A cookbook conundrum

"So many cookbooks, so little time," laments Glenda Cooper of The Telegraph. EYB Members reading this headline might bob their heads in agreement at the phrase. After all, we love cookbooks and wish we had more time to try all of the delicious recipes found in their glossy pages. But Cooper isn't talking about that cookbook conundrum--rather, she is discussing… read more

Grains of tomorrow

The popularity of whole grains continues to grow, and once exotic quinoa and farro have become quite mainstream. Food & Wine magazine highlights three grains that are poised to ride the next wave of popularity.  "I've always felt like I've been a little bit ahead of my time with my interest in health food," says chef Aimee Oxley of Philadelphia's Talula's… read more

The great pie debate

You might not think that the definition of pie would cause controversy, but you'd be wrong. As British Pie Week approaches, there's an online debate raging about how to define pie. The Telegraph explains that the feelings run so high one irate pie lover "launched a Government e-petition to "make wrongly describing a casserole with a pastry lid a criminal… read more

February 2015 cookbook roundup

Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends in the United States. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook." And for our non-U.S. members, Jane and Fiona provide similar reviews for new Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand releases. US February is the usual prolific jumble of in-between season books: diet… read more

White Pages & Glossy Photos: A Rubric for Titling Cookbooks

"Well, this is lovely,"  I thought as the new cookbook slid out of its padded envelope.  "Rose Water and Orange Blossoms," it read, in a curling thick cursive.  I scanned downward to see what kind of Middle Eastern food we were talking about - Lebanese, it turned out. Inside, the format didn't seduce me as readily - double-columned, unnumbered steps,… read more

Challenging conventional wisdom on peanuts

Peanuts can be found in many foods ranging from appetizers to main dishes to desserts. A rise in peanut allergies in recent years has put a damper on the legume's popularity. As a result of this rise, many pediatricians and allergy specialists advised against feeding peanuts to babies. However, a new study carried out by King's College London suggests that… read more

Grade inflation

Last month, a USDA rule change went into effect with relatively little fanfare. The agency adopted rules that change how maple syrup is graded in the United States. Part of the reason for the change was to bring the US in line with international standards, but consumer preferences also played a significant role. Consumers have been gravitating toward dark syrup,… read more

Warm up with hearty soups

Spring might be right around the corner, but for most of the Northern Hemisphere it seems like it may never arrive. Frigid temperatures, mountains of snow, and harsh winds have dampened spirits and chilled us to the bone. If there is any upside to this weather it's that it is a perfect excuse to make hearty, warming soups. Bloggers and… read more

Oscar party foods

The Academy Awards, more commonly known as the Oscars, arrive this Sunday. Along with all of the Hollywood celebrities at the many pre- and post-Oscar events you will find a lot of food, much of it catered by celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck. The star chef shared what will be on Sunday's Governors Ball menu this year. The Governors Ball,… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

At Eat Your Books we want to bring you the best recipes - our dedicated team searches out and finds online recipes excerpted from newly indexed cookbooks and magazines. New recipes from the best blogs are indexed daily and members index their favorite online recipes using the Bookmarklet all the time. Below you'll find this week's recommendations from the EYB team.… read more

Is it time to call fat a sixth taste?

Scientists are in consensus about the five basics tastes of sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami. New studies are leading some researchers to call for adding fat to that list as a sixth taste. But while several scientists are promoting this idea, others remain skeptical, according to NPR's The Salt. It's well known that humans can perceive fat as a texture.… read more

The Art of Eating announces finalists for its new best food book competition

Cookbook awards season will soon be in full swing, and this year features a new competition from The Art of Eating, a quarterly magazine described by the Wall Street Journal as "America's most erudite and and prestigious food publication." Last fall, the magazine announced that it would offer a prize for the year's best book about food. Whereas other cookbook… read more

Fat Tuesday feast

Today is Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras) and festivities are in full force in New Orleans. Celebrated as the last extravagance before the austere days of Lent, Mardi Gras features indulgent food and drink. Even if you don't celebrate the religious holiday, the festival is a good excuse to eat classic New Orleans-inspired food. Indexed magazine Saveur features an entire… read more

Little known facts about the Nutella empire

You may have heard that Michele Ferrero, the man at the head of the family behind Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, died on Valentine's Day. Reporting on Ferrero's passing, The Telegraph provides 14 facts that you may not know about Ferrero and the Nutella empire he leaves behind. We first learn that the company has always been family owned. It was… read more

Life imitates art

Cookbooks that tie-in to books, movies, or television shows are not new. We've got Downton Abbey cookbooks, The Sopranos Family Cookbook, and even Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook. These range from books that strive for historical accuracy to kitschy tomes following on the popularity of a current show or on nostalgia for a favorite childhood program. Sometimes, however, the cookbooks that… read more

Red velvet on the rise

There's no doubt that on Valentine's Day plenty of red velvet cake will find its way onto dessert plates. The cake, which originated in the Southern US, achieved its peak popularity during the cupcake craze a few years back. But recent signs point to its possible comeback on dessert menus, according to Restaurant Hospitality. Red Velvet Oreos recently hit store… read more

A travel notebook inspires a cookbook

A graduate of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, Rachel Khoo's passion for patisserie lured her to Paris, where she obtained a pastry degree from Le Cordon Bleu. In addition to working in a Paris culinary bookstore and tea salon, La Cocotte, Rachel has written several popular cookbooks. After years of living in Paris, Rachel recently… read more

Cookbook giveaway – Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook

After years of living in Paris, Rachel Khoo recently returned to her hometown of London. Excited by the city's vivacious food scene, Rachel decided to make her hometown the focus of one part of her new cookbook, Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook. You can read an excerpt from the book's introduction and view images from the book as well. The cookbook is… read more

Guacamole, but no brown M&Ms

Grammy-winning musician Jack White has recently been in the news for something other than his music. The University of Oklahoma's student newspaper published a copy of his band's tour rider, which included some very specific food requests. The rider went so far as to dictate the recipe for the guacamole that was expected backstage. This specificity isn't new, according to… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Did you know adding online recipes to your EYB Bookshelf is a really great way to build your personal recipe collection? You can now do this even if you have a free membership! Try it out now and see how easy it is. Browse the recipes below, choose one that appeals, click on the link, and add it to your… read more

Advisory group set to remove cholesterol warnings

If there's one constant when it comes to dietary recommendations it's that they change frequently. So it goes with the admonitions against cholesterol, which have been part of the US dietary guidelines since the 1960s. But a more nuanced understanding of the role of dietary cholesterol has called this recommendation into question, and now the United States' leading nutrition advisory… read more

Why we’re obsessed with unusual flavors

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past decade, you've probably been exposed to the flavor combination of salted caramel. It's everywhere, emerging first in chocolates and ice creams, but moving to new territory like crisps (chips for those of us in the States). The Guardian inspects this trend and other, weirder, food flavor combinations. While on a… read more

Chefs, simplified.

Geoffrey Zakarian - chef-entrepreneur, TV food show judge (and contestant), big-shot restaurant consultant.  (You might remember his very classy last book, Town/Country, where he presented the same ingredients in "upscale" and "rustic" versions.) But his current book, which was one of my favorite picks last year, is approachable to a fault.  My Perfect Pantry scours your storage areas for things… read more

Chocolate is at home in every course of your Valentine’s Day meal

Chocolate may be found in nearly every holiday or celebration, but it's perhaps most closely associated with Valentine's Day. Since one can never have enough chocolate, we'll show you how to incorporate it into every course of a Valentine's Day chocolate-themed meal. Let's start with a cocktail. The Golden kiss from Observer Food Monthly Magazine sounds like the perfect way to start a… read more

The oldest, newest, and most loved cookbooks at Food52

You won't be surprised to find that the staff of indexed blog Food52 have extensive cookbook collections. Like many of us, they have more cookbooks than bookshelves to hold them, with books to be found hither and yon. Now they're sharing with us which cookbooks they are "holding onto, cooking from, and buying up." Contributing writer and editor Lindsay-Jean Hard… read more
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