Best Cookbooks Of 2018 - Good Life Vancouver

Favourite Cookbooks From This Year’s Crop

I’ve read over 100 cookbooks this year in some form of another and am truly addicted to them and count about 800 in my library that I recently had arranged in a manner that they actually make sense! I pour over these books, reading the stories behind the recipes and sometimes even getting the time to cook more than just a few meals from between their covers. Here’s a few that stuck out this year that are worth adding to your library. I may need additional shelves soon.

Everyday Dory by Dorie Greenspan

Dory Greenspan takes the everyday and kicks it up a notch with lots of great recipes that are simple, yet elevated by herbs, citrus and various unique spices. Reading through the book she gives tips on how to cook, not merely a list of ingredients and directions. You’ll want to bake those cheesy gougeres, which break from tradition with a hit of mustard, hummus involves roasted squash and gets a hit of acid from pomegranate molasses and a pear upside down cake goes upscale with a dash of Chinese five spice. Great soups and lots of desserts, as this lady is known for her pastries, but these sweets, like the other recipes, are less time consuming than some of her previous recipes. More Dorie is just what everyone needs in these busy times.

Earth to Table Every Day – Cooking with Good Ingredients Through the Seasons by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann

This is a book inspired by great, seasonal ingredients; I could cook from this book every day, finding new ways to appreciate everyday ingredients. The authors’ restaurant is called Bread Bar, so there’s obviously a bread section, including instructions on making your own sourdough starter. Other sections include soups, salads, shared appies (because who eats those solo), burgers and sandwiches, pizzas, mains, pastry, desserts and staples such as green olive tapenade and quick pickles. The photography is gorgeous and the little preludes to the recipes are informative and instructional; be sure to read them thoroughly. You’ll find these 140 recipes a great resource, and they are all full of vibrant flavours. Their braised chicken thighs with green olives and parpadelle and ling cod with cabbage are on rotation in our house, and we have to be careful to make sure we have others to share with when we make the chocolate brownies.

Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottonlenghi

This London chef has inspired many a food stylist to improve their plating and has changed the way many people cook with his previous cookbooks. This one aims to simplify Ottonlenghi’s signature Middle Eastern recipes, but certainly not in any way that flavours are sacrificed, instead there’s just fewer steps that in previous books. You’ll find the ingredient he has always sung the praises of such as tahini, pomegranate, and za’tar and plenty of respect for vegetables, along with plenitful meat and seafood recipes. The orzo with shrimp and tomatoes is elevated with basil, fennel and feta, while a chilled cucumber and cauliflower soup sings with ginger. The spiced apple cake and Swiss brunsli chocolate cookies are perfect for the holidays.

Korean Home Cooking: Classic and Modern Recipes by Sohui Kim

Sohui Kim owns two restaurants in Brooklyn and definitely knows classic Korean Cooking, and this book includes those classics with some modern twists. The intro to ingredients in a Korean kitchen is super interesting, luckily here in Vancouver we have a good availability of some of the more unusual items. There’s a big section on banchan, traditional side dishes that are pickled, stir-fried fried and stewed, and plenty of tips for Kimchi. Instructions are thorough and in many recipes such as the marinated short ribs, there’s step by step photos. You’ll find instructions and recipes for kimchi, congee and lots of noodles rice and dumplings that will keep you busy in the kitchen and impress your friends. There are even few unique desserts such as rice dumplings and brown sugar pancakes, and a couple drinks as well. This is a great guide to what will certainly be some of your favourite meals.

The Noma Guide to Fermentation by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber

The world is obsessed with fermentation and for those who want to venture deeper into the techniques, Noma’s Guide will certainly provide you with a map of how to ferment and plenty of suggestions on how to use these tasty ingredients. Sections include lacto-fermented fruits and veggies, kombucha, vinegar, kiji, misos, shoyu, garam and black fruit and veggies and there’s very detailed steps and photos of how-to to guide you along your fermenting journey. This would be a great gift to the chef or master cook in your life as there’s a lot of labour behind these techniques, but the results are oh so rewarding. Coffee kombucha, pear vinegar or pearl barley koji anyone? All by one of the world’s most followed and celebrated chefs.

Basque Country by Marti Buckley

You’ll learn so much about Basque Country through this cookbook, that you’ll be inspired to book a flight there soon. The recipes walk us through the provinces located in the region as they guide us in the art of pintxos (small hors d’oeuvres), soups, fish, vegetables, meat, sweets and drinks that are common in this part of the world. Stories of the region’s fishing, shepherds, markets and wine are spattered through the book, and we’ve spent a good deal of time just reading. The recipes are also very worthy, start with pinxtos such as shrimp kebabs with pepper vinaigrette or the Spanish ham, goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pintxo. The lamb in chilindron sauce (lamb, dried peppers and potatoes) is simple and delicious, the almond-cream tart will have guests asking for seconds, and the sangria and spiked coffee are perfect accompaniments for these dishes. Prepare to be completely engulfed in Basque Country with this gem.

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nostrat

This is a book that will make you a better cook by reviewing the fundamentals of cooking and exploring the elements that make food taste so very good. Reading through you will learn how to heat oil properly, render fat, achieve crispiness and all about the different fats and acids of the world. Cooking methods and techniques are explored, and then Chef Nostrat dives into choosing ingredients, some basic how-to’s, and then she’s on to breaking down salads, veggies, stocks, bean, and meats and more, providing excellent recipes and explicit instructions. Sauces are explored in depth, with recipes on everything from charmoula and chutney to mayonnaise and pesto. This cookbook will be well read by cooks of all levels and serves as a great reference when you’re thinking about trying new techniques.

Uncomplicated by Claire Tansey

I follow Claire Tansey on social media and often catch her on City TV and truly appreciate her straight forward approach to cooking; she provides us with recipes we can cook on a weekday and solves our daily dilemma about what to cook. Uncomplicated is a book that reflects where we want to be as humans on a day to day basis, less fussy and more real, and this translates directly to how many prefer to be in the kitchen, as things have gotten a little too complicated and need to be dialed down. I’ll make that beef and barley soup again for certain and I’ve bookmarked the garlicy lamb chops and cheddar broccoli and gnocchi casserole for future meals. There is a way to cook with less stress and Tansey shows us how to do so without sacrificing flavour, all while providing lovely stories along the way.

I am a Filipino by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad

The food in various parts of the Philippines is different, some regions such as Ilocos Norte, use more fresh veggies where farmland is flush, whereas other areas such as the Bicol are into chilies and spicier foods. What I am loving about this book and many on this list is that I’m leaning not only new recipes and techniques, but also about different cultures and the history behind the dishes. Starting with a section called Filipino Food 101, this book introduces you to the flavours of the Philippines and provides you with plenty of recipes to experience them. Red adobo with lamb shanks and Annatoo exhibit how vinegar plays a big role in this style of cooking, Siopao (steamed buns) reveal the impact the Chinese immigrants had on food culture. A whole section on snacks and street food made me long for banana fritters, empanadas and pork belly, and the Americana section salutes the American influence on culture and foodways with recipes such as banana ketchup ribs and fried chicken and waffles. There’s a lot of fun to be had with this book, so pour over it in depth and get cooking.

Carla Hall’s Soul Food

Carla Hall is all about soul, and this book proves just how much passion and love she has for food and the art of cooking. When we refer this collection of African American culinary traditions, we can feel the love and energy we felt when we watched her on her many TV shows. There’s 145 recipes in here that honour soul food’s heritage, but Chef Hall has also added her improvisational genius to many, personalizing them so they’re her own. Meaty tomato mac and cheese gets a zip from mustard powder, cayenne and paprika, and shrimp and grits have extra flavour from fresh thyme, parsley and chili flakes. We love her banana pudding and cobbler and poured deeply over the seasons and condiments section. Simply, flavourful recipes written with lots of love and joy.

Matty Mathieson A Cookbook

Strangely enough I had never heard of this Matty Mathieson fellow until this cookbook fell into my lap and I began turning the pages, addicted to his story telling. Now I’m following him on Instagram and kicking myself that I didn’t meet him when he was in town. His stories are filled with hilarious antidotes about growing up in Canada and the dishes he learned to cook over the years and the memories behind them. You’ll find meals as simple as a bologna bowl to extravagant feasts that take days to prepare all alongside gorgeous photographs and stories of Matty’s life in Fort Erie, PEI and Toronto. It’s a great read even if you don’t cook from it, but I am almost certain you will.

Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories by Naz Deravian

The cookbooks that came out this year telling a story of another place and a cuisine that was not so familiar to me are the ones I’ve really been cherishing and reading the most. Naz Deravian’s Persian cookbook is filled with her memoirs and the stories told to her by her family along with the recipes she gathered when she began to crave her home country’s food and set out to cook and blog about it. Her friends commented that they were too intimidated to cook the dishes and so she began writing this book. Here you’ll learn about Persian culture alongside its cuisine with recipes such as ash-e shooli (lentil and beet soup), khoresh ghormeh sabzi, a richly spiced lamb stew served with black-eyed peas and pistachio sanbuseh, turnovers with ground pistachios and flavoured with cardamom and rosewater. Her stories are told with passion and the book is so colourful both literally and figuratively; I’ve much to learn about this cultures cooking and I’m studying this one attentively.

Milk Street Tuesday Nights

Tuesday Night dinners often seemed rushed and never as good as Saturdays, but Christopher Kimball wants to change this with this book of quick and easy recipes packed full of big, bold flavours. Kimball introduces beginner cooks to new ingredients and gives more seasoned cooks some good short cuts, so all can make delicious meals using every day items alongside global flavours. Vietnamese meatball lettuce wraps, white balsamic chicken, and peanut-sesame noodles will make it on to your recipe rotation list and the chocolate-tahini pudding is a perfect example of how Kimball puts a spin on an old favourite.