RUSA publishes a list of essential cookbooks for 2022

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is a division of the American Library Association. RUSA serves all types of libraries in reference, user services, adult readers advisory and collection development The organization publishes an annual list of what it deems as “essential cookbooks,” and while it skipped 2021 due to Covid, it has announced its list for 2022.

Called The CODES List, it includes titles for home cooks of all skill levels. The list “further supports those who appreciate the many joys of reading cookbooks, even if they rarely venture into the kitchen.” The committee that selects the books is composed of librarians who have cooked from the books as well as hosted book groups about them. The CODES list is comprised of those books (published in the US in the previous year) that the committee feels will stand the test of time. The volumes on this list are some of the most popular with EYB Members, and I’m sure we will see these names on other awards lists. Here are the books selected by RUSA for 2022:

• Cook this Book; Techniques That Teach and Recipes To Repeat by Molly Baz
• New Native Kitchen; Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian by Che Freddie Bitsoie & James O. Fraioli
• Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food; Deliciously Doable Ways to Cook Greens, Tofu, and Other Plant-Based Ingredients by Hsiao-Ching Chou
• Zoë Bakes Cakes: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Favorite Layers, Bundts, Loaves, and More by Zoë Francois
• Baking with Dorie; Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan
• Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean: 125 Simple Weeknight Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine by Christopher Kimball
• Grains for Every Season: Rethinking Our Way with Grains by Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg
• Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth Generation Farmer by Matthew Raiford with Amy Paige Condon
• Cook Real Hawai’i: A Cookbook by Sheldon Simeon
• Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry
• Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food by Julia Turshen
• Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients by Christine Sahadi Whelan