English by Western publishers (I remember that this was a problem, actually, when I was working in a cookbook library a few years back).

Anybody want to try and fill some holes?

[nicos]

Here's the list to date, alphabetically by title:

I was looking this list over, thinking that it was a nicely global list, covering a wide range of cooking styles and international cuisines. But (to the extent that I am familiar with the contents of the books) I then noticed that northern and eastern Europe are not well represented. Also nothing about Africa, though I think that there are not a lot of good African cookbooks published in English by Western publishers (I remember that this was a problem, actually, when I was working in a cookbook library a few years back).

Anybody want to try and fill some holes?

←

african :

1 The Moro Cookbook

2 moroccan modern

3 MAKE IT MOROCCAN

middle eastern:

saha

arabesque

greek:

wild weed pie. by Janni Kyritsis

[Raj Banerjee]

No Claudia Roden's Book of Middle Eastern Food?

[patrickamory]

I could not be without:

Ruth Rogers - The River Cafe Pasta Cookbook

John Thorne - Serious Pig

John Thorne - Simple Cooking

John Thorne - Pot On The Fire

John Thorne - Mouth Wide Open

John Thorne - Outlaw Cook

Patience Gray - Honey From A Weed

Richard Olney - Simple French Food

Richard Olney - The French Menu Cookbook

Richard Olney - most of the Good Cook series, especially Poultry and Beef & Veal

David Thompson - Thai Food

Su-mei Yu - Cracking The Coconut

Madhur Jaffrey - A Taste of India

Madhur Jaffrey - An Invitation to Indian Cooking

Julie Sahni - Classic Indian Cooking

Marcella Hazan - The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

James Beard - Beard on Food

Julia Child - The Way to Cook

Julia Child et. al. - Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Miriam Ungerer - Good Cheap Food

Laurie Colwin - Home Cooking

Najmieh Batmanglij - New Food of Life

The Joy Of Cooking - a pre-1990s edition

[Mjx]

The Best Recipe has not once let me down in terms of delivering what it promised, nor has The Splendid Table (and you learn from them, which is at least as important). I also regularly turn to McGee's books, because they also teach. I actually think I favour The Curious Cook, even though its scope is far narrower than that of On Food and Cooking.

[miketerry]

The book i like and use the most at work is cooking by tom aikens,this in my opinion is a bible,and about as close as it gets to the perfect book for a chef,working in my area.

Previous favourite's have been the river cafe cook book and canteen by marco.

[AaronM]

Not a cookbook per-se, but my most used book in the kitchen, and what I recommend every cook I've ever hired buy: The Flavor Bible.

[Chef Jonny]

Waverly Root's "The Food of France"

Not really a cookbook but a darn fine read.

[Emanuel Diogo]

Hi everyone. I am a new member in this forum. I would like recommendations on good cookbooks for a food lover that wants to improve his knowledge, techniques and skills at home.

Obrigado e um abraço, from Portugal. 

[Smithy]

Welcome to the forums, Emanuel Diogo.

 

It isn't clear - to me, at least - whether you're looking for basic cookbooks for beginners, cookbooks to improve your existing skills, or cookbooks about new techniques or cuisines altogether.  Do you already like to cook?  If so, at what level, and what sorts of food?  What would you like to learn?  If you're not sure, what sorts of food do you like to eat?  Are you interested in learning to bake breads, cakes or pies?  Are you interested in Modernist cookery?  Answers to these questions will help us give you useful suggestions.

 

If you're looking for cookbooks for beginners, you may find this topic interesting:  Best Cookbooks for Beginners.

[pbear]

Another question is how much you care about national slant.  For example, the Time-Life Good Cook Series was brilliant and designed for just this purpose, but very much directed at an American audience.

[ahpadt]

What about Jacques Pepin - Complete Techniques?

[ChrisTaylor]

I think this depends hugely on your starting point. If you're a good lover but relatively new to cooking I'd steer you in the direction of Jamie Oliver's books: particularly Cook with Jamie. If you have more experience and you're looking to elevate your technique to the next level, though, you'd be better off with Modernist Cuisine at Home or Heston Blumenthal at Home. The afore-mentioned Pepin is good if you're looking into knifework and basics as defined by the French--omelettes and so forth. 

[janeer]

I think this depends hugely on your starting point. If you're a good lover but relatively new to cooking I'd steer you in the direction of Jamie Oliver's books: particularly Cook with Jamie. If you have more experience and you're looking to elevate your technique to the next level, though, you'd be better off with Modernist Cuisine at Home or Heston Blumenthal at Home. The afore-mentioned Pepin is good if you're looking into knifework and basics as defined by the French--omelettes and so forth.

With being a good lover the obvious requirement for good cooks of any level :-)

[weinoo]

I've always thought Julia Childs' The Way to Cook is a great primer.

[rotuts]

as above.

 

also the J.Pepin series :  'fast food my way'  two seasons and you can watch the videos to see Technique.

[TedHarris]

I just joined today but as a cookbook junkie I though I would put in my 2 cents.

 

For basic cooking techniques and recipes the Joy of Cooking is still my go to cookbook. I'm sure millions have learned to cook from these pages. Jamie Oliver's books are pretty good but alot of the ingredients are hard to find or to figure out what they are.

 

I have found some of Emeril's books to be quite good, but again ingredients can sometimes be a problem depending on where you are. I'm in Canada so a lot of the Cajun stuff is not available here,

 

But most importantly have fun with it.

[Martin Fisher]

It's going to depend on how you define good home cooking.....everyone defines it differently.

[pufin3]

With some practise most anyone can learn how to cook meats and vegetables, starches.

IMO the real challenge is to make excellent stocks and sauces. This is where the rubber meets the road culinary-wise.

For this I always turn to Escoffier.

[CharlieStanford]

I really enjoy having the old Time-Life series The Good Cook which was edited by Richard Olney.

[Amchefspain]

I don't know how many Spanish speakers are here in the forum but I can recommend what I think is one of the great World cookbooks (but it's in Spanish):

La Cocina Completa de la Marquesa de Parabere (Maria Mestayer de Echagüe). 

It's from the last century but a real gem. If you are curious, visit www.parabere.com.

[Yaneidi]

Wolfert, Jaffrey, Roden, Sahni (more the Vegetarian and Grain Cooking), and Dunlop.