Help with buying ingredients

We know it can be frustrating to come across unusual ingredients in a recipe and have no idea where to find them. With online shopping it is much easier now than it used to be - but how do you know that the supplier is reliable and the products are good quality? EYB to the rescue - we are adding… read more

Celebrate Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Day

Today is Shrove Tuesday aka National Pancake Day. The Tuesday before Lent begins is a traditional day for eating pancakes, hearkening back to a time when any remaining rich foods (usually foods with a lot of fat or eggs) were eaten prior to the Lenten fasting. Because pancakes factor so heavily into this tradition, this food ‘holiday’ is a perfect excuse… read more

Food news antipasto

Michelin recently announced which restaurants would receive its coveted stars in the UK. One of those is London's Chishuru, whose founder and chef Adejoké Bakare is the first black female chef to receive a star in the country. Bakare started Chishuru, which focuses on West African cuisine, first as a pop-up after winning a competition in Brixton. The chef said… read more

Welcome the Year of the Dragon

Today marks the beginning of a very special time for the Chinese and several other cultures, as it is the beginning of the lunar new year, which is called Tet in Vietnam, Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia, Losar in Tibet, and Seollal in Korea. This holiday, celebrated by 20% of the world’s population, is honored differently in various countries, but food features prominently in all celebrations. Each of the foods… read more

Modernist Bread at Home, Ottolenghi’s new book and tour, Ina Garten memoir, 2024 book news, and 1,800 EYBD Previews

I have been updating our 2024 Cookbook Preview and am excited to point out a few upcoming books recently added: Milk Street Bakes by Christopher Kimball; Zahav Home by Michael Solomonov; Sunlight and Breadcrumbs by Renee Erickson; Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes by Jessie Sheehan; Chinese Enough by Kristina Cho; Easy Wins by Anna Jones; The Big Book of Bread by James… read more

All about salt

When I first learned how to cook, I was aware of only one kind of salt, the stuff that came in the cardboard can that featured the iconic girl with an umbrella. It was Morton's iodized table salt, and it's all I used for years. As I learned more about cooking, I became aware of different types of salt: first… read more

How much should little annoyances matter?

One thing I love about cookbooks is that every author lends their own voice to the recipe through the instructions and notes. This gives every book its own vibe and personality, and I will sometimes pull a book off the shelf as much for its tone as for a specific recipe. Authors also develop their own quirky phrases for recipe… read more

Score a touchdown with great Super Bowl snacks

I get the feeling that this year's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers (happening Sunday, February 11) will be watched by a demographic that has never before cared about a football game. If you're among the newbies who doesn't know a first down from a touchdown, hardly anyone will question your football bonafides if your… read more

Irish Kitchen Cocktails Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK giveaway to win one of two copies of Irish Kitchen Cocktails: 60 Recipes You Can Make at Home with Everyday Equipment by Oisín Davis. Oisin Davis is a self-confessed wizened old warhorse of the Irish drinks industry. His earliest work years saw him battling in the trenches of hospitality, taking on roles as varied as a dive bar… read more

Butter Boy Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK giveaway to win one of two copies of Butter Boy: Collected Stories and Recipes by Paul Flynn. Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, County Waterford. Paul has been a regular on Irish and international television with numerous… read more

Preview of Hardie Grant/Quadrille Spring 2024 Titles

There are so many fantastic books scheduled for release this year and today I want to highlight the Spring 2024 Hardie Grant and Quadrille Publishing titles. Books are listed in the month they are being published for the first time anywhere. For example - Ho Jiak was published in January in Australia and will be released in the US in… read more

Food news antipasto

Dina Begum's Made in Bangladesh: Flavours and Memories in Six Seasons explores the delicious, but underrepresented, food of her home country. Saveur recently interviewed Begum (they are featuring Made in Bangladesh in their Cookbook Club this month), discussing everything from spicy bhortas and glistening kebabs to divine biryanis and milky puddings. Have you ever looked at a baking recipe and… read more

Website takes “jump to the recipe” to a new level

A perennial complaint from people looking for recipes on the internet is that they have to slog through countless photos and irrelevant stories before they eventually get to the recipe. This has led some bloggers to add a hyperlink at the top of each post so that those who don't want to read the story can easily jump to the… read more

This recipe writer makes $15,000 per recipe

Caroline Chambers may not be a well-known chef or author like Yotam Ottolenghi or Ina Garten, but she is one successful food writer. She has one of the top ranked food newsletters on Substack, with over 131,000 subscribers. She's written a cookbook, has a blog and podcast, and develops recipes for food and wine brands. And, as Dianne Jacobs explains… read more

Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook – Comfort and events

Exciting news! As I mentioned in our January cookbook review, Yotam Ottolenghi has a new book scheduled to be released this fall written with Helen Goh, Tara Wigley and Verena Lochmuller. UK cover on left; North American cover on right (see below for US update) Ottolenghi Comfort will be released in the UK in September and in the US and CA in October. UPDATE: Just added to… read more

Life’s uncertain, order dessert

Everyone who has eaten with a group of people at a restaurant has encountered the following scenario: after finishing the main part of the meal, the server returns and asks "Did anyone save room for dessert?" People will glance at each other, looking for signs that someone else wants to order a sweet ending to the repast. Instead, there's a… read more

The latest cake trend involves setting it on fire

Have you seen any videos of the latest cake decorating trend? It's popped up in the last couple of days on my social media feeds, and this trend is literal fire. According to an article on Eater, "Burn-away cakes have gotten over 174 million views on TikTok since they gained traction on the platform earlier this month." So what is a burn-away… read more

January 2024 New Cookbook Review

Welcome to January! We have a new year of great cookbooks to explore. Remember you can keep track of what is coming this year with our 2024 Cookbook Preview and don’t forget that you can create a wishlist and share it with your loved ones. Our January 2024 EYB Cookbook Club Summary and February 2024 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary can be found at the links… read more

Best selling cookbooks 2023

Last month our friends at cookbook stores around the world gave us their picks for their favorite books of 2023 which we then included in our Best of the Best of 2023. Now we asked them for their top sellers of 2023 (published any year). It would be interesting to compare these charts to non-specialist store/online retailer book sales but it is very… read more

Food news antipasto

Two stories about Trader Joe's hit my radar this week. The first, from Food & Wine, is a recap of the annual survey that the grocer undertakes about its customers favorite products. Landing at number one on that list is Chili and Lime Flavored Rolled Tortilla Chips, priced at $2.99 USD. The other news concerns a complaint brought against Trader… read more

New series chronicles the rise of Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart wearing an all-white outfit smiles at the camera. The background is an off white just darker than Stewart's outfit.
A new four-part series from CNN (which will be broadcast later on Max), “The Many Lives of Martha Stewart,” chronicles the rise of the iconic domestic doyenne, from model to stockbroker to controller of a media empire. Eater's Bettina Makalintal provides us with a glimpse of what the limited series has to offer. The first two episodes trace Stewart's trajectory… read more

The art of eating snow

A new trend has popped up in recent weeks with viral videos showing people eating snow in a number of ways. Many involve making desserts or drinks containing or topped with freshly fallen snow. Reese Witherspoon recently posted a TikTok where she makes a "Chococinno" from coffee, chocolate, and flavored syrups. The internet being, well, the internet, her post drew… read more

Best of the best 2023

We have assembled 382 lists from around the world to create our 15th annual Best of the Best. The top book of 2023 is.....drum roll......Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook by Sohla El-Waylly. As well as the top 10 books of the year plus six runners up, we have charts showing the votes from the UK/Ireland, Canada and Australia/New… read more

Simply Chinese Feasts Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Simply Chinese Feasts: Tasty Recipes for Friends and Family by Suzie Lee. Suzie Lee is a Chinese cook, the 2020 winner of BBC’s Best Home Cook and the presenter of Suzie Lee Home Cook Hero on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Brought up by her Hong Kong parents in… read more

Danny Loves Pasta – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our worldwide contest to win one of two copies of Danny Loves Pasta by Danny Freeman. Danny Freeman is the Italian-American creator behind the popular TikTok and Instagram accounts @DannyLovesPasta, where he's known for making colorful and eye-catching fresh pasta. His YouTube following is impressive as well! His debut cookbook Danny Loves Pasta is a vibrant explosion of all… read more
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