In this era of apps and recipe blogs, what purpose does a cookbook serve? Why collect them?
I love cookbooks. In many ways, they tell a story about a culture. My favorite cookbooks weave history and science together with the recipes. I love a good scientific explanation of why a recipe works, and I also love learning about how our foodways developed.
I also find cookbooks inspiring. I consider myself something of an amateur foodie, but I didn’t learn how to cook well with much variety until I was in my 40s. Call it lack of time or perhaps lack of interest. I suppose I needed to wait until my kids were fairly self-sufficient. In any case, I started collecting cookbooks in earnest in 2014.
Some cookbooks I read cover to cover, while others I dip into on occasion only. I also have a few books in my collection that I consider to be important classics, even if I don’t consult them as much.
As I review my cookbooks or books about cooking and food on my blog, I will link to the reviews here, though I don’t review all of my cookbooks. My collection is accessible through the LibraryThing widget below.
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about my cookbooks. I’m happy to make recommendations or share my perspectives.
Cookbook Reviews
- My Bread, Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste
- The Sullivan Street Bakery Cookbook, Jim Lahey with Maya Joseph
- Salt Fat Acid Heat, Samin Nosrat
- Bread Toast Crumbs: Recipes for No-Knead Loaves and Meals to Savor Every Slice, Alexandra Stafford with Lisa Lowery
- Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
- The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, John T. Edge
- The Cooking Gene, Michael Twitty