Best Cookbooks of 2019

1. Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman nails dinner with the author’s permission to be imperfect. Roman makes having people over fun and not stressful. This abundant collection of all-new recipes that are unfussy is for gatherings big and small, any day of the week. Roman appeals to the masses from the novice to the experienced cook all looking to create delicious food.

2. Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin is a celebration of two hundred years of African-American cooking. The author’s vast research is shared in the stories and recipes developed by the black professional culinary class from butlers to ranch hands to classically trained chefs. Toni is a story-teller and Jubilee is a treasure to read and to cook from as every page brings more knowledge, history, and great food.

3. From the Oven to the Table by Diana Henry is a can’t-miss by the incomparable Ms. Henry. The recipes here do take care of themselves. Diana’s recipes appeal to the masses for a number of reasons: they are approachable, packed with flavor and crowd-pleasers. The recipes will be repeat offenders (in the most positive way) in your menu planning.

4. Sababa by Adeena Sussman is a treasure. Sababa is Hebrew for basically “everything is awesome” and the title reflects the contents. 125 brilliant recipes bring Israeli kitchen staples such as tahini, sumac, silan (date syrup), harissa, za’atar to our table, while also presenting more exotic spices and ingredients. Adeena’s vibrant recipes reflect the way she cooks daily in her Tel Aviv kitchen and we will find inspiration and joy there as well.

5. Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, Megan Scott & John Becker (new and revised this year) brings a new generation of cooks many popular recipes from previous editions retested and updated, as well as over 600 new recipes geared to modern tastes and the way we cook today. From quick, weeknight-friendly recipes and meals you can cook ahead to show-stopping, celebratory dishes and DIY projects such as fermenting foods and making sausages, the new Joy has dishes for every occasion, whim, and skill level.

6. The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop is a new and updated edition of the author’s Land of Plenty with 200 recipes and stunning photographs. Almost twenty years after the publication of Land of Plenty, Fuchsia revisits the region where her own culinary journey began, adding more than 70 new recipes to the original repertoire and accompanying them with mouthwatering descriptions of the dazzling flavors and textures of Sichuanese cooking.

7. Pastry Love by Joanne Chang includes 125 dessert recipes for many things the James Beard award-winning pastry chef could never serve in the setting of a bakery. For example, items that are best served warm or with whipped cream on top. The recipes start off with simpler options such as Lemon sugar cookies and build up to showstoppers like Passion fruit crepe cake. The book also includes master lessons and essential techniques for making pastry cream, lemon curd, puff pastry, and more, all of which make this book a must-have for beginners and expert home bakers alike.

8. The Whole Fish Cookbook by Josh Niland reveals a completely new way to think about all aspects of fish cookery. From sourcing and butchering to dry ageing and curing, it challenges everything we thought we knew about the subject and invites readers to see fish for what it really is – an amazing, complex source of protein that can, and should, be treated with exactly the same nose-to-tail reverence as meat.

9. Indian-ish by Priya Krishna is a loving tribute to Priya’s mom’s “Indian-ish” cooking – a trove of one-of-a-kind Indian-American hybrids that are easy to make, clever, practical, and packed with flavor. Filled with stories, illustrations, and recipes that will surprise and delight, we will all strive to be Indian-ish.

10. South by Sean Brock is the long-awaited follow up to the chef’s 2014 debut cookbook, Heritage, a New Times bestseller and James Beard award winner. With recipes that range from Fried bologna with pickled peach mustard, Spring lamb with rhubarb butter, Peanut butter chess pie with a chocolate cornmeal crust, Grapefruit creme Anglaise, to Watermelon molasses, Brock has triumphantly proven that lightning does indeed strike twice.