Diana Henry’s favorite new fall cookbooks

When Diana Henry makes a list of her favorite new cookbooks, it’s time to drop everything and make certain that you have all of them on your bookshelf and if not, to get them on the way as soon as possible. The bestselling author knows her way around both storytelling and recipe writing. She spent weeks going through the best books from both the US and UK, and posted a list of the 20 best cookbooks for the fall.

While there aren’t as many big names as usual for the fall cookbook season, any deficit of fame is more than made up by the depth of the books on offer, says Diana. Tightly-focused tomes that hone in on a flavor, ingredient, or region shine this fall. Of course Diana’s descriptions would convince me to buy a used toothbrush. Take this description of The Book of St. John by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver, for example:

This is much more than a book of recipes, though (glorious though they are). It’s also about the importance of the table, of feasting, of friendship, of the white cloth napkin on your knee. And it sings of simple but wonderful pleasures: a bacon sandwich and a glass of cider, a doughnut and a glass of champagne.

Or this one discussing Leaf: Lettuce, Greens, Herbs, Weeds by Catherine Phipps:

Phipps is curious, scholarly and greedy – requisites for writing great cookbooks. We’re lucky that she tackles single subjects (her last book was on citrus fruit), venturing into labyrinths that lead to surprising facts and observations and truly terrific recipes. 

With a description like that, how can you not run out and buy this book? A few other volumes on the list include Sababa, Sour: More Than Mere Taste, and Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter. There is one glaring omission from this list, however, as Nigella Lawson correctly pointed out in a tweet: “I must add [Diana Henry’s] From the Oven to the Table to this list. Right at the top of it!” We concur.

Many of Diana’s picks made Jenny’s must-have books of Fall which encompasses August through December worldwide releases. If you order any of these books, please use our BUY BOOK button, We earn a small fee from your purchases which helps us to index more cookbooks for our members.