Best of the Best of 2020

Despite the stresses of the worldwide pandemic, there has been no shortage of wonderful new cookbooks this year. And no shortage of best food and drink book lists celebrating the cream of the crop. We have assembled 285 lists from around the world to create our 12th annual Best of the Best.

It will be no surprise to anyone who follows our annual lists that the top rated book of the year is Ottolenghi Flavour (or Flavor in the USA). Every time Ottolenghi has a new cookbook he has snagged the top spot.

It is notable the diversity of the authors of the top-rated books – some of the countries of origin are Israel, Somalia, Palestine, Ethiopia and China – and several of the authors are in the LGBTQ+ community. We are hopeful that 2021 will continue this trend where all voices are heard and appreciated.

As well as the top 10 books of the year plus five runners up, we have charts showing the votes from the UK/Ireland, Canada and Australia/New Zealand. We also produced specialist charts for Vegetarian & vegan, Drinks, and Food writing/memoirs. Check out all the lists plus look back over the previous 11 years’ lists.