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Whenever the world and all its worries become too much, I reach for cookbooks. There’s something soothing about flipping through their pages and learning new cooking techniques and poring over new-to-me recipes. Of late, I’ve had a stack of them beside me on the couch, always within arm’s reach.
Here are some excellent cookbooks worth checking out. They’re especially good for the new or budding home cook.
Danube: Recipes and Stories from Eastern Europe by Irina Georgescu
When I was 15, I went on a trip to Romania and found myself in the rural countryside gazing up at the rolling hills that tucked up into the mountains. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. So when Danube arrived at my house, I was taken back to the incredible food that I ate on that trip.
Georgescu’s cookbook centers around the Danube River that borders Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Her recipes are comforting, rich in flavor, and hearty, perfect for these long winter months. Throughout the book, she includes essays about how her Romanian culture has influenced her cooking and inspired these recipes. Plus, the book itself as an object is STUNNING.
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What Goes with What: 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities by Julia Turshen
I ADORE Julia Turshen’s Simply Julia. It’s a cookbook that saw me through part of the pandemic and encouraged me to think of the food I eat in new ways. What Goes With What is Turshen’s newest cookbook that helps home cooks figure out what ingredients to pair together to create delicious dishes.
With her trusty ingredient charts in hand, Turshen walks readers through ideas around how and why people pair oils with greens or proteins for salads with liquids for braises. In between her many recipe ideas, she writes mini essays about her relationship with food, farming, and sourcing ingredients. My stars! I can’t get enough!
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
I’ve given Salt Fat Acid Heat to everyone I can think of, even going to the length of buying several copies to have on hand just in case I need a last-minute gift. So of course, I’ve kept it nearby this year.
Nosrat walks readers through concepts around cooking, particularly around ideas about the elements of salt, fat, acid, and heat. She doesn’t just tell you what or how to cook; she describes WHY we cook in certain ways. This gives home cooks the tools to create their own delicious dishes without having to follow a recipe from someone else.
