Best Cookbooks of 2017

…and the winner is Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh with a commanding lead. This is the 5th time that Ottolenghi has had the number 1 book of the year.

This is our 9th year of compiling the Best of the Best. We search the globe to come up with the definitive list of the best books on food and drink of the year. Not just one reviewer’s opinion but an amalgamation of every list we could find.

In this year’s Best of the Best list we combined more than 300 Best Cookbooks of 2017 lists from TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Blogs and Booksellers across the world (there are links to all of them below).

For those of you interested in data:

  • From 350 lists there were 3,247 votes
  • 815 different cookbooks made the list
  • 364 cookbooks had only one vote

Check out the Best cookbooks of 201620152014, 201320122011, 2010 and 2009 lists.


1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi, written with pastry chef Helen Goh, brings fresh, evocative ingredients, exotic spices and complex flavourings – including fig, rose petal, saffron, aniseed, orange blossom, pistachio and cardamom – to indulgent cakes, biscuits, tarts, puddings, cheesecakes and ice cream in 124 innovative recipes.

2. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat is a master class in cooking that condenses decades of professional experience into just four simple elements – salt, fat, acid and heat. “Anyone can cook anything and make it delicious,” declares the author. Page after page of her instructions instill confidence in both novice and experienced cooks.

3. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman shares more than 100 new, easy-to-cook, impossible-to-resist recipes from the beloved blogger (indexed here) and New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. It is often said that sequels are never as great as the first offering but this is not the case here.

4. BraveTart by Stella Parks, the pastry genius at Serious Eats, delivers a baking book with recipes that have been perfected and updated for all our favorite classics. Stella’s recipes are foolproof.

5. Six Seasons A New Way with Veg is an incredible cookbook from the chef and owner of renowned trattoria Ava Gene’s in Portland, Oregon. McFadden highlights the attributes of vegetables throughout their growing seasons with 270 innovative and absolutely stunning recipes.

6. At My Table by Nigella Lawson is a book that shares our favorite domestic diva’s favorite recipes. Nigella states, ‘Our lives are formed by memories, and the focus of mine is the food I’ve cooked and the people I’ve cooked for, the people who have sat at my table, as well as the other tables I’ve eaten on, from the blue formica of my childhood, to the mottled zinc that is the nexus of my life now.’

7. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark shares 253 recipes that each deliver one fantastic dish that is so satisfying and flavor-forward it can stand alone – or be paired with a simple salad or fresh bread on the side. Melissa’s recipes never fail. Melissa has a second book in the runners up section below.

8. Dining In by Alison Roman features 148 recipes for simple, of-the-moment dishes that are full of quickie techniques such as slathering roast chicken in anchovy butter, roasting citrus to bring out new flavors, and keeping boiled potatoes in your fridge for instant crispy smashed potatoes.

9. David Tanis Market Cooking by David Tanis seeks out the best ingredient and explores the best ways of cooking it, pulling from all the world’s great cuisines. So whether it’s Louisiana dirty rice, Persian jewel rice, Chinese sticky rice, Arroz Valenciana, or Italian risotto, you learn the qualities of each ingredient and the best methods and recipes for showcasing what makes it special.

10. The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty, renowned culinary historian, offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry both black and white through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.


Runners Up

Top British/Irish Picks

1.  At My Table by Nigella Lawson
2.  Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
3.  5 Ingredients Quick & Easy by Jamie Oliver 
4.  The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater 
5.  Kaukasis by Olia Hercules 
6.  The Modern Cook’s Year by Anna Jones
7.  The Sportsman by Stephen Harris 
8.  Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
=9. Feasts by Sabrina Ghayour
=9. On the Side by Ed Smith
=9. Two Kitchens by Rachel Roddy

 

Top Australian/New Zealand Picks

=1. Cornersmith Salads & Pickles by Alex Elliott-Howery and Sabine Spindler
=1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
3. The Tivoli Road Baker by Michael James 
=4. Finding Fire by Lennox Hastie 
=4. Ostro by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
=4. The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young 
=7. Hummus & Co by Michael Rantissi
=7. Igni: The First Year by Aaron Turner 
=7. Maggie’s Recipe for Life by Maggie Beer 
=7. Mr & Mrs Wilkinson’s How It Is at Home by Matt Wilkinson and Sharlee Gibb
=7. Poh Bakes 100 Greats by Poh Ling Yeow
=7. Real Food by Mike by Michael McEnearney

 

Top Canadian Picks

1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh 
2. Farm to Chef by Lynn Crawford
3. The Simple Bites Kitchen by Aimée Wimbush-Bourque
4. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
=5. 5 Ingredients Quick & Easy by Jamie Oliver
=5. Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip by Lindsay Anderson
      and Dana van Veller
=5. Lure Sustainable Seafood Recipes by Ned Bell  
=5. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
=5. The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright 

Top Drinks Books

1. Meehan’s Bartender Manual by Jim Meehan
2. 3 Ingredient Cocktails by Robert Simonson
3. By the Smoke and the Smell by Thaddeus Vogler
4. Champagne: The Essential Guide by Peter Liem
=5. Bursting Bubbles by Robert Walters (titled Champagne  in AU)
=5. The Wine Dine Dictionary by Victoria Moore
7. Mezcal by Emma Jansen
=8. A Short History of Drunkenness by Mark Forsyth
=8. Chasing the Dram by Rachel McCormack
=8. The Way of Whiskey by Dave Broom

Top Vegetarian & Vegan Books

1. The Modern Cook’s Year by Anna Jones
2. On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox
3. Love Real Food by Katheryne Taylor
4. The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright
5. Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton 
=6. Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel & Luise Vendahl
=6. The Edgy Veg by Candice Hutchings 
=8. America’s Test Kitchen Vegan for Everybody
=8. Field Roast by Tommy McDonald
=8. The How Not to Die Cookbook by Dr. Michael Greger 
=8. This Cheese is Nuts! by Julie Piatt
=8. Vegan: The Cookbook by Jean-Christian Jury

Top Memoirs & Books About Food

1. The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
2. Kitchen Creativity by Karen Page
3. Unforgettable by Emily Thelin 
4. The Comfort Food Diaries by Emily Nunn
=5. Coming to My Senses by Alice Walters
=5. Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker
=5. The Potlikker Papers by John T. Edge
8. Leave Me Alone with the Recipes by Cipe Pineles
=9. Give a Girl a Knife by Amy Thielen
=9. What She Ate by Laura Shapiro 
=9. The Modern Kitchen by Tim Hayward

Sources for Data

 

Eat Your Books

EYB top picks, EYB for collectors

TV, Radio, YouTube & Podcasts

88Nine Radio Milwaukee, Bravo TV, CBC, The Feed Podcast, Food Network, The Food Programme (BBC), KCRW Good Food (Santa Monica), The Level Teaspoon PodcastLMFM (IE), NPR (The Concierge), NPR (Here & Now), True Food TV, TV3 (IE), WFAE

Newspapers & magazines

USA: 225 Magazine (Baton Rouge), Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (best cocktail books), The Atlantic, Bon Appétit, Bookpage, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, City Pages (Minneapolis), Cleveland Plain Dealer (best wine books), Cleveland Plain Dealer (best beer books), Cooking Light, Cooking Light (home cooks), Departures, Edible Boston, Edible East End, Edible New Hampshire, Edible Rhody, Edible South Florida, El Paso Inc, Esquire Magazine, Florida Travel, Forbes, Forbes (drinks books), Harper’s Bazaar, Houston Chronicle, The Jewish Daily Forward, Los Angeles Times, Mail Tribune (OR), Martha Stewart Living, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Naked Food Magazine, Nashville Scene, New Haven Register, New York Magazine (selections by cookbook authors), The New York Times, The New York Times (baking books), The New York Times (best wine books), Newsday, The Oregonian, The Osceola Sun, Parade, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Post & Courier (Charleston), Portland Press Herald (vegan cookbooks), Portland Monthly, Portland Press Herald (vegan cookbooks), Prevention Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly (gifts), Publishers Weekly (lifestyle), Raleigh News & Observer, San Antonio Current, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle (food books), San Jose Mercury News, Saveur, Saveur (gifts), Seattle Met, Seattle Times, Southern Living, The Star-Ledger (NJ), Star Tribune, Star Tribune (baking books), Star Tribune (wine books), Sweet Paul Magazine (Nordic cookbooks), Tampa Bay Times, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, USA Today, The Virginian Pilot, Vogue, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post (cookbooks), Wine Enthusiast, Wired

Canada: Chatelaine Magazine, The Chronicle Herald, The Globe & Mail, National Post, Now Toronto, Ottawa Citizen, Today’s Parent, Toronto Star, Western Living Magazine

UK & Ireland: BBC Good Food, Daily Mail, Daily Mail (gifts), Financial Times, The Independent (best food books), The Independent (celebrity cookbooks), The Independent (vegetarian), The Independent (vegan), Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, The Irish News, The Irish Times, Jewish Chronicle, London Evening Standard (best baking books), London Evening Standard (best cookbook recipes), London Evening Standard – ES Magazine, New Statesman (best drinks books), Observer Food Monthly, Red Magazine (best gifts), The Scottish Herald, The Scottish Herald (author picks), The Spectator, The Sunday Express, The Sunday Times (food books), The Telegraph, The Telegraph (drinks books), The Times, The Week

Australia & New Zealand: The Advertiser, Adelaide, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Good Food (Sydney Morning Herald), In Daily (Adelaide), The Listener (Lauraine Jacobs)

Blogs, websites & online magazines

USA:  All Day I Dream About Food, Always Ravenous, A Beautiful Plate, Beauty From Burnt Toast, Best Products, Better Baking, BookBub, Booklist, Brooklyn Based, Brown Eyed Baker, Civil Eats, The Colorful Kitchen, Confessions of an Overworked Mom, Cooking With Amy, Cool Mom Picks, A Cozy Kitchen, Craft & Cocktails, Cupcakes & Kale Chips, The Daily Beast, Daily Burn, Design*Sponge, Detoxinista, Dianne’s Vegan Kitchen, Easy Food, Eat Drink Frolic, Eater (general), Eater (gifts), Eat the Love Pt.1, Eat the Love Pt.2, The Entertainment Report, Epicurious, The Epoch Times, Everyday Annie, Flirting With Flavors, Food in Jars (general)Food in Jars (preserving books),  Foodsided, Fork in the Road, The Garden of Eating, Gastronomic Salt Lake City, Gear Patrol, Geeks Who Eat, Gimme Some Oven, Health.com, The Heritage Cook, How Sweet Eats, Huffington Post (Jamie Schler), The Hungry Chronicles, In Sonnet’s Kitchen, Italian Food Forever, Kirkus (best memoirs)The Kitchn, Kosher Like Me, Lennart’s Place, Library Journal, Live Love Laugh Food, Love & Lemons, Make It Better, Meatless Mondays, Medium, Mind Body Green, Modern Mrs. Darcy, Mom’s Kitchen Handbook, Mother Jones, Munchies, New Worlder, Nicole’s Novel Reads, Nutrition Pro Consulting, Nylon, One Green Planet, PETA.org, Plate (general), Plate (drinks books), Plate (books for chefs and bartenders), PopSugar, Pure Wow, Read It Forward, The Red Headed Traveler, Refinery 29, Remodelsita, The Salted Cookie, A Sassy Spoon, A Serious Bunburyist, Serious Eats, Shelf Awareness, Shockingly Delicious, Simply Recipes, Slate, The Slow Roasted Italian, Smithsonian.com, Starchefs, Steele House Kitchen, Stetted, StyleCaster, The Takeout, Tasting Table, Tasty Balance Nutrition, Turntable Kitchen, Two Peas & Their Pod, UpRoxx, Vegan Nourishment, The Vegan Word, The Village Voice, The What, What’s Gaby Cooking, Wide Open Eat, Will It Waffle, Zestful Kitchen

Canada: 49th Shelf, Eat.Live.Travel.Write (French cookbooks), Eat.Live.Travel.Write (baking books), Eat North, Ethical Elephant, Food Bloggers CanadaGood Food Revolution (travel cookbooks)Gothic EpicuresHuffington Post Canada, Kitchen Frolic, The Savvy Reader, Simple Bites, Styled to Sparkle, Westender (Everything Vancouver)

UK & Ireland: Bibliocook, Big Spud, Bread & Oysters, Culture Whisper, Demuths Cookery School, The Flexitarian, Food et al, Food for Fitness, The Gannet, GastroGays, Great British Chefs, The Happy Foodie (best cookbooks), The Happy Foodie (baking books), The Happy Foodie (vegetarian/vegan), The Happy Foodie (beginners), The Happy Foodie (serious cooks), The Happy Foodie (stocking stuffers), April J. Harris, Healthista, HerFamily.ie, I Love Cooking (IE), Just Go Places, Matching Food and Wine, Ms Marmite Lover, The Mother Cooker, News Puddle, Saffron Strands, Sheerluxe, Stylist, The Whistle

Australia & New Zealand: Broadsheet, Eats Cooks Reads, Fine Dining Lovers, Gourmantic, Monday Morning Cooking Club, The New Daily, Stone Soup

International: South China Morning Post, Belly Over Mind (India), Kids Stop Press (India), The National (UAE)

Booksellers, Libraries & Book Awards

Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, The Andre Simon Awards (UK), Angus & Robertson Bookworld (Australia), Appetite for Books of Montreal, Avid Reader of Brisbane, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Book Larder of Seattle, Book Larder (baking books), Book Larder (food writing), Book Larder (American), Books for Cooks of Melbourne, Booktopia (Australia), Cook + Book of Arnhem, Netherlands, The Cookbook Co. Cooks of Alberta, The Cookbook Stall of Philadelphia, Dymock’s (Australia), Fortnum & Mason Food Awards (UK), Good Egg of Toronto, Good Reads, Harvard Book Store of Cambridge MA, Indigo (Canada), Irish Book Awards, Kitchen Arts & Letters of New York, Kitchen Witch Cookbooks of New Orleans, De Kookboekhandel of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Left Bank Books of St. Louis, Omnivore Books of San Francisco, Peribo (Australia), Powell’s of Portland, Powells (staff picks), Readings of Melbourne, Read It and Eat of Chicago, Taste Canada Awards

Authors

Darina Allen, Rick Bayless, Melissa Clark, Fran Costigan, Naomi Duguid, Marcy Goldman, Stephen Harris (The Sportsman), Diana Henry, Anna Jones, Rebecca Katz, Rose Prince, Maria Speck