Best Books: Food and Cook Books

Man do I love food. And I love cooking. I am what you would call a foodie. Therefore, it makes sense for me to include a food version of the Best Books list. If you enjoy food nearly as much as I do, you might appreciate this list.

Surprisingly, I have not read very many of these. I loved Animal Vegetable Miracle, enjoyed The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and pretty much liked Julie and Julia. And now I am dying to read not only Anthony Bourdain’s food memoir, but also his novel (!?). Babette’s Feast is one of my favorite movies, so I am looking forward to reading that one as well as re-reading The Joy Luck Club. I will admit that Harry Potter was in my mind the whole time I was making the novels list and finally, there it was, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Ulysses. Huh. (I also had my own novel, Benevolent, in my mind, and the character of Melodie.)

Memoirs at the top, followed by novels and then cookbooks.

Food Memoirs

Cooked, Michael Pollan
Eat a Peach, David Chang
Yes, Chef, Michael Samuelsson
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
The Physiology of Taste, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, Steven Sherrill
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
Hangover Square, Patrick Hamilton
A Long Finish, Michael Dibdin
Judgement of Paris, George M. Taber
Eating with the Pilgrims and Other Pieces, Calvin Trilin
An Omelette and a Glass of Wine, Elizabeth David
Heat, Bill Buford
Toast, Nigel Slater
The Table Comes First, Adam Gopnik
Blood, Bones, and Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton
Delights and Prejudices, James Beard
Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichi
A Pig in Provence, Georgeanna Brennan
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, Fuschia Dunlop
Climbing the Mango Tree, Madhur Jaffrey
My Life in France, Julia Child
A Devil in the Kitchen, Marco Pierre White
The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher
Julie and Julia, Julie Powell
The Feast Nearby, Robin Mather
A Tiger in the Kitchen, Cherly Lu-Lien Tan
Untangling My Chopsticks, Victoria Abbott Riccardi
Home Cooking, Laurie Colwin
Honey from a Weed, Patience Gray
Born Round, Frank Bruni
Animal Vegetable Mineral, Barbara Kingsolver
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer B. Lee
The Supper of Lamb, Robert Farrar Capon
The Unprejudiced Palate, Angelo Pellegrini
The Gastronomy of Marriage, Michelle Maisto
Tails of Crumbs, Kim Sunee
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, Kathleen Flinn
Four Kitchens, Lauren Shockey
The Apprentice, Jacques Pepin
The Raw and the Cooked, Jim Harrison
Spilling the Beans, Clarissa Dickson Wright
A Homemade Life, Molly WIzenberg
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, Giulia Melucci
The Sweet Life in Paris, David Lebovitz
Shucked, Erin Byers Murray
52 Loaves, William Alexander
Blue Trout and Black Truffles, Joseph Wechsberg
Eating for Britain, Simon Majumdar
Living in a Foreign Language, Michael Tucker
As They Were, M.F.K Tucker
My Kitchen Wars, Betty Fussell
My Life from Scratch, Gesine Bullock-Prado
Mostly True, Molly O’Neill
Save the Deli, David Sax
The Year of Eating Dangerously, Tom Parker Bowles
The 100-Mile Diet, J.B. MacKinnon
Fresh Off the Boat, Eddie Huang
Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell
The Telling Room, Michael Paterniti
Blue Plate Special, Kate Chistensen
Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, Laurie Colwin
Alice, Let’s Eat, Calvin Trillin
California Dish, Jeremiah Tower
When French Women Cook, Madeliene Kamman
Between Meals, A.J. Leibling
The Gastronomical Me, M.F.K. Fisher
Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, Jenni Farrari-Adler
Service Included, Pheobe Damrosch
Cooking for Mr. Latte, Amanda Hesser

Food Fiction

The Belly of Paris, Emile Zola
American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
One Hundred Foot Journey, Richard Morais
The Alienist, Caleb Carr
Gourmet Rhapsody, Muriel Barbery
A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
The Last Chinese Chef, Nicole Mones
Ham on Rye, Charles Bukowski
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
The Lost Art of Mixing, Erica Bauermeister
The Girls Guide to Love and Supper Clubs, Dana Bate
The Dinner, Herman Koch
Tattoo, Manuel Vasquez Montalban
An Evil Eye, Jason Goodwin
Cinnamon and Gunpowder, Eli Brown
The Epicure’s Lament, Kate Christensen
The Passionate Epicure, Marcel Raouff
St. Burl’s Obituary, Daniel Akst
The Debt to Pleasure, John Lanchester
High Bonnet, Idwal Jones
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Aimee Bender
Babette’s Feast, Isaak Denison
Chef, Jaspreet Singh
The Flounder, Gunter Grass
Mistress of Spices, Chitra Divakaruni
Kitchen, Bannan Yashimoto
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
Eat Cake, Jeanne Ray
My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki
The Book of Salt, Monique Truong
The Discovery of Chocolate, James Runcie
The Cupcake Queen, Heather Hepler
Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris
In the Kitchen, Moica Ali
Mangoes and Quince, Carol Field
Liquor, Poppy Brite
Blue Plate Special, Frances Norris
World of Pies, Karen Stolz
Chocolat, Joanna Harris
Bone In the Throat, Anthony Bourdain
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
The Cuttlefish, Maryline Desbiolles
Pomegranate Soup, Marsha Mehran
Debt to Pleasure, John Lanchester
Heatburn, Nora Ephron
Pow!, Mo Yan
The Book of Salt, Monique Truong
Ulysses, James Joyce
John Saternall’s Feast, Lawrence Norfolk
Redwall, Brian Jacques
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francios Rabelais
The Devil’s Larder, Jim Crace
Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cooking with Fernet Branca, James Hamilton-Patterson
The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood
Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto
Edible Stories, Mark Kurlansky
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
The Food of Love, Anthony Capella
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
White Truffles in Winter, N.M. Kelby
Swann’s Way, Marcel Proust
Saturday, Ian McEwan
La Cucina, Lily Prior
The Food Chain, Geoff Nicholson
The Cookbook Collector, Allegra Goodman
Lives of Notorious Cooks, Brendan Connell
The School of Essential Ingredients, Erica Bauermeister
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll
Goodbye, Columbus, Philip Roth
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkein
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Appetite, Philip Kazan
The Chef’s Apprentice, Elle Newmark
Crescent, Diana Abu-Jaber
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
Hunger, Jane Ward

Cookbooks

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Deb Perelman
Baking, Dorie Greenspan
How to Bake, Nick Malgieri
The Flavor Thesaurus
Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson
*The Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rambauer
Martha Stewart’s Hor d’ouvres Handbook, Martha Stewart
*Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child
Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi
English Food, Jane Grigson
Ready for Dessert, David Leibovitz
How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman
A Year In My Kitchen, Skye Gyngell
New Cookbook Gifts from the Kitchen, Better Homes and Gardens
*Whole Grain Baking, King Arthur Flour
*The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, Claudia Roden
The 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook, Fannie Merritt Farmer
*Authentic Mexican, Rick Bayless
All About Braising, Molly Stevens
One Spice, Two Spice, Floyd Cardoz
Land of Plenty, Fucshia Dunlop
*American Cookery, James Beard
*Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan
1000 Indian Recipes, Neelam Batra
La Guide Culinaire, Escoffier
The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, Peter Berley
The Essential Cocktail, Dale Degroff
Recipes for a Small Planet, Ellen Buchman Ewald
*Classic Indian Cooking, Julie Sanhi
Sunday Suppers at Lucques, Suzanne Coin
Catalan Cuisine, Colman Andrews
The Virginia Housewife, Mary Randolph
The Calcutta Kitchen, Simon Parkes
The New York Times Cookbook, Craig Claiborne
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Andrea Nyguen
Southern Table, Frank Stitt
1080 Recipes, Phaidon
Bouchon, Thomas Keller
Thai Food, David Thompson
*Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison
The Art of Mexican Cooking, Diana Kennedy
French Provincial Cooking, Elizabeth David
The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters
Cradle of Flavor, James Oseland
Louisiana Kitchen, Paul Prudhomme
The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, Paula Wolfert
Fire and Spice, Joyce Westrip
The Breath of a Wok, Grace Young
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, Moosewood Collective
The Gift of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis
An Invitation to Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey
The Soul of a New Cuisine, Marcus Sameulsson
Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?, Marcella Bienvenu
My Kitchen In Spain, Janet Mendel
The Silver Spoon, Phaidon
Great Dishes of the World, Robert Carrier
Sichuan Cookery Fuchsia Dunlop
Thai Food, David Thompson
Roast Chicken and Other Stories, Simon Hopkinson
Kitchen Diaries, Nigel Slater
The Book of Jewish Food, Claudia Roden
The French Menu Cookbook, Richard Olney
*Momofuku, David Chang
Opera Dell’Arte del Cucinare, Bartemelo Scappi
The Handmade Loaf, Dan Lepard
With Bold Knife and Fork, M.F.K. Fisher
Catalan Cuisine, Colman Andrews
Action Cookbook, Len Deighton
Indian Vegetarian Cookery, Jack Santa Maria
How to Eat, Nigella Lawson
French Cooking in Ten Minutes, Edouard de Pomaine
On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee
The Independent Cook, Jeremy Round
Mediterranean Seafood, Alan Davidson
Plats du Jour, Patiance Gray
*The River Cottage Meat Book, Hugh Fernley-Wittingsall
La Cuisine Gourmande, Michel Guerard
Japanese Cooking, Shizuo Tsuji
The Greens Cookbook, Deborah Madison
The Cook’s Companion, Stephanie Alexander
Pork and Sons, Stephanie Reynaud
Keep It Simple, Alastair Little
Moro, Sam and Sam Clark
Les Secrets of the Mere Brazier, Roger Moreau
Classic Chinese Cookbook, Yan-Kit So
Traditional Spanish Cooking, Janet Mendel
The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cooking, Auguste Escoffier
Nose to Tail Eating, Fergus Henderson
The Four Seasons Cookery Book, Margaret Costa
Good Things in England, Florence White
The Rice Book, Sri Owen
A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes, David Tanis
English Seafood Cookery, Rick Stein
Jamie’s Italy, Jamie Oliver
The Constance Spry Cookery Book, Rosemary Hume
The Complete Robuchon, Joel Robuchon
Delia’s Complete How to Cook, Delia Smith
Chez Panisse Menu Book, Alice Waters
101 Classic Cookbooks, The Fales Library

My Own Additions to Cookbooks

Momofuku Milk Bar, Christina Tosi
The Just Bento Cookbook, Makiko Ito
The Thousand Recipes Chinese Cookbook, Gloria Bley Miller
660 Curries, Raghavan Iyer
Martha Stewart’s Cookies, Martha Stewart Magazine
The Sweet Book of Candy Making, Elizabeth LaBau
Veginomicon, Isa Chandra Muskowitz
Japanese Soul Cooking, Tadashi Ono
The New Midwestern Table, Amy Thielen
The Smoothies Bible, Pat Croker
The Kimchi Chronicles, Marha Vonderichten
Serious Barbeque, Adam Perry Lang
The Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff
The French Laundry Cookbook, Thomas Keller
Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg
Polish Classic Recipes, Peter Zeranski
The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, Recipe Club of St. Paul’s Church
Pie, Ken Heidrich
The Irish Pub Cookbook, Margaret M. Johnson
The German Cookbook, Mimi Sheraton
Irish Traditional Cooking, Darina Allen
Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolengi
Good Eats complete collection, Alton Brown
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, Moosewood Collective
Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry, Janet Podleski
In the Kitchen, Greene on Green, and anything else Bert Greene
Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon
Local Flavors, Deborah Madison
World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey
The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, Beth Hensperger
Home Cheese Making, Ricki Carrol
Pok Pok, Andy Ricker
Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, Nathalie Dupree
The Book of Tapas, Simone Ortega
Gran Cocina Latina, Maricel E. Presilla
Smoke and Pickles, Ed Lee
The Cuban Table, Ana Sofia Palaez
Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Ina Garten
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa At Home, Ina Garten
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina Garten
LEON: Naturally Fast Food, Vincent and Dimbleby (and the rest of the fast-growing series)
The Southerner’s Cookbook, Garden and Gun
Foster’s Market Favorites, Sara Foster
The Whole Foods Market Cookbook
Deep Run Roots, Vivian Howard
Falling Cloudberries, Tessa Kiros
The Border Cookbook, Jamison and Jamison
Cooking for Wizards, Warriors and Dragons, Thea James