The New Canon: Books That Drive the Way We Cook Today
They’re everywhere, from our staffers’ kitchens to those carefully curated boutique shelves. They’re the resourceful—and profoundly influential—books that drive the way we cook today.
1/10Breakfast, Lunch, Tea—Rose Carrarini ($30)
“If the book’s design wasn’t inspirational enough, the hippie-chic recipes from this fashionable Brit-helmed bakery in Paris make you want to hunker down with a pot of organic Earl Grey and a slice of lemon cake made with rice flour (and, yes, over four sticks of butter). Even the scones get a handful of wheat germ.” —Christine Muhlke, executive editor
2/10Tartine Bread—Chad Robertson ($40)
“This book from the San Francisco master demystifies bread baking, making the art of flours and fermentation understandable. Reading through it helped us take significant steps in the bread baking at my restaurants.” —Christian Puglisi, chef, Relæ and Manfreds & Vin, Copenhagen
3/10The Complete Nose to Tail—Fergus Henderson ($50)
“Bath chaps. Welsh rarebit. These are the true songs of British cooking. Henderson first arranged them in 1999 in a volume that soon had the value of a rare album by an important band. The Complete Nose to Tail finally puts all his writing and recipes together with handsome photographs.” —Sam Sifton, senior editor, The New York Times
4/10Tender—Nigel Slater ($40)
“The book that you need to make the most of your farmers’ market haul. Slater writes as a gardener faced with a ‘what do I do with all these [fill in the blank]?’ dilemma. He answers the challenge with recipes that are simple, wide-ranging in flavor and in preparation, and served with a side of dry wit.” —Scott DeSimon, deputy editor
5/10Plenty—Yotam Ottolenghi ($35)
“Plenty changed the way we experience vegetables. Ottolenghi replaced flavors we’re used to with unexpected ones—like purple basil and za’atar—allowing us to do totally new things. It’s been a best seller in my shop since the week it came out.” —Celia Sack, owner, Omnivore Books on Food, San Francisco
6/10Canal House Cooking—Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer ($20 per volume)
“I put this series on a pedestal alongside such timeless works as Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. They teach how to cook real food. The recipes are accessible and innovative, rooted in tradition, and guided by seasonality.” —Alice Waters, founder, Chez Panisse, Berkeley, CA
7/10Pok Pok—Andy Ricker with JJ Goode ($35)
“Not everyone is as lucky as I am to be able to call Andy with questions. Fortunately for everyone else, there’s this book. His knowledge of Thai cooking is as deep as his willingness to share it.” —Danny Bowien, chef, Mission Chinese Food and Mission Cantina, San Francisco and NYC
8/10A Platter of Figs—David Tanis ($35)
“Tanis has a magical way of recontextualizing foods you know so they’re fresh all over again. I saw his ambrosia salad recipe and was whisked back to the ’70s. Then I saw it suggests unsweetened coconut flakes and kumquats, and wondered, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ With this book, I don’t need to.” —Amanda Hesser, cofounder, Food52
9/10A Girl and Her Pig—April Bloomfield with JJ Goode ($33)
“Writer JJ Goode channels Bloomfield’s voice (and British accent) so well, you almost think you’re sitting in a pub with her, throwing back a pint. If there is a model for a new, more engaged celebrity-chef cookbook, this is it.” —Adam Rapoport, editor in chief
10/10Noma—René Redzepi ($60)
“There is no more influential chef in high-end cuisine over the last decade than René Redzepi. Like the best couture fashion, his recipes will inspire you, even if you don’t cook from them (which you probably won’t).” —Alex Grossman, creative director
