Best Cookbooks of 2013

… and the winner is Pok Pok by Andy Ricker

This is our 5th year of compiling the Best of the Best, and this is the first year there weren’t one or two clear front-runners. Any one of the top 10 books looked like they could win, but at the end Pok Pok edged ahead.

Congratulations to Nigel Slater for achieving a Best of the Best first – two cookbooks in the top 10 in the same year. And congratulations go to Ten Speed Press who published 6 of the top 10 books listed below – including the top 4 books. This is an incredible achievement for one publisher.

We amalgamated 214 Best Cookbooks of 2013 lists from TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Blogs and Booksellers across the world (there are links to all of them below) to come up with the definitive guide to the best books on food and drink.

For those of you interested in data:

From 214 lists there were 2,070 votes
736 different cookbooks made the list
411 cookbooks had only one vote

Check out the Best Cookbooks of 2012, Best cookbooks of 2011, Best cookbooks of 2010 and Best cookbooks of 2009 lists.

1. Pok Pok by Andy Ricker and J.J. Goode

This is the first cookbook from Andy Ricker. He spent years traveling in Thailand, before opening a tiny restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Following high praise from the critics his fame has spread – the success of this cookbook can only escalate that.

2. Manresa by David Kinch and Christine Muhlke

Another successful restaurateur produces his first cookbook. This chef (and the book) is focused on the farm-to-table ethos of the San Francisco area and Northern California coast.

3. Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison

Much more than a cookbook, this major work explores the relationships between vegetables, edible flowers, herbs, and familiar wild plants within the same botanical families.

4. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

This is the 4th year in a row that Ottolenghi has had a cookbook in the top 10. This book was published in the UK in 2008 but following the huge success of Jerusalem and Plenty is now available in the USA.

5. One Good Dish by David Tanis

Although his background is as a restaurant chef, this book is squarely aimed at the home cook. Organized around his own personal themes, such as meals you can eat with a spoon, this is a decidedly original book that is still approachable.

6. The A.O.C. Cookbook by Suzanne Goin

Goin’s first book, Sunday Suppers at Lucques is immensely popular with EYB members and this follow-up looks to be as good. The small plates developed at her second restaurant are here transformed into main courses for the home cook, alongside wine pairings.

7. Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food by Nigel Slater

Some of Slater’s early cookbooks were for quick recipes and here he returns to the theme, using his own supper-time improvisations for inspiration.

8. The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook by Michael Anthony

Given the huge popularity of this NYC restaurant since its opening in 1994, it’s amazing that it has taken this long for its first cookbook to appear (though of course there was the highly respected desserts book The Last Course from Claudia Fleming, the pastry chef).

9. A Work in Progress by René Redzepi

Three books in one, a journal, recipe book and flick book, A Work in Progress recounts the day-to-day life at Noma, consistently rated as one of the best restaurants in the world.

=10. Le Pigeon by Gabriel Rucker

Another first book from a highly respected chef (do we detect a theme this year?), this book covers all angles – main courses, desserts,, wine recommendations, back-story. So for those of us who cannot get to Portland, this collection will have to do.

=10. Notes from the Larder by Nigel Slater

The second book in the Top 10 from Nigel Slater, this book was published in the UK last year as The Kitchen Diaries II. Based on Slater’s journal entries over a year, this is a very personal collection of recipes and musings.