Nigella Lawson says never call yourself “just” a home cook

April 11, 2018 by
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As Nigella Lawson embarks on her US tour in support of the new cookbook At My Table, fans across the country are making plans to visit the domestic goddess at their local bookstore. For those who are not fortunate enough to live near one of the tour spots, we have a small consolation prize: a wonderful letter she penned for… read more

The winner of Food52’s ‘The Piglet’

April 10, 2018 by
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2018's The Piglet cookbook competition may have been the best one yet. Sixteen amazing cookbooks (you can find the complete list here) went head-to-head in a bracketed contest, with the winners advancing to the next round. There were some tough calls along the way, and the usual criticism about the way the judges approached each book.  The Piglet is different than… read more

These classic books are being overlooked by new cooks

April 9, 2018 by
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For many of us, learning to cook meant spending time with classic cookbooks like Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Joy of Cooking, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, and others published between in the last 60+ years. All of these books share one trait: they are not lavishly illustrated. A few line drawings appear here and there to demonstrate a technique,… read more

A new and improved Instant Pot is coming soon

April 8, 2018 by
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  The Instant Pot juggernaut shows no signs of stopping, despite a recent recall over one of its models. Cooks everywhere have come to depend on the machine's versatility and speedy cooking. If you like the current models of Instant Pot, such as the one shown above, just wait until you see what is coming next. Taste of Home gives… read more

Is this the world’s most expensive cookbook?

April 7, 2018 by
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 It is not unusual for old and rare cookbooks to fetch handsome prices. Even some new cookbooks, like the multi-volume set of Modernist Cuisine, cost several hundred dollars. However, a recently released tome about pizza may be setting a record for the most expensive new cookbook. The extremely limited edition Pizza from Scratch (available through the NYC bookstore Kitchen Arts & Letters)… read more

Living in a bookstore

April 6, 2018 by
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Richard Kostelanetz (also known simply as "Kosti") is a writer, artist, critic, and editor of the avant-garde. He has degrees from Brown University, Columbia University, and he attended King's College, London. He served as visiting professor or guest artist at a variety of institutions and lectured widely. But those attributes are not the most interesting aspect of the 77-year-old New… read more

The cookbook from France’s ‘Jam Fairy’ is still in print

April 5, 2018 by
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Have you ever read a story about a chef, restaurant, or tiny shop, enamored by descriptions of dazzling foods, and gleefully discover at the end of the article that you can buy a cookbook by the chef or artisan? Knowing this crowd, I'd bet the answer to that question is 'of course!' Nevertheless, it's always exciting when it happens, and… read more

Julia Turshen creates database for underrepresented voices in food

April 4, 2018 by
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Last fall, Julia Turshen released her latest cookbook called Feed the Resistance, which aimed to foster community and provide sustenance for the mind and soul in this era of activism. Proceeds from the book will be donated to the ACLU. Based on the response to that cookbook, and drawing on projects like Women Who Draw and Creatives of Color, Turshen… read more

A conundrum for food critics (and cookbook lovers)

April 3, 2018 by
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  In response to the numerous chefs and restaurateurs who stand accused of sexual abuse and harassment, food critics have been reassessing their role in perpetuating the problem. Critics are struggling to balance the damage an omission can have on the lives of a restaurant's staff versus the damage wrought by praising the dining room of someone who has mistreated… read more

Find ways to use leftover Easter eggs

April 2, 2018 by
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  If you're among the millions of people who dyed a bunch of eggs to use as decoration for the Easter holiday, you are probably facing a conundrum of what to do with all of them now that Easter is behind us. Egg salad sandwiches and deviled eggs might work for some, but there a dozens of more interesting options.… read more

April Fool’s Day food pranks

April 1, 2018 by
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  Did you fall for an April Fools' Day prank today? Social media was full of fake stories, including Google Israel launching a "Hummus API", Burger King's ad for a Chocolate Whopper, Siggi's debuting a fermented shark yogurt, and Heinz hawking chocolate mayo in the UK. You can see a huge listing of April Fool's pranks at The Washington Post. Digging… read more

The truth behind many family “heirloom” recipes

March 31, 2018 by
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  Everyone has cherished family recipes, handed down from mother (or father), who got it from her mother, who ostensibly received it from hers as well. An investigation by Atlas Obscura calls into question these "heirloom" recipes, and discovers that many of them were copied from cookbooks, food packages, and other locations.  The site asked Gastro Obscura readers to submit… read more

Indie magazines gain a foothold in the publishing industry

March 30, 2018 by
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  Food magazines have been falling like dominoes - Gourmet, Food Arts, Lucky Peach - these and many others have succumbed to the pressures of digital publications and sagging subscriptions. Just when it seemed like the industry was doomed, a handful of independent magazines show that the demise of food publications is not a certainty.  These new magazines are succeeding… read more

Today’s Google Doodle recognizes one of the first modern cookbook authors

March 28, 2018 by
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The Google Doodle often celebrates historical figures. Today's Doodle recognizes the 310th birthday of a woman considered one of the world's first modern cookbook authors, Hannah Glasse.  Glasse was born Hannah Allgood in 1708 in London. She married John Glasse in 1724 and together they had several children. In 1938, historian Madeline Hope Dodds discovered Hannah Glasse to be the author… read more

$250 egg spoons, $400 hair dryers, and sexism in food

March 27, 2018 by
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  To call our modern times fast-paced is a gross understatement, which is why recalling something that happened "all the way back" in 2009 seems like a Herculean endeavor. We need to travel back to that year, however, to find the beginnings of what is now called the "egg spoon controversy," because 2009 is when chef Alice Waters cooked an… read more

Epic vegetable rant on Twitter

March 26, 2018 by
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Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are filled with gorgeous food photos and people fawning over their favorite foods. In a twist on these typical positive posts, a recent Twitter thread gained a lot of attention for allowing people to rant about foods - vegetables, to be precise - that they hated.  It all began when legal analyst Imani Gandy posted a photo… read more

Cooking with cashews

March 25, 2018 by
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  Have you ever had an "aha" moment with an ingredient that made you want to want to try every recipe that used it? It's happened to me a few times, but none more memorable than when I made the Cashew chicken with a cilantro sauce (Dhania murghi) from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iver. I'd enjoyed eating cashews as a snack, but… read more

Retro cookbooks on the rise

March 24, 2018 by
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  Remember the old saying that 'there's nothing new under the sun'? That applies to just about every aspect of life, including, as it turns out, cookbooks. Perhaps it started with the classic cocktail revival or maybe they grew together, but whatever the reason, cookbooks that revisit classic recipes are on the rise.  Dishes that were popular as far back… read more

Joy of Cooking takes on a food scientist

March 22, 2018 by
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  New studies purporting links between food and illness come out with astonishing frequency, and the findings of what is "healthy" and what is not seem to swing back and forth like a pendulum. Usually this change is due to more complete studies or a better understanding of the science. Sometimes, however, the research is flawed.  The latter scenario cast… read more

Tips on choosing the right flour

March 21, 2018 by
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If you aren't already a dedicated baker, you may only have one or two types of flour in your pantry. When you do decide to dip your toe into the waters of breads, cakes, and pastries, the numbers of different flours can be overwhelming, and using the wrong flour can lead to lackluster results. To help you avoid baking disaster,… read more

Work begins on Modernist Pizza

March 20, 2018 by
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  It took six years for Nathan Myhrvold to follow up his groundbreaking world Modernist Cuisine with Modernist Bread, which was published last year. You might expect Myhrvold to rest for a bit, but he's already at work on another project titled Modernist Pizza.  In an announcement on the Modernist Cuisine website last Saturday, the team announced that Myhrvold and Francisco… read more

Who gets to tell the story?

March 19, 2018 by
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I've written many times about virtually traveling by means of cookbooks and food. If one cannot visit a land, what better way to get a taste of it than to, well, get a taste of it. While I still believe in this concept, I've come to think that some of the cookbooks that celebrate a culture don't adequately translate the flavors… read more

A can and a plan

March 18, 2018 by
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  While cooks eschew most canned vegetables and fruits, there is one canned item that should always have space in your pantry. Canned beans (aka pulses) like chickpeas, butterbeans, and pintos are versatile items that can help you get dinner on the table in no time flat. Even esteemed chef Yotam Ottolenghi is a fan of canned beans, and has… read more

A cook and a book

March 17, 2018 by
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  Members of cookbook clubs like the EYB Cookbook Club are used to working their way through cookbooks, asking others for advice, and offering their own. It's a great place learn how to decipher what a cookbook author means, or expound on changes that worked out better than the original text.  If there is anything better than learning from your… read more

A better way to temper your eggs

March 16, 2018 by
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  Many dishes both savory and sweet, ranging from silky custards to soothing soups, call for tempering egg yolks. The process can strike fear in the hearts of cooks because one misstep can lead to a clumpy, curdled disaster. Sometimes the technique is actually unnecessary, says Sohla El-Waylly, Assistant Culinary Editor at Serious Eats. She provides the when, why, and… read more
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