Best Cookbooks of 2014

… and the winner is Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi

This is our 6th year of compiling the Best of the Best, and there has never been a winner that was so far ahead of every other book. Plenty More had over twice as many votes as the nearest book.

The Best of the Best list gets bigger every year. We amalgamated more than 300 Best Cookbooks of 2014 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 330 lists there were 3,050 votes
860 different cookbooks made the list
435 cookbooks had only one vote

Check out the Best cookbooks of 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 lists.

1. Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi

This is the fifth year in a row that Ottolenghi has had a book in the top 10 and the third time he has had the number one book. No other book came close to this book’s universal popularity – it was the number one book in every country we get polls from.

2. Prune by Gabrielle Hamilton

Gabrielle’s memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter was the top rated food writing book in 2011. Her first cookbook has proved equally popular. This is a cookbook like no other before – a restaurant kitchen manual with notes to line cooks, stains and scribbles and no index (EYB to the rescue).

3. Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan

Dorie’s books on baking and French cooking are well loved, so much so that entire blogging groups have been created around them. This time Dorie combines both loves in one book and proves to us that all French women do not just buy dessert from the pâtisserie.

4. Heritage by Sean Brock

The first cookbook from the acclaimed southern chef is a very personal book. He covers his upbringing in Appalachia and his drive to preserve the heritage foods of the South.

5. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible by Karen Page

Karen and her husband Andrew Dornenberg (who for this book took on the role of photographer) have had prior success with The Flavor Bible and The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine. Following a change in their own eating habits, they made plants the focus of this reference guide.

6. Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook

The controversary surrounding this book – accusations of racism, copious swearing, threats against the authors, etc – doesn’t seem to have dimmed enthusiasm from reviewers.

7. The Baking Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rose is one of the most thorough and precise bakers and she beautifully conveys those skills in this book, proving that the term Bible is quite appropriate.

8. The Slanted Door by Charles Phan

This is the second book from the renowned San Francisco chef. His first, Vietnamese Home Cooking was aimed (obviously) at home cooks whereas this book reproduces the dishes from the award-winning restaurant.

9. Mexico: The Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte

A huge and hugely comprehensive guide to regional Mexican home cooking. Margarita is a chef and food activist who has a popular Latin American cable cooking show and lobbied to get Mexican cuisine listed on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.

10. My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz

Another top 10 book from an American in Paris. Part cookbook, part travel book, part memoir – anyone who loves David’s wit on his blog will enjoy the stories that accompany every recipe.