Food52's final list of 10 essential cookbooks

winning cookbooks
A few weeks ago we posted a blog noting that Food52 had put out a call to all their readers for a list of their 10 essential cookbooks. The contest has ended and Food 52 just posted the finals. Any - or all! - of these would make a great gift for a graduate or new married couple. And remember you can check out their ratings, view their indexed recipes, and buy them through the EYB site; just click on one of the links.

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
The Silver Palate by Sheila Lukins and Julee Russo
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser
Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi
Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

3 comments

PatriciaScarpinJune 30, 2012

As a baker this list is sort of disappointing to me. I miss Nigella Lawson and Flo Braker in that list.

veronicafranceJune 30, 2012

For me, there's something wrong with any "essential cookbook" list that doesn't include Elizabeth David. I have Plenty, and like it, but it's less essential than French Provincial Cooking, for example.

JaneJune 27, 2012

We are all going to have our personal favorites and be disappointed that they didn't make the list. Inevitably with Food52 being a US based site, the list is American focused though I was pleased Ottolenghi made it (his first book was on my list). What is most interesting to me is how 5 of this list are also in the EYB top 10 Bookshelves. And the remaining 5 all appear in the top 50. I was surprised nothing by Melissa Clark or Sunday Suppers at Lucques made it as they seemed to feature often on Food52's poll. Maybe a problem with prolific cookbook authors like Nigella, Nigel and Jamie (I feel I know them well enough to use first names) is that they have produced so many equally good books that everyone has a different favorite. I wonder what the results would be for a poll of your favorite cookbook author?