Which food phrases or words would you like to see gone?

The New York Times Kim Severson recently tweeted a provocative question: asking which food writing words and phrases people would like to ban. She started with calling a restaurant an eatery (I'm guilty of that one) and calling vegetables 'veggies' (which I avoid doing). Several other food writers chimed in with words they would like to see disappear. David Wondrich… read more

Food news antipasto

Last week Jenny compiled yet another amazing gift guide, this time for Valentine's Day. In the spirit of fairness, I am going to post a gift guide from another source, Epicurious. They gathered a list of 27 "actually good" gifts for cooks instead of the same old, same old things like flowers or lingerie. Jenny's guide is arguably better not… read more

Building a barbecue trail

The Southern Foodways Alliance has long been an important resource for chronicling the diverse food cultures of the American South. It has assembled oral histories on different topics that function as a culinary map for food lovers. Two of these projects, which can be accessed through the Alliance's free app, SFA Stories, are the tamale trail in the Mississippi Delta and… read more

Top fifty 2021 books added to EYB Members Bookshelves

A member posted an interesting question after reading Jane's top selling books of 2021: She wanted to know which books from 2021 were added to the most members' bookshelves. (This was a great question and we'll add this report to our yearly summaries in the future.) I took an hour and went through the listing of 2021 books in our… read more

Buried treasure: cookbooks lost at sea

Things have not been easy with cookbook production since COVID hit and the hits keep coming. As I have stated many times, delays in shipping and shortages of all types have wreaked havoc with cookbook releases. Last year, a publicist told me that an entire shipment of their books had caught fire at sea and now we learn of another… read more

The best selling books of 2021

Last month our friends at cookbook stores around the world gave us their picks for their favorite books of 2021 which we then included in our Best of the Best of 2021. Now we asked them for their top sellers of 2021. It would be interesting to compare these charts to non-specialist store/online retailer book sales but it is very hard to get… read more

What’s your cooking phobia?

Even the most intrepid cooks have a dish or two that strikes fear in their hearts. For some it's pie crust, for others it's certain cuts of meat, or it could be a kitchen tool that terrifies them. Whether it's due to past failures, injuries, or just a deep-seated fear of disappointing dinner guests, most cooks have a dish that… read more

Valentine’s Gift Guide for the Cookbook Lover & Giveaway

Today, I've put together a gift guide to offer some inspiration for Valentine's Day. Along with the gift guide, I am including a worldwide giveaway prize package of a BonJour Voyager Glass Teapot, a set of BonJour Cappuccino Cups Set, and a BonJour Pro Torch along with three cookbooks Cake: Layered, Frosted, Sliced & Shared by Brooke Bell; In Love… read more

January 2022 New Cookbook Review

I was hoping that once 2022 arrived we wouldn't be having the same issues as we experienced in 2020 and 2021. But, alas, publication dates are moving about and a dozen of this month's titles were pushed forward. The 2022 preview post is being updated weekly - new additions and revised release dates are added at the top of each… read more

Celebrate Burns Night with these foods

While we can't possibly post about each and every celebratory food day, some occasions do call for recognition. One of these is Burns Night, which honors the January 25 birthday of revered Scottish poet Robert Burns. (It's also the day before my birthday so I have extra reason to celebrate my fellow Aquarian.) Delicious Magazine (UK) recently posted their perfect… read more

January 2022 EYB Cookbook Club Summary

Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we have been cooking from: Cookbook: A Cook’s Book: The Essential Nigel Slater by Nigel SlaterClassic Title: The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater by Nigel SlaterBaking: The Best of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Favorite Recipes from… read more

Food news antipasto

In 2021, Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson's Pinch of Nom Comfort Food was a runaway bestseller, and remains in the #1 position on Amazon UK's sales chart for nonfiction books. In general, cookbook sales are still going strong worldwide, but the distribution of sales is uneven, at best. According to The Sunday Times (possible paywall), while some books like the… read more

This week: Breads of the world, recipes, cookbook previews and more

As I was relaxing and scrolling YouTube, I came across a video of how bakers in Samarkand bake 12,000 loaves of their unique bread a day. There are several videos on this subject if you want to explore more. I find it fascinating how they shape their bread and almost dive into the ovens to attach it to the hot… read more

All about 00 flour

"It's all about the grind, not the grain." That's what the founders of an artisanal grain mill near me have to say about their products, and it's also a partial answer to the question "what, exactly, is 00 flour?" Renowned chef Alice Waters tackles this question over at MasterClass, regaling us with the ins and outs of this Italian flour.… read more

Get ready to celebrate the year of the tiger

February 2 ushers in the Chinese New Year as well as new year's celebrations in other Asian countries including Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The Chinese calendar is a lunar/solar calendar and other names for this festival – the most important in the Chinese calendar – are the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival. The celebration begins on the… read more

Three by Selin Kiazim Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Three: Acid, Texture, Contrast: The Essential Foundations to Redefine Everyday Cooking by Selin Kiazim. Three looks at the magic elements that make a plate of food truly come into its own: acid, texture and contrast – the fundamental building blocks that will transform a modest dish into the star… read more

How much attention do you pay to food awards?

The shelves in large supermarkets carry dizzying arrays of products. The hot sauce selection at the modestly-sized grocery store in my medium sized town takes up several feet of shelf space containing dozens of varieties, and the jams and preserves span an even larger area. Trying to decide which item to buy can be a time-consuming exercise. To simplify things,… read more

Gennaro’s Limoni: Vibrant Italian Recipes Celebrating the Lemon Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/worldwide giveaway to win one of four copies of Gennaro's Limoni: Vibrant Italian Recipes Celebrating the Lemon by Gennaro Contaldo. EYB will provide one additional copy worldwide. UK cover to left; US to right The Amalfi Coast and lemons are a match made in heaven. The sweet, aromatic, large and thick-skinned Sfusato Amalfitano (take a look at how… read more

Food news antipasto

Another free online cookbook landed in my inbox this week, this time from Rancho Gordo, the West Coast bean purveyor who has changed the game when it comes to legumes. The short cookbook - really more like a pamphlet - is by Jill Nussinow, a culinary educator, registered dietician, and self-described "bad blogger." Best Caesar from Canadian Living As the… read more

Ready, set, organize!

A couple of weeks ago I said that one of my goals for the new year was to organize my (still not finished) new kitchen and pantry. Epicurious must have been paying attention, because they recently published a comprehensive guide on how to organize your kitchen. This feature has segments for creating cooking stations, tips from experts, the best way… read more

This week: The Big Book of King Cake, recipes, cookbook previews and more

Last Sunday, Darcie wrote a paragraph on King cakes in her food news antipasto post; and in February of 2020, I covered the yeasted cake in a weekly roundup. Today, I want to share more with you about a beautiful book devoted to the subject. The Big Book of King Cake: The Stories & Bakers Behind New Orleans' Sweetest Tradition… read more

Getting credit for the recipe

The origins of recipes are often murky at best - think pasta carbonara and the $250 Neiman Marcus cookie - and eerily similar recipes pop up from cookbook to cookbook with little or no explanation of the recipe's history. The issue of recipe plagiarism aside, the concept of who should get credit for a decades-old recipe that has been shared… read more

February 2022 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary

As our members know, each month we offer several cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. There are other fun cookbook clubs around the interwebs and we’d like to highlight those for those members who might want to cook or bake something other than our choices.  We want to get this information out to you so you can prepare… read more

Tips on food photography

We like to encourage our Members to submit photographs of the food they make to accompany the recipes in the EYB Library, but we understand that some people might be hesitant to add photos because they feel like they aren't good enough. We want you to banish those thoughts, because even imperfect shots can add a lot of context to… read more

Do you have what it takes to make the Queen’s pudding?

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch, is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year. Numerous celebrations will take place to mark the occasion, and to coincide with the summer's festivities, the royals - in partnership with Fortnum & Mason - are asking citizens to create a special pudding in honor of the anniversary. Summer berry pudding with vanilla fromage frais… read more
Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!