Famous chefs recommend cookbooks to improve your life

October 15, 2013·Lindsay

19 cookbooks 525

Self-help books seem to always dominate non-fiction best seller lists, so it's rather intriguing to find this collection from BuzzFeedFood of 19 Cookbooks That Will Improve Your Life. There is one caveat, though - you'll need to cook all the way through them (remember Julie and Julia?).

But even if that's too daunting, this list of cookbooks recommended by well-known chefs and food writers is still thought-provoking - we've chosen 10 recommendations to illustrate the point (for explanations of why they were chosen, as well as 9 more recommendations, check out the article):

Anthony Bourdain says: La Technique by Jacques Pépin
Padma Lakshmi says: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
Alton Brown says: The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith
Tom Colicchio says: Think Like A Chef by Tom Colicchio (nothing like modesty)
Alice Waters says: Summer Cooking by Elizabeth David
Dorie Greenspan says: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts
Jacques Pépin says: Fast Food My Way, Vol. 2 by Jacques Pépin (refers to the DVD)
Michael Pollan says: In The Green Kitchen by Alice Waters
Dana Cowin says: The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater
Ruth Reichl says: The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook by Alice B. Toklas

We must say the thought of cooking entirely through one book sounds a bit daunting (especially a dessert book) - we'd love to hear if any of our members have or ever been tempted.

7 comments

veronicafranceOctober 18, 2013

I've tried and failed to cook my way through a shortish cookbook (only about 70 recipes). A friend did cook and blog every recipe in Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries over the course of a year. When she'd finished she emailed him and got a lovely reply back.

abramerOctober 15, 2013

I'm about a third of the way through the Gourmet Today book. It's got a vast range of kinds of recipes and techniques.

ellabeeOctober 15, 2013

The full post is well worth reading. Have to agree with the choices of two people I don't much care for -- Pepin's La Technique (Anthony Bourdain) and Pam Anderson's How to Cook without a Book (Ree Drummond "Pioneer Woman").

FuzzyChefOctober 16, 2013

"Improve your life" is kind of an ambitious claim. Not that those are not, generally
, excellent cookbooks ... But still. On the other hand, good on Alton Brown for calling out The Frug. Those were good cookbooks, and have been all-but-banned since the trial.

FuzzyChefOctober 16, 2013

OK, I'm not surprised that Coliccio recommended his own cookbook -- guy has no style -- but Pepin? I though he had more humility than that. Did he not understand the question?

veronicafranceOctober 18, 2013

PS I like Alice Waters' choice. Summer Cooking is such a simple and delightful book. Richard Olney on the other hand I find almost unreadable -- the recipes are good if you can get past his turgid prose!

ellabeeOctober 15, 2013

Cooking all the way through Waters' In the Green Kitchen might not be too daunting or insane -- I've seen references to it as a better beginner, how-to-cook book than The Art of Simple Cooking (whose modest size, simplicity, and appealing dishes make it the closest thing on my shelf to a book I'd be willing to cook my way through).