The enduring appeal of cookbooks

February 3, 2023·Darcie

This will come as no surprise to our Members, but the popularity of cookbooks shows no signs of slowing down. It's one bright spot in the struggling print publishing industry, with consistent sales of several million volumes annually (about 20 million cookbooks are sold in the US each year). Why do cookbooks buck the trend to digital? Because they are both practical and beautiful: pragmatic art.

During the pandemic, people turned to books that focused on basics as many struggled to adapt to much more at-home meal prep than they were accustomed to doing. Now that most people are back to more regular schedules, sales have shifted to easy, quick, and one-pot types of recipes. Currently Ina Garten's Go-To Dinners and Jamie Oliver’s One: Simple One-Pan Wonders sit atop the New York Times bestsellers list.

While plenty of people use the internet to find recipes, it can be hard to sift through the noise to find the best ones (cough they should be using EYB cough). Browsing a physical volume can make things easier, says Paula Forbes of Stained Page News. "Flipping through a cookbook can be less overwhelming than scrolling endlessly on your phone, looking for inspiration," she notes. Having EYB is the best of both worlds - the best recipes on the internet are nestled next to the ones in your own cookbooks.

I did have to chuckle when reading the article linked above, as they described Baltimore Banner columnist Leslie Gray Streeter as a "hoarder" since she had "dozens" of cookbooks. If dozens makes you a hoarder, I'm not sure how to describe the several hundred books in my collection, or the collections of our Members that often run into the thousands.

10 comments

manycookbooksFebruary 4, 2023

In July, 2013, I obtained the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of cookbooks. Now, mind you, as far as I know, this is for a private collection, not a library, etc. The record at the time was 2,930 cookbooks and since that time I amassed a lot, to the tune of about 6,200 now (no official Guinness count). However, the newer Guinness record was set, I believe a year or two ago, and is officially somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4,000. Needless to say, however, I still love my cookbooks, although have parted with a few recently, for several reasons, but I still have a LOT of cookbooks! Cookbooks are much more than a source of recipes...culture, history, trends, availability, tastes, religion, and so much more. I much prefer reading cookbooks than to reading fiction!

ChaosmanagerFebruary 4, 2023

I would like to hear from more people that have such large collections (in the thousands). I thought I had a lot with a little over 400. I was even think I needed to thin it out. Now I am not so sure. ?

JMelnickFebruary 4, 2023

My cookbooks will have to be pried out of my cold, dead hands.

tmjellicoeFebruary 5, 2023

I love reading cookbooks. I have a few digital ones though I’ve only bought those really cheap to see if I like them, then if so, will purchase a hard copy. I don’t like cooking from my iPad. I like to have a show playing on it and reference paper. There is also the added annoyance of the device going to sleep at just the wrong moment, then having to waken it with a goopy finger.

At our local charity book sale last year, the cookbook section was a treasure trove and very busy. I’m looking forward to this years event.

FuzzyChefFebruary 6, 2023

There's also a pragmatic angle, which is that cookbooks just don't work that well in digital format. The screen is too small, you smudge it up turning pages, and you can't make notes in the margin.

annmartinaFebruary 6, 2023

Digital cookbooks are also a pain when you want to flip between recipes on different pages or in differet cookbooks

CapeCodCookFebruary 6, 2023

I love all the comments here about the charm of actual printed cookbooks. I agree whole-heartedly! I love my e-book reader, but there's something much more enjoyable and tactile about choosing a likely recipe (visiting the land of INDEX); then flipping through the cookbook's pages and making a few stops along the way at enticing photos; then arriving at the page with the destination-recipe; touching the page and imagining its possibilities; and then beginning the happy, optimistic process of turning a formula into good food!

KarenGladFebruary 7, 2023

I’m with JMelnick! You’ll have to pry them out of my cold dead hands ?. My kids gave me an Amazon gift certificate and are encouraging me to get a Kindle with the idea that I could pare down my collection of over 500 and counting. I do sit and just read my books and I cook from my books (way more than I used to once I joined up here) and know that cooking from a device would be a messy proposition. After reading the above comments maybe I’ll be using those certificates for ……more hard copy cookbooks! I’ve said it before, I found my people here!

bittretteFebruary 8, 2023

Cooking from a device is a messy proposition but at least you can undo the mess by cleaning the screen (or the protector). If your greasy finger touches the paper the stain is permanent.
That being said, it still amazes me how foolish some people were when personal computing took flight in the 80's and 90's. One so-called expert who was supposed to teach us the wonders of the electronic word said, "We won't need cookbooks anymore!" Well, maybe we wouldn't strictly NEED them, but we still loved to have them.
If anything, cookbooks were getting bigger and splashier, the way movies were reinvented when home television took over.

GenieBFebruary 10, 2023

I have mostly digital cookbooks, and I look through them the same way as the paper ones. About a quarter of my collection are paper.

I find the digital ones actually easier to use — I don’t have to fish out my cookbook stand out of the cupboard to keep the book open.