Why cookbooks still matter (plus a giveaway)

When you’re planning what to cook for dinner, you might begin your search for the perfect dish on the internet (hopefully using EYB!) instead of your bookshelf. With the ever-increasing volume of quality online recipes, your search might end on the internet too. Yet even though you may reach for your cookbooks less frequently, they remain important, says Julie Thomson of The Huffington Post.

Thomson likens printed cookbooks to radio: even though the new technology of television surpassed the older technology, radio didn’t become obsolete.  In the world of cookbooks, the internet hasn’t banished cookbooks, it has even made them better, Thomson argues. They’ve had to improve to remain relevant, adding more value in the form of stunning photographs, engaging storytelling, and in-depth instruction.

Francis Lam, an award-winning food writer and editor at publishing house Clarkson Potter, explains it this way: “A modern way to think of cookbooks – and this is the way I tend to think of them – is to think of them as a book. A book you’ll want to read; a book that has a story; a book that might evoke emotion in you; or that might provoke you; or that might challenge you…”

Recent books that echo the thoughts of Lam and others quoted in the article include Ronni Lundy’s Victuals and Tacos: Recipes and Provocations by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothman. There are hundreds of books published each year that fit this mold; many of which end up on EYB Member Bookshelves. 2017 is shaping up to be another great year in the cookbook world and I can’t wait to see what inspires me this year. My cookbook collection will definitely expand; I’m already eyeing books by David Tanis, Michael Solomonov, Stella Parks, and others.

To make it a little easier to add to your cookbook collection, The Cookbook Junkies has a giveaway (US & Canada) for four $25.00 gift cards to BookOutlet.com. The contest celebrates The Cookbook Junkies Facebook group hitting 41,000 members! Enter for your chance to add to your collection guilt-free. Which books are on your radar?