Apologies for not sending newsletter last week, we said goodbye to my 16 year old border collie Dinah. You can read my remembrance of her here.

Some non-cookbook news: my partner R…

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And welcome to 2024. To be honest, I wasn’t anticipating being back this quickly! Most years the newsletter is quiet in January so I can get my ducks in a row for the new year. Bu…

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And welcome to your last issue of Stained Page News for the year! Next year things may look a bit differently around here, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. There WILL be some kind of Top Chef Wisconsin content for paid subscribers whenever that premieres in the spring, so look forward to that. (I will not turn payments back on without a heads up.)

Today! returns to Stained Page News for some good old fashioned literary criticism. What does the role of recipes mean in memoir and/or narrative nonfiction mean? And what does it mean if you decide not to include them?

What is the Role of Recipes in Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction?

—By Lola Milholland

What is the role of recipes in memoir and narrative nonfiction? This question sprang to my mind shortly after I sent a completed draft of my debut book, Group Living and Other Recipes, to my editor. As the title suggests, I’d included recipes—specifically, one recipe to close each chapter.

The book is part memoir, focused on my experiences living in communal households; part examination of group living through the stories of my extended family; and part exploration of group living as a metaphor for interconnections—macrocosmically, microcosmically, and across generations. I wouldn’t categorize Group Living as primarily a “food memoir” or what prominent food writer Alicia Kennedy calls “domestic writing.” 

So what did my decision to include recipes convey? Does the presence of recipes pigeonhole narrative nonfiction or memoir as food writing? Do they signal something fundamental about the scope, style, or focus of a book? And if so, is that a problem? I knew how to answer these questions: I needed to hit my bookshelves.

I began by grabbing the first book I read in the food memoir sub-genre: Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. When I was 19, I moved into a communal dorm at college where we took turns cooking dinners for each other. My mom mailed me a copy of Reichl’s book, and I found the writing effortless to read. Reichl, who was the longtime editor of Gourmet, throws recipes into the middle of chapters abruptly and playfully, sometimes even before she’s mentioned the dish. For one of our dorm’s communal meals, I broke our vegetarian rule and cooked “Mohammad’s Bisteeya,” a dish Reichl encountered on a trip to Tunisia. I remember how surprised I felt as I scooped the various fillings onto each layer of phyllo dough: first almonds, confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon; then simmered chicken meat; then beaten eggs cooked with lemony chicken broth. These things shouldn’t go together, I mused, but because I was deep inside the world of her book, I cooked with faith. The result was more harmonious and delightful than I could believe. Returning to the book almost twenty years later, I find that Reichl’s greatest strength as a writer is to make me hungry. The recipes let me cook what she’s made me crave.

Next, I picked up Anya von Bremzen’s Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing. Von Bremzen writes with overflowing panache, weaving together the history of the Soviet Union during the twentieth century with her family stories and personal experiences. She opens with a discussion of Proust’s madeleines, the canonical example of food as an involuntary portal to memory. But von Bremzen calls her childhood memories “poisoned madeleines” because so many are of longing—of dreamed-of madeleines she couldn’t sample and intense cravings she couldn’t sate. The book concludes with one recipe for each decade. Her entry for the 1940s isn’t a recipe at all but an image of a ration card, which reflects the obscene scarcity of that decade of war and famine. For the 1960s, she shares a recipe for cornbread, which is not a food she ate in the sixties but a way to talk about Khrushchev’s corn propaganda campaign. She lets her imagination guide, creating recipes that convey the interplay between her personal experiences and the larger political and social stories she’d telling. In this way, the recipes act as symbols, their creation not unlike writing metaphors.

The third book I grabbed was James Beard’s Delights and Prejudices, which is the closest this gargantuan food figure ever came to writing an autobiography. Between a density of recipes, he describes his childhood in the early twentieth century, living under the authority of his food-loving mother and spending time in the kitchen with Jue Let, their Chinese cook, who was a father figure for Beard. Beard’s love of food is so extreme it almost greases your fingers as you flip the pages. For a moment I feel I’m living in the past, experiencing the abundance of seafood in Gearhart, on the Oregon Coast, tasting skate wings with black butter, capers and vinegar “which is, of course, the prescribed method,” he tells us.

Delights and Prejudices isn’t a book I’ve ever thought of cooking out of. Most of the recipes assume I know things I don’t (for example, what is “black butter”?). But it doesn’t matter to me because I treasure how these recipes are artifacts of Oregon’s past. Like Beard, I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. My home state has a messy and often disturbing past, marked by virulent racism, which Beard touches on only obliquely. You can see the Chinese Exclusion Act and its aftermath in his descriptions of Portland’s Chinatown. This book, and these recipes, show me viscerally what it felt like to be an observant, young, white, gay boy in the 1910s, shouldered with a ravenous appetite. I want more personal accounts like this, and I want them from more diverse authors.

Like Delights and Prejudices, Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor’s spirited Vibration Cooking or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl is neither narrative nonfiction nor cookbook, but an inspiring mix of both. Smart-Grosvenor describes growing up in a Geechee community in South Carolina, packing lunches in shoeboxes, and learning from relatives about how to eat well from the land. She tells anecdotes from her years living in France and New York and takes us into kitchens in both. She writes with tremendous charisma and humor, sharing her pride in Black Geechee cooking, specifically, and Black Southern cooking, in all its diversity. She also has a lot of fun! A recipe for peacocks reads, simply, “are too beautiful to be eaten.” A littler further along, she quotes her Aunt Verta, who lived in Philadelphia and would cook for anyone passing through her home: “They my family, I got to do what I can for them… It ain’t nothing but some food.”

That line—“It ain’t nothing but some food”—strikes me as both true and beautifully hyperbolic because, as Smart-Grosvenor goes on to say, food is a currency of love. The recipes in Vibration Cooking are historical artifacts as well as inspiration for how to live. Smart-Grosvenor is letting us in on the secret to her abundant life-force: food, love, and their interplay. In the face of racism, sexism, and classism, Smart-Grosvenor doesn’t shrink; she becomes enormous and vibrational.

Another unusual entry in this category is Joan Dye Gussow’s This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader. Gussow was (and is, even in her nineties!) a groundbreaking nutritionist and professor at Columbia University who was among the first people I read to draw the clear line between soil health and human health. This Organic Life is a mashup of memoir, sharp observations on food politics, excerpts from her garden journal, and, yes, recipes. I vividly recall her descriptions of the Hudson overflowing its banks and drowning her garden, which was the first account I ever read that confronted the lived experience of climate change. Her voice feels at once clarion and calm, a tone appropriate to someone who’s devoted their life to teaching and gardening. She has an agenda: to get more people thinking about ecology and the health of the planet. The recipes make her words actionable on a personal level.

Reading Gussow’s recipe for “Blue and Green Potato Salad,” I noted for the first time that recipes are almost always written in the imperative mood: Boil. Drain. Peel. Cut. These commands change the authorial voice, instructing the reader to do something in the real world, which makes them closer to self-help than memoir—a true blurring of genres. There’s interaction and something of the mundane. And because most of us have cooked a potato, for example, we have opinions. I can see how these interruptions remove the author from a certain pedestal, but something powerful is happening as well: recipes can bring narrative nonfiction palpably into our lives.

Gussow’s commitment to living on and with the land reminded me of the Indigenous concept of the honorable harvest—a covenant between people, animals, and the land for mutual thriving—which I first encountered in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. This sent me on a search for books of narrative nonfiction by indigenous authors with recipes. Doing a little research, I found dozens of stunning cookbooks, but couldn’t unearth many memoirs or books of narrative nonfiction with recipes by indigenous authors (please share in the comments if you have recommendations!).

Curious about why some authors might make the decision not to include recipes in narrative food writing, I reached out to Gina Rae La Cerva, whose book Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food explores foraging, subsistence hunting, and various indigenous wild food gathering practices around the world in the modern context. It’s a beautiful blend of food memoir, travelogue, nature writing, and environmental history. Each chapter is named for a meal, for example, “Forest Flesh with Roots and Tubers” and “Smoked Game and Fake Caviar.” When I asked La Cerva why she didn’t include recipes, she shared: “I did consider it… In retrospect I think the reason I didn’t have them is twofold: One—it didn’t feel like it enhanced the narrative. Two—maybe more pertinent—was that the ingredients I write about (wild foods) are not very easy to source and much of the book is about the ethics of eating wild, so it didn’t entirely fit.” She reminded me that recipes need to serve a specific purpose. Otherwise, they distract. But her book pushes boundaries and blends genres in a way I find meaningful.

I love the presence of recipes in books where I least expect them. I think of Ada Smailbegović’s The Cloud Notebook, a dense and moving reconfiguration and exploration of her experiences in Yugoslavia during wartime as a kid. At one moment in this 200-page poem, she includes a recipe from a cookbook published in 1994 in Zagreb by Enesa Śeremet. The recipe, “Cottage Cheese Made Out of Rice,” instructs people living on humanitarian aid how to cook rice for a long time, add a spoonful of vinegar, let is set overnight, and then fold in a small amount of powdered milk and salt to create an imitation of cottage cheese. The recipe echoes Śeremet’s description of the twenty months she spent under siege in Sarajevo as “an imitation of life.” I could almost taste it—this rice pudding that is not sweet, this cottage cheese that is not cheese. What a powerful way to make her experience visceral. And reading this recipe, I found myself wondering what people are eating (or not eating) in Gaza now. 

This year, von Bremzen released a new book, National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home, which maintains her smart, vivacious voice. In it, she dives into the dishes that have come to represent national identities globally, from Neapolitan pizza and pasta in Italy to ramen and rice in Japan. She’s working in reverse from what she did with Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, taking the symbol and unraveling it. And this time, recipes weren’t necessary (and she didn’t include them) because her project wasn’t as personal—it was about national mythos. Her fascinating book asks us to look at collective myth making and helps us decode a dish for everything hidden within it. Von Bremzen reminds us, at every turn, about the power of propaganda and marketing to shape what we believe.

I reached out to von Bremzen, and she agreed to talk to me from Istanbul, where she lives for part of the year. She confessed that her decision to include recipes in Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking and exclude them from National Dish was a marketing decision—which felt almost too apt given the focus of her recent book. Cookbooks are a big category, she told me, and including recipes allowed her memoir to reach a cookbook-loving audience. With National Dish, many of the recipes are exceedingly challenging—a Oaxacan mole negro has some 34 ingredients. Including it seemed impractical and didn’t necessarily help the book reach a larger audience.

We also talked about how historically so many canonical recipe books were the work of white upper-class men, for instance François de La Varenne, author of Le Cuisinier François. (Von Bremzen writes about him extensively in the first chapter of National Dish.) Even the women who wrote about food in the next generations were bourgeois, writing for the literate class, which was, at the time, relatively small. Food writing from its beginning was exclusive, uninterested in the experiences and dishes of poor people. I’m fascinated by the way recipes can maintain power structures or challenge them, unite or divide people, and obscure or illuminate diversity. National Dish is a reminder to seek and interrogate the stories packaged with the foods we consume. Although cookbooks can do this, narrative food writing is uniquely positioned to contextualize what we eat and why.

My truly incomplete survey of this genre made me realize how expansive the role of recipes within narrative nonfiction can be. Recipes often perform multiple roles within a text: social history, artifact, desire fulfillment, memory portal, nostalgia, cultural education, gift, inspiration, marketing, political instruction, empowerment, propaganda, metaphor, humor, sarcasm, heightened sensory description, and interactivity with the substance of a book.

Generally, books that include recipes are categorized as food writing. In that sense, recipes do pigeonhole them, signaling that these books are only for an audience who reads food writing. But I would argue that this genre should be exploded, by which I mean scattered beautifully across the sky of publishing. Recipes don’t belong everywhere, but they could play meaningful roles in more places than we currently imagine. I’ve always loved that food is food—a consumable thing that gives us life each day. But of course, food is also a force shaping the culture and shaped by the culture. Foods are symbols that we regularly bring into our bodies. We are consuming ideas about who we are while also interacting with and influencing the physical world, other people’s lives, and our own health. Recipes in narrative nonfiction enact that complexity.

Putting down my stack of books, I found I want more books that defy genre and challenge the rules, blurring the lines between food writing and other kinds of writing. I especially want more books that get into the nitty gritty of daily life from perspectives I haven’t inhabited. I believe recipes in narrative nonfiction are always a conversation between the personal and the collective. Some may see recipes as shrinking the scope of a book. I see them as portals to new terrain.

^[1] If Vibration Cooking calls to you, also check out Ntozake Shange’s If I Can Cook / You Know God Can. You can feel Smart-Grosvenor dancing, cooking, and carousing just out of sight.

Also by Lola Milholland:

Group Living

"My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said, 'No, but I want a regular banana later, so yeah.' " - Mitch Hedberg

By Lola Milholland

Lola Milholland is a food-business owner, social-practice artist, and writer. Her debut book, Group Living and Other Recipes, is coming from Spiegel & Grau in August 2024. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and runs Umi Organic, a noodle company with a commitment to providing nutritious public school lunch. Find her writing on her substack, Group Living.

And welcome to your December releases preview! I am…kind of shocked? To report that, after November’s sluggish showing, there are more books than I anticipated coming out this month! Normally publishers like to get their fall books on shelves well ahead of Christmas, but we’ve got a whole bunch of titles in this issue! Many of these are from publishers located outside the US—and accordingly, many of these have already been released in their countries of origin1—so perhaps that explains part of it.

So what have we here? A few vegan titles, including one that will help with your holiday party planning. Some baking books, some cocktail books (with and without alcohol), some celebrity chef books. A book that will help you make the beef Wellington of your dreams. And a book from an Italian chef that seems to be as much about cars as it is about food.

So let’s get into it, shall we?

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Sally Ekus of The Ekus Group, a specialized cookbook agent offering her favorite cookbook loving newsletter community (SPN!) a 50% enrollment discount2 on her self-paced How to Write a Cookbook online class. By the end of the class you will have THREE sections of your book proposal started AND a succinct pitch to get the attention of an agent or publisher. You will also have access to the agency’s exclusive media kit checklist and insider agent info on the financials of real book deals!

The Stained Page News December 2023 Cookbook Preview

• Any Vanderpump Rules fans out there? Reality star Ariana Madix is out with a follow-up to 2019’s Fancy AF Cocktails, but, um perhaps you heard there was a major…I cannot believe I am typing this word in SPN… “Scandoval” that means her new book focuses on the joys of drinking while single. (The first book was written with her ex, Tom Sandoval.) Single AF Cocktails offers 60 recipes for “high-drama cocktails,” but really aren’t all cocktails high drama if you drink enough of them? Clarkson Potter, December 5.

• Hell yeah throw a vegan party with Vegan Party Planning from YouTuber Nikki Vranjican aka NikkiVegan (164k subscribers). Recipes, strategies, and menu ideas for vegan party animals, or those who want to invite vegans to their parties. Yellow Pear, December 5.

• You know, I pride myself on being able to look at food photography all day, but there are a few things that really do me in. Pizza photos. Cheeseburgers. And now add Polish baked goods to the list: I was looking through spreads of The Sweet Polish Kitchen by Ren Behan and am regretting the choices that led me to live in a city with no Polish bakeries. At least now I can bake these recipes on my own? Interlink, December 5.

• I am unfamiliar with Oakville Grocery in the Napa Valley, but apparently it is the oldest continually-operated grocery store in California! And now they have a cookbook: 100 recipes arranged in seasonal menus, very Wine Country—lots of Italian influence, some spa food, tons of pretty produce. Weldon Owen, December 5.

• Okay so! Slow Food, Fast Cars is a book from Italian chef Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara Gilmore about their country inn, Casa Maria Luigia. The book contains 85 recipes that were “created in close collaboration” with the two authors—I have no idea what that means, but I assume the dishes are from the on-property restaurants—and celebrate the foods of Emilia-Romagna. Also, there’s a bunch of stuff about Italian cars and motorcycles! Phaidon, December 6.

• World Vegan by Alice Pagés takes global inspiration for vegan dishes: think pancakes with miso caramel sauce, vegan burritos, banh mi veggie burgers, mushroom leek risotto, and much more. Grub Street, December 7.

• Irish chef Mark Moriarty brings restaurant techniques to the home kitchen in Flavour. 100 recipes that “elevate everyday meals such as chicken and mushroom lasagna and slow cooked lamb curry.” Gill, December 7.

• Looking to drink less liquor? Check out Sober Curious by Luke Basso, over 60 recipes for unleaded cocktails that lean on homemade syrups and mixers as well as unique flavorings. The book includes riffs on classic cocktails and new creations. Chartwell, December 12.

• Well, when I heard London restaurateur Russell Norman died unexpectedly last month, I didn’t realize he had a new cookbook in the works. Brutto, which is modeled after his restaurant of the same name, looks at the foods of Florence, including recipes for anchovy with cold butter and sourdough, penne with tomato and vodka, sausages with braised lentils and mustard, roasted squash with borlotti bean and salsa verde, country-style bread and tomato salad, and 3-ingredient meringue hazelnut cookies. His previous two books, Polpo and Spuntino, were critically acclaimed and I trust this offering will be no different. Ebury, December 12.

• UK celebrity chef Rick Stein is out with a new book, called Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers. Chapters are divided by occasion: suppers for one, suppers for two, suppers with friends, fast suppers, one-pot suppers, etc. BBC Books, December 12.

• Meatsmith, written by chef Andrew McConnell and butcher Troy Wheeler, offers recipes from the duo’s Melbourne gourmet grocery and butchershop of the same name. Wellington! (Is it just me or is beef wellington having a bit of a moment right now?) Charcuterie! Roasts! More! Hardie Grant December 12.

• Jenny Hurley, the creator of food blog Sunny with Shadows, has written Effortlessly Elevated Eats. The book takes dishes and adds a special ingredient to oomph their appeal: stuff like steak with miso garlic butter, - a red wine and dark chocolate pot roast topped with biscuits, mushrooms stuffed with caramelized onions, gruyere and prosciutto, and more. Page Street, December 12.

• Instagrammer Saloni Mehta (243k followers) brings her vegan baking to print in Vegan Baking Made Simple. “Simple” here means easy; the recipes don’t sound terribly basic to me, with bakes including Earl Grey Blackberry Cupcakes, Salted Caramel & Pear Cake, Mango Passion Fruit Mousse, Almond & Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies, etc. Page Street, December 12.

• Donuts! Recipes for 60 of ‘em in Donut Love by Sloane Papa of Sloane’s Table. Page Street, December 19.

• Today in very specific cookbooks: are you a beginner baker who likes French pastries but also likes small pastries? Bite-Sized French Pastries for the Beginner Baker could be the book for you! Sylvie Gruber, who launched the blog A Baking Journey, walks you through the basics of Sablés Bretons, Tigrés Financiers, Mini Cherry Clafoutis and more. Page Street, December 19.

And welcome to your what-day-is-it-anyway issue of Stained Page News. I hope all of my US readers had a lovely Thanksgiving and didn’t give too much of your money to Jeff Bezos. I for one spent it sleeping off COVID, so this issue will be short but mighty. We’ve got book deals! We’ve got the design in London restaurant cookbook Dishoom! We’ve got a bunch of fun links for you to read INCLUDING the first few offerings for best of 2023 round-ups! What a world.

Thanks, by the way, for all the well-wishes on Cured, the upcoming book bySan Antonio chef Steve McHugh and yours truly. There is still time to pre-order a copy signed by both of us from the Twig, a locally-owned bookstore next door to Cured the restaurant!

Pre-order a signed copy now!

You can learn a lot, lot more about Cured here. And now, cookbook news!

TREASURE HUNTS I know I’ve mentioned the self-published cookbook famed director and writer Nora Ephron wrote to give as presents to friends, right? A holy grail of cookbook collecting, IMO. And, apparently, Rita Wilson makes her Thanksgiving dinner out of her copy every year. Orange Praline Yams! Fine. I’ll just be over here with my police procedural-style bulletin board, threads and pins and newspaper clippings, tracking down a copy if any of you need me. [People]

The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca

Dishoom, written by British restaurateurs Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar, and chef Naved Nasir, is one of those cookbooks I read in bed (admittedly, my favorite way to savor a good cookbook). While the writing is thoroughly enjoyable, what makes this book really special is the photography by Liz Haarala and Max Hamilton (aka Haarala Hamilton). Their images capture the bustling, colorful, and welcoming world of the historic South Mumbai Irani cafés that inspired Dishoom’s namesake restaurants. The number of photographs alone is impressive—I counted a total of 324 within 400 pages—but the beauty and breadth of the images are what make reading Dishoom such an engaging, immersive experience.

“Dishoom is a journey—a day and night in Bombay through food and drink,” explains Haarala. “We were there for ten days and we got up early every day and only stopped photographing in the day for a quick recharge of batteries and to back up photos. And then back out again until late at night.” Their photographs are filled with rich detail and bring the city, its people, and its food to vibrant life. “There is something about Bombay that hooks you in and we feel we only scratched the surface,” says Haarala.

Back in London, Haarala Hamilton and their team—prop stylist Jen Kay and food stylists Aya Nishimura and Rosie Reynolds—closely studied the photographs to recreate the look and feel of an Irani café in their studio. The resulting composed dish images are remarkably evocative, allowing a seamless visual flow between location and food.

The book’s unusual size (7.25" wide by 10.75" high) forces most photographs into a strongly vertical frame. Creatively, this might be somewhat limiting, but Haarala Hamilton’s work loses none of its impact when conforming to this format. In fact, the verticality feels as if we are peering through a doorway—a perfect visual metaphor for an invitation into the cafés that Dishoom celebrates.

Notably, the cover does not feature photography, only a simple typographic composition with an illustration of a café. While this approach reinforces Dishoom’s visual brand, I imagine it would have been nearly impossible to select just one cover image from the enormous number of photographs Haarala Hamilton produced. “We have so many images that we love from this project that never made it into the book,” remarks Haarala. But those that did make Dishoom an absolute visual feast—a delicious slice of old-time Bombay that captivates inquisitive cooks and armchair travelers alike.

—Frances Abrantes Baca

RIP The cookbook world has tragically lost two members of our community recently. Photographer Aubrie Pick, who shot books including Chrissy Teigen’s first cookbook, Tanya Holland’s California Soul, Andrea Nguyen’s Vietnamese Food Any Day, and the upcoming Dolly Parton cookbook, which she shot during treatment for lymphoma. She was 42. And in London, restarauteur and author Russell Norman died after a brief illness at 57. His 2012 book Polpo is one of the great Italian restaurant cookbooks. I know from social media that many SPN readers were close to these two; if you have memories you’d like to share in this newsletter, email me. My heart goes out to all for your losses. [SF Chron, Guardian]

Coming Attractions: Adeena Sussman! Lobsters! Italian Summers! Dessert! Sichuan! More!

• Adeena Sussman, author of Sababa and Shabbat, to write Zariz, which gets its title from the Hebrew word for “quick.” Israeli flavors, quickly and without stress. Avery, pub date TBA.

• Mark Kurlansky, author most recently of The Core of an Onion, to write Lobsters, a “portrait” with recipes. Spring 2026, Bloomsbury.

• Melissa Pellegrino and Matthew Scialabba, proprietors of Connecticut pizzeria Bufalina, to write Summer in Italy, “a cookbook and travelogue pitched as inspired by the beach clubs of Italy.” Hardie Grant NA, pub date TBA.

• Emily Lex, author and illustrator of several watercolor-illustrated books on Christianity, to write a 60-recipe dessert cookbook. Harvest House, 2026.

• Linda Yi of Panda Cub Stories to write and illustrate Let’s Make Sichuan, a book covering “Sichuan home cooking, featuring personal stories and recipes, including chili oil and mapo tofu, along with ingredients and methods presented in a comics format for home cooks of all skill levels.” Ten Speed, pub date TBA.

• Historian Gavin Beinart-Smollan has launched a project of digitizing South African Jewish cookbooks from the 20th century. You can explore the first 40 volumes at the South African Jewish Cookbook Project. [sajweishcookbooks.org via aish.com]

• Inside the Sacramento Bee’s new cookbook, Sacramento Eats. [SB]

• Publishers Weekly looks at Phaidon’s role in the cookbook space. [PW]

• Cookbook review: The Korean Cookbook by Junghyun Park and Jungyoon Choi. [Restaurant]

• Cookbook review: Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly. [The Kitchn]

• Cookbook review: Eater by Hillary Dixler Canavan. [The Caterer]

• Tips for annotating cookbooks. [Twin Cities Geek]

• Will climate change cookbooks change how we eat? [Grist]

• Holding space for cookbooks about indigenous cuisine. [Paste]

• Will church cookbooks survive? [Christianity Today]

• Julia Child’s dishes shouldn’t look like food porn. [VF]

Best Cookbooks of 2023 Lists!

• Hot Dinners (UK)

• LA Times

• Canberra Times (Australia)

• Wired

• Amazon

• Epicurious

Okay y’all that’s it for today! I am off to take a nap.

And welcome to a very, very, very special issue of Stained Page News. This is the issue where I FINALLY reveal the project I’ve been hinting at in this newsletter for years, a project that I think is worth the wait. Because it’s easily the best project I’ve ever worked on—proud is an understatement.

I am talking about Cured: Cooking with Ferments, Pickles, Preserves, & More by Steve McHugh with Paula Forbes. (That’s me.) (You knew that.)

Photography by Denny Culbert. Edited by Kelly Snowden. Design by Emma Campion. Published by Ten Speed Press on March 26, 2024.

And AND! If you pre-order it from San Antonio bookstore The Twig—support your indie bookstores y’all!—your copy will show up in March signed by both me and Steve.

Pre-order a signed copy now!

But maybe you’d like to hear more about the book first?

Steve is a chef in San Antonio; the name of his first restaurant, Cured, has multiple meanings. Because Steve’s specialty is charcuterie, it’s “cured” like hams and other meats. But also this is the restaurant he dreamed up with his wife Sylvia while he was being treated for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma over a decade ago, a restaurant that would be a light at the end of the tunnel during treatment.

Cured now has another meaning: it’s a cookbook. Or it will be, when it comes out in March. And it’s one hell of a cookbook, at that. With over 150 recipes, Cured aims to teach home cooks how to cook with preserved foods. It has recipes for sauerkraut and pickles and jams, yes. But the bulk of the recipes are not for preserved foods, they use preserved foods. These are dishes that can be made with store-bought mustards and salad dressings and spice blends and sundried tomatoes. Because this is a book that is less about how to make preserved foods, and more about why.

After all, cooking with preserved foods is just a fancy, cheffy way of saying pantry cooking.

So why are chefs like Steve obsessed with preservation?! Plenty of cookbooks will tell you how to put food in a jar. This one will tell you what to do with it once you take off the lid—whether that lid reveals homegrown strawberry jam or a tub of supermarket strawberry ice cream. And once you’ve figured out that why? Our hope is you’ll catch the preservation bug.

Let me back up. Almost 5 years ago, I got an email inviting me to go down to San Antonio to discuss the possibility of writing a cookbook with chef Steve McHugh. At the time, Steve had just the one restaurant—he’s since opened three more—but his reputation as one of the best chefs in the country had been fully established. I was thrilled.

“I’d love to,” I responded. “You’re asking because we’re both from Wisconsin and live in Texas, right?”

Nope! They had no idea. But it turned out to be serendipitous—Steve and I got along like gangbusters. (Just, uh, don’t ask how thick our Wisconsin accents get when we talk on the phone.) We quickly decided it was a good fit. The tricky part was figuring out the cookbook concept.

How to tell Steve’s story alongside recipes for his food? We ruled out a charcuterie book as too complicated, although some easy charcuterie recipes did end up in Cured. And publishers just aren’t as hot on restaurant cookbooks as they once were. So the trick was figuring out what Steve had to offer home cooks that made sense in parallel to telling his story as a chef, and Cured’s restaurant story. What was the cookbook only Steve could write?

Well, some home cooks might find making salami and hams intimidating, but pretty much everyone can make a spice blend or garlic confit. And they make tons of preserved foods at Cured, not just the complicated stuff. So preservation might be a good theme.

There was something sticky there, something deeper going on in the storytelling. We settled on the idea of preservation as a metaphor for lingering, prolonging. Making the good stuff last longer, whatever “the good stuff” might be. It’s a metaphor that fits Steve’s cancer journey, and the story of the restaurant, and the hows and whys home cooks might want to know about preservation. (I am not joking when I say I tear up every. single. time. I read the introduction.)

So we spent a few days in the back room of Cured with a giant stack of post-its (anyone who has ever worked with me will tell you I always show up armed with a bunch of post-its), coming up with recipe ideas. How would this work, exactly?

And here’s what we came up with: The book is divided by preservation method: Acid, Ice, Dry, Sugar, Fat, Cure, Ferment, Smoke. Each chapter has several “Base Ingredients”; these are your preserves, and you can make them using the recipe provided, or buy them at the store. And then there are 4-5 recipes that use each Base Ingredient. So here’s how a section works, using one of my favorite Base Ingredients from the Acid chapter: Mustard.

You get a recipe for Mustard, of course (which, by the way, is so much easier to make at home than you’d think). Then there are several variations: Beer Mustard, Sambal Mustard, Sweet Potato Mustard, Cherry Mustard. We give you a few easy ideas for using mustard, like adding a dab to macaroni and cheese to amplify the cheese flavor. And then there are the dishes:

• A basic Remoulade (Steve came up in New Orleans restaurants, so there’s a lot of that in the book, along with Wisconsin and Texas, of course)

• Mustardy Potato Salad with Bacon

• Split Pea Soup with Whole-Grain Mustard

• Mustard-Glazed Sheet-Pan Chicken with Root Vegetables

So you can make that sheet-pan chicken with your homemade cherry mustard or a store-bought honey mustard, and you can make the potato salad with sambal or beer mustard, and you can make the soup with...you get it. Right?!

Here are some of my favorite recipes from the book:

• “Pimento” Cheese, made with pickles of your choice

• Tomato Soup with Tiny Pasta and Greens, which uses jarred tomato sauce

• Summer Squash Salad with Pesto and Pepitas (love that freezer pantry!)

• Granola Pie, which is like pecan pie but with…granola!

• Chipotle Marmalade Chicken Wings

• Fregola with Preserved Lemons, Bacon, and Greens

• Cured Fish, Melon, Cucumber, and Green Onion Salad (this is our cover dish!)

• Kimchi Meatloaf (if you don’t count the glaze, this recipe only has six ingredients and is just astonishingly delicious)

• Chow-Chow Quiche

• Smoked Nuts Chocolate Tart

Okay so this is the part where I ask you to pre-order the book. As I am sure you have heard from other authors, pre-orders can be so so so important for a book launch. And! We’ve partnered with San Antonio bookstore The Twig, which just happens to be located right next door to Cured.

If you pre-order from the Twig, your copy will be signed by both me and Steve, and you will get the satisfaction of keeping your shopping choices both indie and local. (Well, local to Cured, anyhow.)

Pre-order a signed copy now!

Truly, this is the best thing I’ve ever worked on. Which includes this newsletter, which I assume you enjoy, since you’ve read this far! It would mean the absolute world to me if you pre-ordered Cured. I love this book, and I think you’ll love it too.

Thanks as always for reading. And please behold this fantastically massive charcuterie board that was our last shot of the photo shoot. We ate it to celebrate!

Hi y’all, frankly there is too much cookbook news today for me to say much up here so let’s get to it! (Thank you to everyone who checked in with me after last week’s issue, I am doing much better now xo.) COOKBOOK NEWS LET’S GET IT!

Kitchen Arts & Letters Announces the Nach Waxman Prize

In honor of Nach Waxman, the late founder of Kitchen Arts & Letters, the New York culinary bookstore has announced the Nach Waxman Prize for Food and Drink Scholarship, a $5,500 cash award given to the author of a book that “highlights a book of scholarship which invites the general public to seriously consider issues in culinary and beverage history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, geography, and related fields.” The award will be given each year to a book published in English the calendar year prior, with a shortlist announced in April and the winner announced in May. Info on how to submit here.

So much of the stuff I do is online where nothing really lasts. There might be really good recipes that I make that just after a couple of months just vanish into the wild of the internet. I wanted to focus on making something that might be more timeless.

—Sohla El-Waylly on writing a cookbook, Start Here, after a career spent in digital recipes. [F&W]

The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca

The vivid, oceanic blue of Love Japan’s cover stops me in my tracks every time I see it. It’s unusual to see blue as a dominant color on American cookbook covers, as it is considered somewhat of an appetite suppressant. But this cover could not look more delicious. Photographed by Yuki Sugiura and designed by Lizzie Allen, Love Japan jumps off the shelf not just for its jewel-like tones, but also for the exceptionally lovely styling of authors Sawako Okochi and Aaron Israel’s “Lox Bowl,” one of their signature dishes.

Okochi and Israel are the proprietors of Brooklyn’s Shalom Japan, a restaurant that melds Japanese and Jewish cuisines (reflecting each chef’s cultural heritage). The authors are also a married couple and parents of two young children, and Love Japan features the food they prepare in their home kitchen. “We wanted to make all of the food feel achievable,” remarks Israel, and indeed, the ease and immediacy of home cooking permeates the entire book. The Lox Bowl feels especially accessible and familiar, its ingredients readily identifiable and simple to prepare.

The simplicity of the Lox Bowl on Love Japan’s cover is, however, subtly elevated by several small but important details, making this relatively modest home-cooked meal feel like a work of art. The striking blue surface recalls the sea, and its distressed texture lends a faint sense of movement to the shot—like shifting waves. This eye-grabbing color packs an especially potent punch as it’s paired with bright pink-orange lox. Blue and orange are complementary colors—opposites on the traditional color wheel—and their combined values produce a sort of visual electricity that pops off the cover. The touches of green bring balance to the composition, and help soften the brilliant pink salmon. I especially love the sliced avocado, whose imperfect—but creamy and rich—texture grounds the clean, crisp beauty of the other ingredients. Allen sets the quiet, classic typography in a bold yellow-green that mirrors the tones of the vegetables and chile mayo. The clincher for me is the bowl, whose black, white, and blue striations remind me of salmon skin. It’s as if the meal is held within the glimmering, delicate scales of the fish itself.

Sugiura’s photograph—enhanced by the work of the authors, designer, and stylists Lisa Masuda and Suzie Myers—masterfully achieves what every cookbook strives for, namely to capture a book’s essence in one gorgeous, memorable, and compelling cover image. Its unmistakably Japanese spirit shines forth in its artful presentation and its deep blue ai-zome indigo tones. But we also see lox and capers, and are reminded of the Jewish flavors woven throughout Love Japan. The entire package is quietly triumphant, an ode to the warmth, comfort, and beauty of a cross-cultural family meal.

—Frances Abrantes Baca

AWARDS SEASON The An Post Irish Book Awards 2023 shortlist has been announced! In the cookbook category, we have: Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book by Nathan Anthony, Paradiso: Recipes and Reflections by Denis Cotter, The Gathered Table: A Taste of Home compiled by Gather and Gather Ireland, Spice Box by Sunil Ghai, Flavour by Mark Moriarty, and Home Kitchen by Donal Skehan. Congrats to all! [Irish Central]

Coming Attractions: MF Doom Tribute, benny blanco, Paulie Gee’s, Preppy Kitchen!

• I don’t normally cover fandom cookbooks, but, well, 1. this is more of a tribute cookbook and 2. it’s MF Doom, come on. In the unofficial Doom’s Bistro, illustrator Ben Gore shares “over 60 recipes for foods and drinks directly referenced in the music of MF DOOM.” Don’t worry, I already bought my copy, so go ahead y’all. Out TOMORROW! Blue Monday.

• Music producer and famously famous person benny blanco1 to write Open Wide, “a cookbook and guide to throwing the greatest dinner party of all time.” (I have a feeling some Roman Emperors might beg to differ on that but okay.) The book will feature menus and over 100 recipes alongside “contributions from Matty Matheson and Lil Dicky to Hailey Bieber and Billie Eilish's mom.” Famous people party! Dey Street, April 2024.

• Paul Giannone and Mary Ann Giannone, proprietors of Greenpoint, Brooklyn pizzeria-I-have-very-much-enjoyed Paulie Gee’s, will write an untitled cookbook of 75 recipes and “secrets to the success of their 44-year marriage and 13-year restaurant partnership.” I am both surprised this book doesn’t exist already and also wondering if the pizza market is bloated! Most don’t have their story, though. Thoughts in the comments? Union Square & Co, pub date TBA.

• John Kannel, author of last year’s The Preppy Kitchen, to write Preppy Kitchen: Super Easy, which will cover the same “family favorites” style cooking as his first book, just…super easy! Written with Rachel Holtzman. Simon Element, pub date TBA.

ACCESSIBILITY ALERT In Canada, Jamie Oliver’s next two books, 5 Ingredients Mediterranean and a children’s novel called Billy and the Giant Adventure, will be published simultaneously in both digital and physical braille on the same day the print editions are released. A brief search indicates cookbooks published in braille to be a somewhat random lot, so I’m sure some new releases are welcome among them! The books will be available on November 14. [Press Release]

Please Behold This Banger of a Donna Hay Tribute Song

So I was going to link to the above video regardless because, well, there aren’t that many tribute songs written for cookbook authors. But um “Donna Hay” by the Australian band Cookbook Book Club actually kind of slaps? Getting lofi Le Tigre vibes off it. The “band” (I cannot tell if this is parody or not) has three other songs on YouTube: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread, Recipe for Disaster, and Surf ‘n Turf. I mean, I think it’s supposed to be funny but I also think they actually like Donna Hay and also the song is actually good. IMO.

This song came out in 2019 but the Australian cookbook author was just on a radio show in which they asked her about it: “At first I thought it was someone taking the mickey out of me!” but “I sort of realised it was real when somebody else sent me a video one Saturday night, because they were in a pub playing it live…And my friends had just stumbled into this pub to have a drink, and then they were hysterically laughing!” Bless everyone involved in this, the band, the pub, Donna’s friends, Donna. Do Ottolenghi next, y’all.

• Above, the trailer for season 2 of Julia, which premieres November 16 on Max. [YouTube]

• In this story on books banned by prisons: the most banned book in America is a cookbook called Prison Ramen, by Clifton Collins, Jr. and Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez. [Time]

• Go on, check out Alison Roman’s wedding in Vogue, you know you want to. [Vogue]

• To be perfectly honest, before this article came out I didn’t know much about cookbook author/blogger Tieghan Gerard—of Half Baked Harvest fame—for some reason I had gotten in my head years ago that she wrote health food cookbooks? And thus didn’t cover her. Anyway, uh, that’s apparently not her deal at all—and also there’s a whole lot else going on there. [NYT]

• Pal of SPN looked at a recent spate of cookbooks that tackle not just getting dinner on the table, but also getting dinner off the plates: dishwashing talk ahoy!!! [Mess Hall]

• Digging through the lesbian cookbook archives. [TASTE]

• How DC’s Bold Fork Books became a literary destination. (Feeling personally called-out by that lede.) [InsideHook]

• Cookbook review: Manju’s Cookbook by Manju Patel. [The Caterer]

• The cookbooks every Australian family had in the 90s. [delicious.]

• Bon Appetit picked the 23 best cookbooks of fall the old fashioned way: by cooking from them! [BA]

• Are cookbooks still worth it? [Deseret News]

Stained Page News Classifieds

• Five Things I've Learned is where writers, musicians, artists, and other creative thinkers share live, online classes. Up this month, two-hour sessions from fellow Substack writers Maya C. Popa, Liza Donnelly, and—live and online tonight—the great Cheryl Strayed. Visit myfivethings.com to discover personal invitations from these great writers. Subscribe to MyFiveThings on Substack, to sample the first five minutes of almost 100 great classes, get class discounts, and learn about new live sessions! Subscribe today!

Email me to run a classified ad in an upcoming issue!

That’s all cookbook pals! I’ll see you next week.

And hello from chilly Austin. Apologies for this being a smidge late, this past week has been rather intense for me on a personal level and sometimes real life takes priority.

But the cookbooks keep on coming, and where there are fall cookbook releases, that’s where I’ll be, too. Things are starting to slow down a bit as we get closer to the holidays (maybe that’s why September and October were so nuts), but there are still some gems in this batch. Also! Since the list is short we can do allll the covers, for your viewing enjoyment. Here we go!

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Hardie Grant North America and Preserved: Condiments and Preserved: Fruit, the first two titles in a series of six small books dedicated to the art of food preservation by Darra Goldstein, Cortney Burns, and Richard Martin. Packed with history, kitchen inspiration, and unabashedly delicious recipes, these books are a guide to new culinary adventures.

The Stained Page News November 2023 Cookbook Preview

• YouTuber (1m subscribers) and Instagrammer (248k subscribers) Danni Rose has written her first cookbook: Danni’s Juke Joint Comfort Food Cookbook, which is full of her signature recipes from her Southern family, including dishes served at her dad’s titular juke joint. Recipes include dishes like “Cheddar Pancakes with BBQ Pulled Pork, Daddy's Fried Cheese Grits, Cajun Deviled Eggs, Jack & Pepsi Slushies, Spatchcocked Whole Fried Chicken, Ole Skool Mac 'n' Cheese, Pot Likker Greens, [and] Church Lady Candied Apples.” Harvest, November 7.

  

• Journalist Mark Kurlansky takes a historical look at onions around the world in The Core of an Onion, along with 100 recipes and pen-and-ink drawings done by the author (!). Bloomsbury, November 7.

• Yossy Arefi is back to follow up her 2020 title Snacking Cakes with Snacking Bakes, a similar premise that is focused on bakes that are not necessarily cakes! Instead, you’ll get cookies, bars, brownies, loaves, and, you know, a few cakes. Cakes are great! Clarkson Potter, November 7.

  

• File under not-just-a-cookbook: Southern Fried Sass from ex-Drag Race queen Ginger Minj (written with Jenna Glatzer) has 50 recipes, and also advice for entertaining, decorating, and living fabulously. Atria, November 7.

  

• Maydān, from DC restaurateur Rose Previte (written with Marah Stets), explores “the flavors and overlapping foodways from across Lebanon, Morocco and Oman to the Republic of Georgia.” In 150 recipes (!) the book dives into Previte’s family recipes, recipes for entertaining, and even project cooking. Abrams, November 7.

  

• Author of 2021’s bestseller Jubilee Toni Tipton-Martin turns her eye to cocktails in Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks. The book digs into the history of classic cocktails and brings readers to the present with modern renditions. Clarkson Potter, November 13.

• Los Angeles chef and cookbook author Nancy Silverton returns with a book that seeks to perfect the American baking cannon: The Cookie That Changed My Life. Per the publisher’s copy, “Biting into a particularly delicious peanut butter cookie one day, she and had an epiphany: every single thing we bake should taste this good,” and thus she set off to improve classics like apple pie, carrot cake, cornbread, biscuits, lemon bars, and much more. Written with Carolynn Carreño. Knopf, November 14.

  

• Snoop Dogg is back with a new cookbook, and this time he’s brought a friend: in Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon, he collaborates with pal/rapper Earl “E-40” Stevens, the titular “goon with the spoon.” The recipes are a collection of dishes the pals like to cook together as well as some recipes from E-40’s Filipino food brand, The Lumpia Company. Chronicle, November 14.

  

• Sam Way aka @samseats on Tiktok (10m followers) has written his first cookbook, also called Sam’s Eats. Way’s thing is he makes accessible restaurant-quality food; recipes include PB&J Brioche French Toast, Herby Breadcrumb Salmon Traybake, Gnocchi Carbonara, Pork Ribs with Cucumber Slaw, Smash Burgers, Korean Fried Popcorn Chicken, Chicory, Blue Cheese & Grapefruit Salad, and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. Voracious, November 14.

  

• A 50th anniversary edition of Madhur Jaffrey’s classic An Invitation to Indian Cooking gets a refresh with a foreword from self-professed “superfan” Yotam Ottolenghi and illustrations from the author herself. Knopf, November 21.

• Another rerelease: The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child. I am sure most of you are familiar with the book, so I am going to talk about that COVER! So 1960s yet so modern! Minimalist design with the maximalist font! Obsessed. Knopf, November 21.

Okay pals that’s it for November! Have a great weekend.

Today’s issue is an interview by freelance writer Sharon McDonnell, who spoke with cookbook author Anna Voloshyna. Voloshyna is a cookbook author who immigrated to the Bay Area from Ukraine in her early 20s, and released her first book, Budmo! (“cheers!” in Ukrainian), last year. Voloshyna recently returned from a trip to Ukraine, where she reported (and, along with photographer Jason Perry, photographed) a cookbook on the ways Ukrainians are preserving their culinary heritage during wartime.

Below, Voloshyna tells McDonnell how she got into food writing in the first place, what people get wrong about Ukrainian food, and what it’s like reporting from a war zone that also happens to be your hometown.

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Five Things I've Learned, where writers, musicians, artists, and other creative thinkers share the things that matter most in live, online classes. Visit myfivethings.com to discover sessions from Substack writers including Rebecca Makkai, Allison Moorer, Maya C. Popa, Cheryl Strayed, Brooke Warner, and Lisa Zimberoff – plus inspiring classes from folks like Isabel Allende, Pico Iyer, Jerry Saltz, and Meg Wolitzer. Now you can also subscribe to  , where you can sample the first five minutes of almost 100 great classes, get class discounts, and learn about new live sessions! Subscribe today!

Q&A: Cookbook Author Anna Voloshyna

—Sharon McDonnell

How did you land your cookbook deal for Budmo!?  You don’t have a restaurant, the book isn’t a collaboration with a high-profile chef, and you immigrated to the US in 2011.

In this day and age due to social media it’s not that unusual anymore, people who are active with something to say can get book deals. Over the past 10 years with social media, everything changed. I got very lucky. I found a cookbook writing course at Stanford University in Continuing Studies, near where I lived then. I showed my writing to the teacher, Tori Ritchie, a cookbook author, former Food Network TV host, food editor and San Francisco Cooking School instructor, one of the most talented people I know. She was excited, and felt my book would be successful. I found my literary agent through the class too, a speaker who talked about how she did mostly cookbooks, but also some books on flower design. I connected instantly with her, Leslie Jonath, she’s a most kind human being. Then Tori helped me shape my proposal–she was the greatest mentor. Every semester in my cooking classes I tell people about this class!

I got a lot of rejection when I started. Ukrainian wasn’t hottest cuisine, people felt nothing was happening there, and didn’t believe it would be a best-seller. But I’m the whole package, I told them: I’ll write it, take photos, have the skills to test everything, and I host pop-ups where people love my food. I was a food stylist and photographer before my cookbook. It only takes one publisher to believe in you! I found Rizzoli–they had nothing like that in their portfolio, and felt Ukrainian food was up and coming. I had wonderful cooperation from them. My book was done before the war broke out (in February 2022), and published in late 2022. Its name is a toast, like “cheers” in English.

Were you a food stylist and photographer back in Ukraine?

No. I came to the Bay Area at 21, started my food blog around 2013 and got interested in food photography. Once I improved my craft, restaurants, brands, and local startups began reaching out for photo shoots and different projects. I freelanced for Feastly, MealPal, and Zesty, and brands like BevMo, Hestan, Duckhorn, Instant Pot, Ducktrap, MSC etc. I did pop-up meals, and did cooking classes for Tastemade and Truffle Shuffle. I went to San Francisco Cooking School in 2020, got my Culinary Arts degree, and then worked for chef Tyler Florence. My cooking school externship was at Miller & Lux in San Francisco, Tyler’s latest restaurant, and Monarch Collective, his multimedia production company. Then I worked on his new cookbook, American Grill, to be published in 2024.

Your first book is a revelation to people who don’t know much about Ukrainian cooking–which is most of us–and full of luscious, colorful dishes whose photos leap off the page. Most recipes are your modern twists on beloved classics–for example, borscht. Many think of it as a cold, red beet soup in Russia and Ukraine. But you have three recipes for borscht in your book.

That’s a very common misconception outside of Ukraine. In Ukraine, 99% of people think of it as a hot dish. In summer, we eat cold borscht made of beets, radishes and cucumbers. At other times we eat hot green borscht made with no beets but spinach, sorrel and potatoes,  or hot beet borscht made with other vegetables or a  fruit, like prunes or smoked pears. One of my borscht recipes combines prunes and mushrooms. But in Ukraine, regions use one or the other, not both.

What are some other staples of Ukrainian cooking?

Sour cream and dill on everything is our family motto. Dill is without a doubt the most popular herb, and sour cream is the must-have ingredient. We pickle everything from mushrooms and whole apples to gooseberries. Almost every holiday has a dedicated pastry, blini, or dumpling dish.

Let’s talk dumplings.

Ukrainian dumplings, called varenyky, can have sweet or savory fillings, like sour cherries, poppy seeds or syr, a tangy fresh curd cheese (also called tvorog), similar to fromage blanc. When I was growing up in southern Ukraine in the small town of Snihurivka, there were sour cherry trees in nearly every backyard. It broke my heart when I came to the US and couldn’t find my beloved sour cherries at any of the local farmers’ markets. Cheese varenyky typically have a sweet filling, rarely a savory one, in one part of southern Ukraine. But in western Ukraine, syr is one of the most popular fillings, served with crispy bits of fried pork belly and sour cream.

What are your early food memories growing up in Ukraine?

A land of abundance, with vast stretches of sunflower fields, flourishing fruit orchards and the long, winding Dnieper River teeming with fish. Sunflowers are an important crop–we cook with sunflower oil, and snack on dried sunflower seeds and sunflower halvah. We have all four seasons, with long, hot summers and frosty winters, and these dramatic changes in temperature greatly impact local cuisine. With at least five months of the year too cold to cultivate crops or even a household vegetable garden, we cherished every young spring zucchini, preserved summer’s sweet apricots, and fermented tomatoes for winter. [Weekend] mornings, my mom and I would go to a local farmers’ market to buy fresh produce and other foods for the whole week. There were no supermarkets in my hometown before the Soviet Union collapsed, and no imported foods.

Tell me about the recipes in your book from your family.

My mom’s spicy and sour tomatoes are hands down the most popular snack I serve at my dinners: she immerses them in a thick sauce made from fresh herbs like dill, flat-leaf parsley and cilantro, a jalapeno chile, oil and vinegar. I’ve personally witnessed diners at my pop-ups drinking the leftover liquid once the tomatoes are wiped out. Her chicken and mushroom crepes, bundled and tied at the top with green onion into a “beggar’s purse,” are legendary. My grandmother’s roasted duck with green apples and peppercorns was always on the table for family celebrations, from Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday to birthdays.

I don’t think many people think of seafood as part of Ukrainian food. But you have recipes for crawfish, pickled mussels and herring mousse.

We have two seas, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. We eat tiny shrimp, sardines, and herring all the time. My father used to have a beer tent every summer, where crawfish and smoked and dried fish were served. One summer I helped out, and boiled crawfish several times a week. Crawfish is very common in Ukraine, every river has it. But Russia blew up one of our biggest dams in May. A ton of fish died, even more got poisoned, and we lost 70% of our fresh water supply. Now people are very careful about eating local fish.      

You have some recipes from Georgia, the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, in your book. Why?

Georgian food is one of the most popular cuisines in Ukraine. You grow up eating it at affordable restaurants and street vendors sell it. I have recipes for khachapuri–a flatbread filled with cheese, eggs and butter,  fried chicken livers with pomegranate molasses, and walnut/beet spread. Georgian walnut spreads are made with various vegetables or greens plus garlic and herbs. But the beet spread is my favorite.

You’re just back from Ukraine for your latest project. What was it like?

I returned from a 24-day trip to Ukraine in late September. My goal was to combine some volunteering and research for a second cookbook and a culinary series I want to produce next year, whose working title is Preserving Ukraine. I found what I was searching for–a true spirit of my brave and resilient Ukraine, which lives inside chefs who host pop-ups during sirens, bakers who deliver bread during shellings, volunteers who evacuate people from the most dangerous places.

What I saw was the renaissance of our gastronomic culture. I felt everything was changing-everyone was rejecting everything Russian, Ukrainian cuisine was suppressed for so long, some people almost forgot what it is. I went to experience new chefs to connect with, met bakers staying cheerful in Lviv–a city severely attacked a few times summer–who sometimes baked all night with no electricity, and tasted the fine dining scene. People I met didn’t understand how creative they are, but with my fresh eyes, I saw how incredible it was. When you’re struggling, it’s hard to see the beauty of your creation. I visited local bazaars in every city I went to, and saw the damage in my hometown, where my parents still live.

What memory lingers most from your trip?

I cooked a meal for our soldier defenders, while we heard bombing and sirens, in Druzhaivka, 45 km from Bakhmut. I decided to make them a feast, so I brought stuff from every corner of Ukraine to show I care about them and comfort them. Honey from Lviv, pickles from Kyiv, pickled green and fermented red tomatoes from Nadia (whose name means “hope”), sauerkraut and a spicy sauce called ajika that everyone adores, a sheep’s milk cheese called bryndza from west Ukraine, rye and sourdough bread. I made Crimean beef stew with chickpeas, tomatoes, cilantro, and white wine–no one goes to Crimea now since Russia annexed it-polenta with bryndza, and eggplant caviar from southern Ukraine. The main difference from Italian polenta is that in this traditional dish of an ethnic group in the Karpathian mountains you add a generous dollop of sour cream for extra richness, and don’t use Parmigiano-Reggiano. Eggplant caviar is made with red bell pepper, tomatoes and onion-don’t ask me why Slavic people like to call spreads made with vegetables like eggplants or squash “caviar,” there’s no caviar. It was a very special experience,  but we could hear bombing and sirens. I thought, I need to keep cooking. I was not scared even once-I felt I was at home, and then came home. The soldiers gave me a Ukrainian flag, which everyone signed for me.

What kind of volunteering did you do in Ukraine?

Photographer Jason Perry and I drove an ambulance full of medical supplies for soldiers and civilians from Amsterdam to Lviv, by the Polish border. The ambulance was from a Dutch aid-to-Ukraine nonprofit, Stichting Zeilen van Vrijheid. It was Jason’s sixth visit to Ukraine-he worked with them before. The dinner for our soldiers was arranged through people he knew.

Wow.  I’m almost lost for words. But I want to hear more about this spicy sauce everyone adores.

I enjoy making all types of hot sauces, but red ajika might be the one I like best-mildly spicy, it’s a cooked sauce made of red bell peppers, cayenne chile peppers, tomato, horseradish, garlic and apple cider vinegar. Green ajika is a raw sauce of jalapeno chiles, green bell peppers and cilantro, that I love with grilled meat and meat dumplings.

What’s the latest on your Preserving Ukraine project?

I wrote the proposal before my trip, but now it’s a little different based on what I saw, much deeper, more important and with photos to share. I’ll write about chefs and other people I met, little gems I found, foods I tasted. I’m in the process of signing with a publisher.

Sharon McDonnell is a travel, food, drink and profiles writer in San Francisco for print and online outlets. She's taken cooking classes in Morocco, Thailand, India, Malaysia, China, Italy, France and New Orleans. Read her work at https://sharonmcdonnell.contently.com.

Hello from gorgeous Austin where finally, finally we have nice fall weather. (It’s going to be 94°F Friday though…sigh.) We have an EXCESS of kimchi liquid that I am planning on braising…something…in tonight. (Collards?) Otherwise I am in recipe-development-land. Keeping busy over here!

We’ve got a chunky newsletter today, with book designer Frances Abrantes Baca back to explore a design-forward cookbook, a bunch of book deals, a cookbooky survey that shows y’all think VERY HIGHLY of your meemaw’s recipes, and much more. Head to the website if this is too long for your email. Let’s get to it!

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Knopf Cooks and Latinísimo: Home Recipes from the Twenty-One Countries of Latin America by Sandra A. Gutierrez. From Tortillas de Nixtamal (Fresh Masa Tortillas) and Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice), to Arepas Clásicas (Classic Arepas) and Pastel de Tres Leches (Tres Leches Cake), Latinísimo is filled with recipes that reflect the incredible breadth and richness of Latin culinary traditions. Order your copy today!

Most Americans Believe Their Family Recipes Could Be Bestsellers

Think you’ve got a bestselling cookbook in you? You’re not alone: Two-thirds of Americans believe their family recipes are “worthy” of bestselling cookbooks, according to a survey done by Bob Evans Farms (yes like the sausage people). Best of luck to all 220 million of you! (Someone is going to have to also…buy those cookbooks. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess.) Other stats from the survey:

• 71% have a family recipe from either their parents (54%), grandparents (40%), or great-grandparents (24%).

• Millennials (80%) are most likely to “continue their family's heritage through cooking” as compared to Boomers (76%), Gen X (75%) and Gen Z (67%). (Has Gen Z even had their cooking moment yet though?)

• Meanwhile, Gen X (77%) actually has possession of the family recipes, versus Boomers (76%), Millennials (68%), and Gen Z (53%).

So! Do you have family recipes? Would you publish them? Have you published them? I wish I had my grandmother’s bread dumplings recipe, sigh. I’ll have to tinker with that and see if I can recreate it.

The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca

It was 1977 when Deborah Barsel, a young employee of the noted American photography museum the George Eastman House (now the George Eastman Museum), began pursuing a project that she conceived—collecting recipes from some of the world’s most well-known photographers. Her plan was to publish the more than 120 contributions she received, but she departed for graduate school before the project was completed, leaving the material behind in a box marked “Photo Cookbook.”  Fast-forward more than thirty years, and former Eastman Museum curator of photography Lisa Hostetler discovered the neatly organized box in the museum’s archives. Together with Aperture, the Eastman Museum finally published the long-forgotten recipes and images in 2016.

The Photographer’s Cookbook is the result of Barsel’s vision, and offers forty-nine recipes selected by Hostetler and Aperture’s senior editor Denise Wolff. The book features the work of legendary photographers such as Ansel Adams (“Eggs Poached in Beer”), Imogen Cunningham (“Borscht”), and Richard Avedon (“The Royal Pot Roast”), as well as that of several lesser known artists like Grant Mudford (“Pavlova”), Jim Alinder (“The World’s Best Brownies”), and Linda Connor (“Pumpkin-Pomegranate Soup”). And although most recipes produce reliable results, some are more conceptual—Les Krims’s ”Formalist Stew,” for example, calls for “185 ingredients and takes 31 days to prepare” but warns “you die of boredom and hunger before it’s ever finished.”

London-based studio Atelier Dyakova designed The Photographer’s Cookbook. The recipes are set in Helvetica and Typewriter, typefaces that pay tribute to the cookbooks, advertising, and typewritten correspondence of the 1970s. The neon orange that accents the recipes and floods the chapter dividers feels strikingly modern, though it also borrows somewhat from the saturated, garish colors of 1970’s food photography.

Designing with fine art requires a high degree of restraint—to preserve their artistic integrity, the photographs cannot be cropped nor manipulated—and Atelier Dyakova sensitively presents the mostly black-and-white images, framing them with a modest white border. The one exception is a full-frame two-page spread featuring Neal Slavin’s Frankfurters in Full Dress, whose colorful hot dogs rest alluringly on a dark blue surface, adorned with ingredients such as bacon, pineapple, mayonnaise, and—fascinatingly—crab apples.

Though The Photographer’s Cookbook may seem like an odd concept, Hostetler beautifully sums up the curious, but complementary, relationship between photography and cooking: “...both chefs and photographers regularly transmute ordinary matter into works of great value and rarity. Whether the pleasure of consuming them is visual or alimentary, creativity is critical to successful results.”

—Frances Abrantes Baca

Coming Attractions: NPH & David Burtka! Mxriyum! ChaoticForager! Masala y Maíz! Danielle Sepsy!

• Husbands Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka to write Mixed: Paired Cocktails and Mocktails to Fit any Mood, which is a pretty good idea honestly. The cookbook is organized around the four elements. Plume, pub date TBA.

• Mxriyum (TikTok 7.8 million, Insta 1 million) to write I Sleep in My Kitchen (which is her bio text on both platforms). The cookbook will “[celebrates] the author's Palestinian heritage as well as her creativity in the kitchen.” Clarkson Potter, fall 2025.

• Gabriellle Cerberville, aka “Mushroom Auntie” aka @chaoticforager (Tiktok 1.1 million, Insta 307K), to write Gathered, “a wild food field guide and memoir with seasonal recipes and foraging exercises.” Harper, pub date TBA.

• The chef/owners of Mexico City’s Masala y Maíz restaurant, Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, to write an as-yet-untitled Masala y Maíz book (although I think the restaurant name is a pretty good title). The book, like the restaurant, will “explore the crosscultural foodways of Mexico, South Asia, East Africa, and California” and sounds very delicious. Clarkson Potter, pub date TBA.

• I did not watch The Big Brunch so I am unaware of baker Danielle Sepsy’s “famous scone recipe,” but it will be released in her upcoming cookbook for the first time, along with “tried-and-true baking recipes with a good dose of Americana and Italian American influence.” The book will be called The Scone Queen Bakes and it will be published by Knopf. Pub date tba.

• And finally, “the Food Dolls” aka sisters Alia Elkaffas and Radwa Elkaffas (TikTok 1.5 million) to write an as-yet untitled cookbook “featuring 100 recipes for easy Middle Eastern-influenced Midwestern-meets-the-Mediterranean comfort food for family meals and gatherings.” Co-written with Rachel Holtzman, Clarkson Potter, spring 2025.

• Above: a comic about THE FAMOUS PLUM CAKE! [Insta via ]

• This is cool: the first ever Salvadorian cookbook publish in the US is coming in April. [BELatina]

• 100 years of cookbook/art book publisher Phaidon. [TAN]

• Cookbook review: The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. [Eater]

• The best food writing is personal. [FT Weekend]

• A recommendation for checking books out of the library. [BookRiot]

• Novelist C Pam Zhang’s 6 favorite books about food. [The Week]

• Fall’s 23 best cookbooks, per Bon Appetit. [BA]

• An ode to Short Stack cookbooks. [Salon]

Ok that’s all for today! Have a great week and see you again soon.

Today we’re going to dive deep into one of fall’s big titles, which is from one of Chicago’s most-beloved restaurants: The Lula Cafe Cookbook by Jason Hammel. Best of all? The interview below was conducted by an old friend of mine, ! Go check out his newsletter, Something Glorious.

So. Restaurant cookbooks. Supposedly publishers don’t publish them any more: that’s what everyone says, anyway. And yet here we have Lula Cafe, the result of nearly 25 years of serving Logan Square diners, in which chef Jason Hammel shares the story of the restaurant and the food served there. And Hammel is not alone: we have quite a few restaurant books this fall, actually! From Williamsburg’s Diner to Rintaro by Sylvan Mishima Brackett (which yes is the featured advertiser in this issue) to the new Restaurant Gordon Ramsay book, or heck, even books like the Eater cookbook and Signature Cocktails, which highlight multiple restaurants (and bars, in the case of cocktails). Restaurant cookbooks are making tentative moves towards a comeback, it seems.

So, are restaurant cookbooks truly back?1 Let’s explore The Lula Cafe Cookbook and find out.

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Hardie Grant North America and Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California (October 10, 2023) by Sylvan Mishima Brackett. The debut cookbook from one of San Francisco’s most acclaimed restaurants, Rintaro translates the experience of a Tokyo izakaya to the home kitchen.

Q&A: Chef Jason Hammel and The Lula Cafe Cookbook

Many of the recipes of the beloved Lula Cafe are finally available for people to make at home. 

—Ari Bendersky 

What started as a project cooking soup has become one of Chicago’s most beloved restaurants, Lula Cafe. Now, nearly 25 years after opening the restaurant in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, chef/owner Jason Hammel has pulled together 90 recipes that represent the DIY, creativity-driven ethos behind his restaurant in The Lula Cafe Cookbook. Hammel, along with his wife, Amalea Tshilds, was a pioneer in Chicago’s farm-to-table movement, and started working directly with local farms to source produce and meats long before that became the norm for many restaurants. And many of the dishes—whether the pasta yiayia (bucatini with feta, brown butter, garlic, and cinnamon), the “Tineka” sandwich ( a vegetable club sandwich with satay sauce), or the chickpea and fennel tagine—often tie back to family or a personal story that deepen the connection to food. The restaurant has always centered around artistry, family, community, and collaboration, and that all comes through in this beautiful book. 

Here, Hammel discusses the restaurant’s beginnings, why a cookbook now, how his Italian heritage (and his wife, Lea’s, Greek background) come through in the recipes, the importance of working with local farmers and purveyors, and more.

After nearly 25 years, why did you decide to do a cookbook now? 

I could have done it awhile back, but I didn’t have the space for it in my life. The pandemic gave me a sense of urgency of getting it done. In the sense that, as a chef and an owner, there’s always this underlying anxiety of: how long can you keep this up and maintain the concentration and fortitude to run a restaurant? And how long will it be popular? You stay up at night thinking about your longevity. And here comes a pandemic that makes that real. I said to myself, I want to preserve this thing I have and recognize that this thing coming would be different than before. So I had a sense of urgency.

So how did the pandemic change Lula? 

Some of the things are pedantic and not that interesting, like inflation. But what really changed is the sense of fragility of our industry, the reflections we’ve had about changing some of the long-standing models that potentially weren’t serving us well. And that strong communities matter. Coming out of the pandemic, I felt that more than ever. That is what really altered my perspective, and strengthened my belief in what a neighborhood restaurant can be in people’s lives.

How did you figure out what you wanted the book to highlight?

I looked back at what spoke to me as a Lula historian–there were certain points and dishes that meant something to me, that had an impact on me. Both the recipes and headers, I wanted to have an evocative take on what food is to me in my life and to all of us at Lula. One day a dish comes and then it’s gone, and I wanted to express how transient that is. We cook with the seasons, and whimsically, and I wanted to show that in the book and the contributions of the many people who have worked there–and recognizing the different eras. I’ve never been great, especially at the beginning, of keeping notes. So this is more focused on the last five or seven years. I could write another book tomorrow.

Are you planning another already?! 

Yeah, I have. I would like to do it and maybe pretty quickly. One angle is maybe doing a brunch-only cookbook and I’m starting to piece that together. For brunch, I’d love to dig deep into some techniques like cooking eggs. But I’ve also thought about writing a cookbook that tries to connect some of the food I grew up [eating] with actual traditional Italian cuisines of where my grandparents came from and what sort of associations or dissociations are there.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, talk about your experience of working on the book. When did you start? 

It took about a year. Sarah Rinkavage, a former chef of mine, is now a private chef. She and I were working on it together. It was a really good personal relationship experience and I got to rekindle my connection with her—and we had to remember and revise the things we did, and see if we still liked them. Without a partner like this, a cookbook cannot get written, especially having a full time job. We cooked all the dishes at my house and did all the photography here at my house with Carolina Rodriguez, who is now L.A. based, but was in Chicago for years. I feel like she got the vibe—it was all about color and is elegant and nuanced.

You and I talked at the party for Sarah Grueneberg’s book Listen to Your Vegetables almost a year ago (Nov 2022). You told me you were working on a book then and felt the pressure, being at her book release party, to get it done. Looking back to that, what was that moment like for you and did it kick you in the butt to finish this? 

It definitely kicked me in the butt to finish, but to also put my best foot forward behind my work. And Sarah did a great job. Anytime I think about an event or whatever I think “What would Sarah Grueneberg do?” She was so honest and forthright and that’s what I want to be. [My book is] getting a message out there that you can relate to this Chicago restaurant, even if you have never been there. It’s a story about that community and the partnership that started it all. And I wanted to write something where the prose itself mattered, that’s thoughtful and beautiful and evocative. Even if it’s inside a recipe or about spices or using a blender, I wanted to write something that was focused on the sentence level and the words themselves. So hopefully people will find it a joy to read.

Is there any correlation to your scrappy beginnings with Lula to pulling this book together—or have your years of experience helped you organize this more cohesively? 

You never get rid of your origins and I don’t know if it feels scrappy to you. I feel it’s well put together and it’s like Lula at our beginnings. And I just want to be humble. This is our origin story–we grow up but you don’t grow out. 

One thing I’m proud of is the graphic designer, Melanie Mues, picked up on that early ethos of “‘90s cafe turns into a grownup restaurant vibe.” She really got that. The design for me really fits the Lula aesthetic.

So how has Lula grown up over the years?

My restaurant is 24 years old and it’s still vibrant, creative, and full of youthful energy. That doesn’t come from me, I’m 51. That comes from the team. It comes from an idea where you’re 27, like I was when I started Lula, and you go for something and good things come from that. You feel that every day at Lula; that’s part of our mission. The book celebrates that and that’s not going away. The only way for a restaurant to go into its second decade, and potentially a third, is to connect with the energy with which it was created—an energy of potential, ambition without cause, running for something regardless of the risk. You see that everywhere in the food world now with pop ups and more, that young people are doing what [my wife] Lea and I did. The book to me represents that with its spirit and I wanted to put that out into the world.

What story are you trying to tell through the book? 

I’ve never been good at describing Lula itself in an elevator pitch. I’ve always struggled with that. Same with describing the book. But it’s a story of young love and what it can be: a love between two people, the love for the work of being a chef, the connections we have made with farmers. It’s really about young love. 

Looking back now, do these recipes, all the dishes you created, how do they tell that story? 

In some respects, there are moments in the book where the recipes are really personal, extremely so. It feels like it could be tangential, but it isn’t. There’s a panzanella recipe that talks about my late father-in-law. That’s not to say he was the inspiration for that recipe, but he’s always in my mind when I make a salad like that. I talk a bit in the book where I grew up in an Italian family, but the food we ate was informed very much by mid-century Americanism as much as “Italian.” I’m informed by that, but freed up to explore how I want to explore. There isn’t a strong sense of culinary tradition I have to rectify or honor, but more that I can explore some of the connections and also disconnections. 

If you could pick a few recipes in the book either as favorites or that really define Lula, what are they and why? 

If I would pick one–pasta Yiayia. That’s foundational for me. Some of the other dishes that are really evocative to me, the butternut squash with ‘nduja is one of those, using a very typical Midwestern winter vegetable like a roasted winter squash and pairing [it] with a southern Italian ingredient. But then buying the ‘nduja locally from the guys at Tempesta feels very Lula to me. I would also point out the salad with the pear and radicchio because again it’s about a completely chance encounter with a farmer who had one ingredient who wanted to use that happened to be my favorite bitter green. But there’s also a vinaigrette in there one of my chef friends came up with, and that shows we aren’t afraid to collaborate and learn from our community and point it out when we do. Those are very Lula dishes to me. 

Talk about time stamping the recipes—why did you start that so many years ago and why did you include each in the book? 

This was a graphic design idea from the people at [graphic design agency] Nitewerk–Monica Jost is her name. She came up with the idea of stamping the menu. We always wrote the date on the menus, like Chez Panisse. Then they had the idea of using the banker stamp. This was done years ago and we still use the same stamp today. The banker stamp was maybe around 2005-2006.

You talked about how Charlie Trotter’s book Vegetables guided you to cook seasonally. Is there anything instructive like that about the Lula book you subtly are trying to teach people? 

That’s a great question. I think there are definitely some curious ingredients we like to include, so I hope it takes people where they can mix and match things. Taking a za’atar from one culinary tradition and using it somewhere else. But also teaching them how food connects ingredient by ingredient. 

How does sharing your family heritage and connection to food, and Lea’s connection to food, help tell your story here? 

People know I’m interested in all things Italian and that’s in part because we’re all searching for a route to our identity. I think I loved the Italian-American world of my grandparents and my dad, that was lost in recent years. I’m more than ever nostalgic of being Italian, and I think Lea can say the same thing about being Greek. Both of us had culturally rich childhoods and both of us now are finding a bit of a loss in not finding those traditions. There’s nostalgia in digging into the food of those cultures. 

Speaking of Lea, you met at the cafe that would eventually become Lula. You started out as friends and mutual lovers of soup, to then starting that business. How much of Lea is reflected in the Lula Cafe Cookbook? 

I think she’s everywhere in this cookbook. I wrote it so it’s my point of view. But I’m constantly referring to her past, her family’s past, her voice, and the contributions that she has made. She’s been away from making day-to-day dishes for a while so these dishes don’t reflect that, but she’s a founder and a trunk of the original tree. 

Ari Bendersky is a Chicago-based lifestyle journalist specializing in food, wine, spirits and travel and writes the Something Glorious newsletter on Substack. The former founding editor of Eater Chicago, Ari's work has appeared in the New York Times, WSJ magazine, Associated Press, Men's Journal, Wine Enthusiast, Departures, RollingStone.com, Crain's Chicago Business, Liquor.com and more.

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• I’ve been catching up with the archive of almost 100 classes at MyFiveThings on Substack, where you can view the first five minutes of classes from writers, musicians, and scores of creative artists and thinkers. Subscribe to My Five Things on Substack and get $10 off a ticket to any individual upcoming or on-demand session. Then go to myfivethings.com, where the classes are, to check out personal video invitations to upcoming live and online classes from writers like Cheryl Strayed and Andre Dubus III and singer-songwriter Valerie June.

Email me to run a classified ad in an upcoming issue!

Well, it’s been a big week here at SPN HQ because…. drum roll… Stained Page News won the 2023 IACP Award for best newsletter!!! It was actually a tie and the award is shared with ; check out her newsletter too!

I submitted three pieces to the awards program:

• Sticklers, Improvisers, and “Following” Recipes by me

• Inside a Legendary Designer’s Recipe Sketchbook by

• A Cookbook for Prisoners, by Prisoners by

Go read them! They are good in my opinion. And award-winning!

Okay let’s do cookbook news.

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Hardie Grant North America and A New Way to Bake: Re-imagined Recipes for Plant-based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts (October 12, 2023) by Philip Koury, the award-winning pastry chef known for his innovative and delicious creations made from plants. With simple recipes using natural ingredients, Phil transforms classic patisserie into amazing plant-based creations.

Tech Giants Steal Cookbooks to Teach AI How Recipes Work

Last week, the Atlantic published a three-part-series about the Books3 dataset, a collection of nearly 200,000 books (I keep seeing different numbers everywhere) being used by a company called OpenAI to teach AI how to, well, write. The last of this series got the most buzz because you could search the books in the dataset. And it turns out a lot of authors found their work in there. I sure did!

AI is out here learning how to make breakfast tacos and smoke brisket, I guess. Anyway, I was upset that my work is being used without permission or payment—not to mention the fact that my book, The Austin Cookbook, features recipes from restaurants and chefs who are not being compensated, either. I searched for what to do—turns out the Authors Guild is suing, but it’s a class action suit only open to fiction writers. There are other lawsuits pending, of course, and hopefully those can address concerns of nonfiction writers. I started asking around—some folks have discussed the situation with their agents, some with their publishers. But mostly the response was a resounding “THIS SUCKS.”

So. I asked for some thoughts from a couple fellow cookbook authors on how this specifically impacts us, and what they had to say was pretty interesting. For me? It’s one thing for novels to be used to teach AI how writing works, and conversation, and plot development, and character arcs. The thing that burns me about this situation for cookbook authors is our work doesn’t just teach AI how to concept, structure, and write a cookbook in addition to the (typically) quite formal language of recipes, it also teaches foodways, dishes, culture, history. It’s the language and the content. I was joking above, but there is a world in which people will soon be able to ask an AI chat how to make a Mexican martini and get a recipe informed by my work.

Jamie Feldmar found the book she co-authored with New Orleans chef Justin Devillier (The New Orleans Kitchen) in the dataset. One of her concerns is that recipes are already so hard to protect: “I was pretty stunned to see it on there. One of the reasons it's so infuriating is because there are already so few protections for cookbook authors—you can't copyright a recipe, so your IP always feels like it's at risk (i.e. someone can add 1/2 tsp more salt to your signature dish and call it their own), in addition to, you know, your livelihood as a writer.” She adds that, for future projects, she plans on discussing with her agent and publisher what protections they may be able to install.

Carolyn Phillips found two of her books in the dataset, and notes that while the WGA just went on strike to protect their earnings against AI, cookbook authors have no similarly powerful labor organization to fight for their interests. A bigger philosophical question stands out for her, as well: “Who wants recipes written by something that thinks in zeros and ones, that has never tasted a strawberry or a glass of wine, that has no concept of food or eating? Are we as humans that far gone? If so, we might as well throw in the towel, move down into our basements with our freeze-dried crickets and Ensure, and wait for the Rise of the Machines to usher in Skynet.”

In doing so, she speaks to what I’ve been saying all this time: AI can’t taste, touch, or smell, which will always give the human recipe developers a leg up.

That is, of course, unless they are literally using our recipes.

Cookbook authors, give us your thoughts in the comments. You can search the Book3 set here.

The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca

I’m a sucker for complex, detailed, full-frame images of food. They vividly conjure pleasurable scents, textures, and colors, or the way an ingredient feels in the hand, surrenders to the fork, or bursts with flavor when we take a bite. Hunger—both literal and metaphorical—is stirred when gazing upon these images, and when they verge on abstraction, excitement and curiosity are piqued as well. In cookbooks, the appearance of full-frame, closely cropped art punctuates the act of recipe browsing with drama, surprise, and inspiration. And although we most commonly encounter them when flipping through a book’s interior, a close-up image of food on a cookbook’s cover is a rare delight.

I felt a jolt of happiness when I set eyes upon the cover of Susan Spungen’s Veg Forward, whose gorgeous, meaty tomatoes—glistening with olive oil, specks of black pepper, and bits of basil—recall the warmth and sensuality of deep summer. Spungen, an accomplished recipe developer and food stylist, shot the book’s photographs herself on an iPhone (an impressive feat for a beginner photographer). “When I shot that tomato tart, I did actually think that was the cover,” says Spungen. But Spungen didn’t expect designer Cybele Grandjean’s treatment of the shot—cropped in tightly and overlaid with big, bold sans-serif type. Gradjean’s design emphasizes the delicious, dramatic impact of the photograph—whose complementary greens and reds, accented with golden yellows, pop brightly off the cover. The crisp, playful typography conveys an attention-grabbing confidence, not to mention that the title reads beautifully at thumbnail size (which is important for online booksellers). This inspired visual dialog between photographer and designer results in a cover that is an unabashed celebration of the vegetables that take center stage in Spungen’s book. 

The cover of Leslie Lennox’s Pesto is, likewise, lush and exuberant, but it achieves this effect through illustration. Anna Repp’s detailed, meticulously rendered drawings of herbs and leafy greens are silhouetted and combined by designer Morgan Krehbiel. The depth and complexity of the resulting full-frame image is striking. At first glance, it looks like a photograph, though closer inspection reveals densely interwoven pencil drawings of the various fresh ingredients in Lennox’s recipes. “The author makes a bold argument for why pesto should be considered a modern addition to the five traditional mother sauces of classical cooking, and so from the start I wanted the cover design to reflect and reinforce that boldness and confidence,” explains Krehbiel. Her design skillfully asserts Lennox’s point of view, made even more salient through the large, eye-catching type treatment. The rounded sans-serif typography complements the shapes of the herbs, whose leaves wrap around the letters and create a lively dimensionality—suggesting a pesto jungle, gently enveloping the book.

Though conceived and published completely separately, Veg Forward and Pesto make a handsome pair. They harness the arresting, maximal quality of their cover art to not only entice us, but also to accomplish the difficult task of capturing a broad, essential, and very memorable reflection of the recipes that await us within.

—Frances Abrantes Baca

Coming Attractions: Fishwife! Rize Up! Wishbone Kitchen! GREENS! Laura Vitale! Melinda Strauss! Soviet Diaspora! The Pasta Queen! Joe Sasto! VEGAN CHEESE!!

• Polina Chesnakova to write Emigre: Life and Cooking in the Societ Diaspora. The book will explore her family’s “cooking and identity in the post-Societ bloc”—they have ties to Ukraine, Russian, Armenia, and the Republic of Georgia—along with personal essays and recipes. Hardie Grant, pub date TBA.

• The folks behind hipster tinned fish company Fishwife Tinned Seafood, Becca Millstein and Vilda Gonzalez, heard you like tinned fish and so will write The Fishwife Cookbook. 75 recipes for enjoying tinned fish! Harvest, winter 2025.

• Azikiwee Anderson, founder of “San Francisco's only Black-owned artisanal sourdough bakery” Rize Up Bakery, to write Rize Up, a book that “aims to make sourdough baking as accessible as possible, especially for those people who haven't traditionally been represented in the space.” Recipes from the bakery included! Artisan, pub date TBA.

• Nothing makes me feel older than encountering a WILDLY POPULAR food celebrity I…have never heard of. Perhaps you have, though? Meredith Hayden, aka @wishbonekitchen on Instagram (994k followers) and TikTok (2 million followers), will write The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook, “pitched as a new generation Ina Garten.” Written with Rachel Holtzman. Here she is making tacos in an apartment with the most ridiculous view of Manhattan I’ve ever seen, with Ed Sheeran. Ten Speed, pub date TBA.

• Blogger Omid Roustaei, aka blogger the Caspian Chef, to write Iranian-American, including “75 recipes that fuse Persian flavors and global cuisines.” Insight, pub date TBA.

• Greens Restaurant in San Francisco has been a vegetarian institution since it opened in 1979, and its latest chef Katie Reicher will write The Season of Greens with over 130 recipes that celebrate “farmers, land, and the seasons.” Greens famously launched the cookbook career of founding chef Deborah Madison, so I have high hopes for this one! Weldon Owen, pub date TBA.

• I was JUST emailing with a reader about how there aren’t enough English-language Peruvian cookbook, and here comes Taranta by Boston chef Jose Duarte and Alison Arnett. The restaurant of the same name is a Peruvian-Italian mashup, so perhaps we’ll see a bit of that influence as well. Histria, fall 2024.

• Suzanne Lenzer to write Peckish, snack recipes “that move beyond boards and platters.” Rodale, pub date TBA.

• YouTuber (3.8 million subscribers) and Cooking Channel host Laura Vitale to write At My Italian Table, about her childhood in Naples cookng with her nonna. Clarkson Potter, spring 2024.

• Alana Kysar, Maui chef and author of 2019’s Aloha Kitchen, to write Veg Out Hawai’i Style. Hawaiian vegetable treatments! Into it. Ten Speed, pub date TBA.

• TikToker Melinda Strauss (1 million followers) to write Eat Jewish, 125 “modern and traditional” Jewish comfort food recipes. Rock Point, spring 2025.

• Grillo’s is a brand of pickles I have never heard of, but they will write Grillo’s Presents: Pickled so presumably they are good pickles! Abrams, Spring 2024.

• TikToker Nadia Caterina Munno (3.1 million followers) to write her second cookbook, The Pasta Queen: The Art of Italian Cooking. Not just pasta! Gallery, fall 2024.

• Top Cheffer Joe Sasto to write Breaking the Rules, with a focus on his specialty of pasta. Simon Element, pub date TBA.

• And last but not least, Miyoko Schinner to write (or…expand and revise?) her 2012 classic Artisan Vegan Cheese, now to be called The Vegan Creamery. 80 recipes for “plant-based cheeses, yogurt, butter, ice cream desserts, and vegan main courses.” Ten Speed, pub date TBA.

• Here’s a short-n-sweet podcast with Clark University professor Elizabeth Blake, in which she discusses her new book Edible Arrangements: Modernism's Queer Forms. The book looks at the writing of Alice B. Toklas as a representation of queer life. [ClarkNOW]

• Every time Eater runs their “How I Got My Job” series, I say it in my head in the Tiktok “Can I pet that DOG!” voice. LOL. Anyway this time it’s recipe developer and food photographer Louiie Victa. [Eater]

• Very curious about Paul Fehribach’s new book on Midwestern food. (Although I disagree that “nobody’s done a book about the Midwest where it addresses the Midwest as a serious regional cuisine.” Maybe I’ll do a round up soon.) [Book Club Chicago]

• A cookbook shelf that’s “a mirror of Mennonite history.” [Anabaptist World]

Fall Cookbooks!

• Country Living!

• Garden & Gun!

• National Geographic!

• Forbes!

• Robb Report!

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• More about Five Things I’ve Learned: Their new four-part series, Five Things I’ve Learned about How to Balance a Creative Life with a Family Life, seems perfect for almost everyone. Writer Steve Almond talks in upcoming weeks with and Julliana Baggot, Camille Dungy, and Cheryl Strayed. Things begin next week with poet Mathew Zapruder. Check out myfivethings.com. But first, subscribe to MyFiveThings on Substack and get $10 off a ticket to any individual upcoming or on-demand session.

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And welcome to your second issue of fall cookbook season: OCTOBER RELEASES! (See September releases here.) A quick reminder that, unlike in previous years, this is a much more heavily-curated list! No catch-all listicle here, these are books I 100% think you should get excited about. Make room on the shelves! Get on the library hold lists now!

So what does October 2023 hold for you? Well, a lot of LARGE BOOKS, to start: Sohla El-Wahlly is out with her giant treatise on beginner cooking, we’ve got encyclopedic tomes on cocktails and Latin American cooking and Korean cooking, we’ve got an entire book of chocolate chip cookie recipes (OVER 100 y’all), and multiple books on Jamaican food. We’ve got sophomore efforts from authors like Riaz Phillips, Molly Baz, Michał Korkosz, and Erin French, and third books from Nik Sharma and the fish man himself, Josh Niland. That’s right, I said NEW FISH BOOK Y’ALL. And that’s just scratching the surface.

SO ENOUGH OF MY JIBBER JABBER, here are the cookbooks of October 2023. This post is likely too long for your email client, so do click through to the website to read.

CLICK!

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Hardie Grant North America and Sohn-mat: Recipes and Flavors of Korean Home Cooking by Monica Lee, founder of Los Angeles’s legendary Beverly Soon Tofu. The book is a master class in making the iconic Korean stew, soondubu jjigae, with recipes for everything to serve alongside it, including kimchi, banchan, grilled meats, and more. Monica shares the knowledge she built over decades and the trial and error that went into creating the version of this dish that patrons of Beverly Soon Tofu loved so much. Pre-order today.

The Stained Page News October 2023 Cookbook Preview

• I know but perhaps you do not know that, despite a brief growing season, Wisconsin is a farm-to-table powerhouse, and I am not just talking about local cheese! (Although I am also of course talking about local cheese.) Veteran food writer Lori Fredrich’s Wisconsin Field to Fork explores the state’s food purveyors, with recipes to make the best use of their produce. Globe Pequot, October 1.

• Okay, five hundred and ninety two pages packed with recipes from every single Latin American country! Latinísimo by Sandra A. Gutierrez is divided by ingredient, which I think makes sense—readers can see how beans are treated across the continent, or corn, or quinoa, or etc. Knopf, October 3.

  

• Jeremy Lee’s Cooking has been making critically-lauded rounds in British cookery book press, so I am glad to see it’s getting a US release! Lee is a London chef and his book will probably make Nigel Slater and Diana Henry friends happy, focusing chapters on ingredients (artichokes, chard, wild garlic) and dishes (biscuits, impromptu suppers, sweet somethings). Fourth Estate, October 3.

• The big question for me about The Ranch Table by Elizabeth Poett is: can Magnolia Publications launch someone whose last name isn’t Gaines? Poett has a TV show on the Magnolia Network called Ranch to Table, where she shares recipes for dishes similar to those in The Ranch Table: California-fare inspired by the Central Coast ranch that’s been run by her family since 1837. Stay tuned! Magnolia, October 3.

• I am very, very particular about my chocolate chip cookies, and I keep thinking that at some point I will perfect my version. (One of the nice things about being a recipe developer is if you don’t like the versions of recipes that already exists, you can tailor them to your preferences.) And MAYBE this book is a sign that this winter is my winter: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book by Katie Jacobs has over 100 chocolate chp and chocolate chip-adjacent recipes to peruse whenever I get my act together. Harper Celebrate, October 3.

  

• Chef Loretta Barrett Oden (Potowatami) runs the Corn Dance Café in Sante Fe, where she explores the flavors and dishes of Indigenous cuisine, and now there’s a cookbook! Corn Dance draws on recipes from the cafe, from her PBS show Seasoned with Spirit, and tells the story of her childhood in Oklahoma and her journey as a chef. University of Oklahoma Press, October 3.

• If you’re looking to up your cocktail game, you could do much worse than diving into Danny Childs’ Slow Drinks. Learn seasonal approaches to foraging, fermenting, and infusing your way into truly unique concoctions. Hardie Grant, October 3.

• Journalist Helin Lee recently wrote about why over a century of Korean cookbooks in the US lead to the publication of Sohn-mat by Monica Lee with Tien Nguyen, and why that’s important, so instead of taking my word for it, go read her article! Hardie Grant, October 3.

  

• From chef Junghyun “JP” Park, whose Atoboy, Naro, Seoul Salon, and Atomix I still have been to because I haven’t been to New York in a billion years, and culinary resercher Jungyoon Choi comes The Korean Cookbook. They’re calling it “the first comprehensive book on Korean home cooking,” which… IDK, Maangchi might like a word. But! I am excited for it regardless. Phaidon, October 4.

• Find recipes for 200 iconic cocktails from around the world alongside 600 (!) years of cocktail history in Signature Cocktails. Written by drinks writer Amanda Schuster, the book features a murders’ row of expert consultants including Camper English, Emma Janzen, and Robert Simonson. Phaidon, October 4.

• More on this book 🔜, but looking forward to seeing The Lula Cafe Cookbook from the beloved Chicago institution of the same name, written by chef Jason Hammel. Phaidon, October 4.

• Last year, Riaz Phillips looked at the cuisine of Jamaica in West Winds; now he turns his attention to Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname in East Winds. Recipes include the rice pudding Kheer, cumin-laced Jeera Pork, Pepper Roti, and a whole chapter called “Curry?” DK, October 10.

• Molly Baz is back with her second cookbook, More Is More. I appreciate they’re taking some design risks with this one! Love the fonts. Recipes include dishes like Crispy Rice Egg-in-a-Hole, Chicken Salad with Coconut Crunch, Drunken Cacio e Pepe, Ooey Gooey Carrot Cake, “the Only Meatloaf that Matters,” and Miso-Braised Chicken and Leeks. Also she’s brought back the QR codes from her first book, which lead to audio tutorials and instructional videos. Clarkson Potter, October 10.

• The Global Pantry Cookbook, from Cooking Light alums Ann Taylor Pittman and Scott Mowbray, will teach you how to deploy oyster sauce, miso, gochujang, panko, chorizo, and more in your cooking. Workman, October 10.

  

• I feel like we’re seeing more facets of Japanese cuisine come through in cookbooks recently? Including Rintaro, a look at izakaya cooking from Sylvan Mishima Brackett, chef/owner of San Francisco izakaya Rintaro. Written with Jessica Battilana, the book features over 70 recipes for home cooks. Hardie Grant, October 10.

• 320 pages of cocktail lore, history, and recipes from drinks writer Robert Simonson in The Encyclopedia of Cocktails, a “witty and opinionated presentation of the bar world.” Ten Speed, October 17.

• I don’t normally cover rereleases, but I will make an exception for the excellent Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen, Sharon Wee’s memoir with recipes of growing up in a Peranakan Chinese family in Singapore. This new edition has been expanded and revised. Marshall Cavendish International, October 17.

• The fish man Josh Niland is back with another fish book, and you know what we say about fish books around these parts: everyone loves the fish books. This time the topic is Fish Butchery. All of these books have great design but…fish bits on a cover!!?! Wow. Hardie Grant, October 17.

• Eastern European food often gets pegged as being very heavy, which is why I was so excited to hear that Michał Korkosz has written a follow-up to his 2020 book Fresh From Poland: his new book Polish’d explores modern vegetarian Polish food, including dishes like Chilled Cucumber-Melon Soup with Goat Cheese, Crispy Apple, and Mint; Kopytka (potato dumplings) with Umami Sauce, Spinach, Hazelnuts, and Poppy Furikake; Nettle Pesto Pasta with Radishes and Asparagus; Grilled Broccoli with Lemon Mayo, Umami Bomb Sauce and Poppy Seeds; and Tomatoes and Peaches with Soft Goat Cheese, Crispy Sage, and Superior Brown Butter Sauce. Experiment, October 24.

• Roya Shariat and her mom Gita Sadeh share a TikTok (190k followers) which seems to focus primarily on three things: one, Iranian food. Two, specifically, Sadeh’s impeccable tahdig skills. And three, Sadeh’s ability to find the exact right-sized containers to bundle up leftovers in. (It is in fact very satisfying watching her turn out perfectly golden tahdigs over and over and over again. Gosh I love tahdig.) ANYWAY! Now they have a cookbook! It’s called Maman & Me. Princeton Architectural Press, October 24.

  

• I’ve been excited for this one for awhile, ever since Yewande Komolafe’s 10 Essential Nigeria Recipes came out in the NYT. In My Everyday Lagos, she shares not just recipes from the city where she grew up, but also dishes from Nigerians living abroad and incorporating local flavors of cities like London, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, and Newark. Ten Speed, October 24.

• Easy Indian and Indian-inspired recipes in Palak Patel’s The Chutney Life, named for her blog of the same name. Recipe include dishes like Coconut Shrimp Po’ Boys with Panang Curry Remoulade; Crispy Barbecue Chicken KeemaTacos; Masala Pot Pies; and Patel’s famous chutney recipes. Abrams, October 24.

• You know I love a vegetable book! And here’s Nik Sharma, back for round three with his new book, Veg-Table. 50 vegetables are arranged by family, and recipes include dishes like red onions with tomato yogurt, shallot and spicy mushroom pasta, corn cakes with Sichuan chive butter, roasted garlic and chickpea soup, sweet and sour yams, corn, cabbage and shrimp salad, and much more. Chronicle, October 24.

  

• Baker Rose Wilde runs Red Bread Bakery in LA, where she bakes bread and other treats using whole grains. Her first cookbook, Bread and Roses, looks at whole grains from around the world and turns them into bakes like Corn Tres Leches Honeysuckle Cake, Spelt Khachapuri with Dandy Green Eggs, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Einkorn Bagels with Crispy Broccoli Rabe Borage Cream Cheese (!), a Brown Rice Kinako Salted Cherry Blossom Cherry Crisp (!!), and more. Countryman, October 24.

• I like the Trap Kitchen books from Malachi Jenkins and Roberto Smith, chefs at Trap Kitchen LA. Their latest, Trap Kitchen: Wah Gwaan, looks at the foods of their Jamaican heritage. Kingston Imperial, October 24.

• Jon Kung is a TikToker (1.6 million followers) who ran a pop-up restaurant that was quite popular…until the pandemic shut it down. Now, in Kung Food, he shares his own personal cooking style that mashes up his backgrounds in LA, Hong Kong, Toronto, and now Detroit through dishes like Sesame Shrimp Toast, Vegan Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Ginger Scallion Noodles, Buffalo Chicken Rangoon, Lamb Curry Dumplings, “Clay Pot” Rice Tahdig, Mushroom Fried Rice, Szechuan Paneer, Faygo Orange Chicken, Hong Kong Chicken and Waffles, Dan Dan Lasagna, and more. Clarkson Potter, October 31.

• Looking for a beginner cookbook that won’t make you feel like a dummy? Sohla El-Waylly’s Start Here is a good place to, erm, start. At an eye-popping 656 pages, El-Waylly covers a lot of territory, including technique basics and over 200 recipes. Knopf, October 31.

• Chef Erin French, of Maine’s Lost Kitchen restaurant, is out with her second cookbook, Big Heart, Little Stove. The book contains recipes from both the restaurant and her family, including Pecorino Puffs, Clam Dip, Golden Tomato & Peach Soup, Green Beans with Sage, Garlic, and Breadcrumbs, Pickle-Brined Roast Chicken, Kitchen Sink Pesto and Floral Vinegar, as well as hospitality tips. Celadon, October 31.

• Food writers Darra Goldstein, Richard Martin, and Cortney Burns are teaming up for a new 6 book series called Preserved, from Hardie Grant. The first two books are out this fall: Preserved: Condiments and Preserved: Fruit, both of which have 25 recipes each. Collect ‘em all… Hardie Grant, October 31.

More Books I’m Excited About…

• Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert. Random House, October 3.

• Bake Your Heart Out by Dan Langan. Union Square & Co., October 3.

• Scandinavian from Scratch by Nichole Accettola. Ten Speed, October 3.

• Familia by Marcela Valladolid. Voracious, October 3.

• Cook Clever by Shivi Ramoutar. Harper Collins, October 3.

• Painting the Plate by Felicity Souter. Prestel, October 3.

• Foolproof Roasting Pan by Sue Quinn. Quadrille, October 3.

• Gennaro’s Cucina by Gennaro Contaldo. Interlink, October 3.

• Baking with Whole Grains by Valerie Baer. Good Books, October 3.

• Kneaders Bakery & Cafe by Colleen Worthington. Shadow Mountain, October 3.

• Beat the Budget by Mimi Harrison. Ebury, October 3.

• Now & Then by Tessa Giros. Murdoch, October 3.

• Asian Vegetables by Stéphanie, Caroline and Patricia Ho-Yi Wang. Ambrosia, October 3.

• Signature Dishes of America by Sherry Monahan. Globe Pequot, October 3.

• Taste the World in Marseilles by Véranne Frédani. La Martiniere, October 3.

• The Vegan Baker by Zacchary Bird. Smith Street, October 3.

• Zingerman’s Bakehouse Celebrate Every Day by Amy Emberling, Lindsay-Jean Hard, Lee Vedder, and Corynn Coscia. Chronicle, October 3.

• The Great Indian Thali by Nandita Iyer. Roli Books, October 5.

• In Mary’s Kitchen by Mary Berg. Appetite by Random House, October 10.

• Theo’s Family Kitchen by Theo A. Michaels. Ryland, Peters & Small, October 10.

• Beautiful Bread by Theresa Culletto. Rock Point, October 10.

• Just Eat by Jessie James Decker. Dey Street, October 10.

• CDMX by Rosa Cienfuegos. Smith Street, October 10.

• The Book of Gingerbread by Helena Garcia. Quadrille, October 10.

• The Handbook of Preserves by Lindy Wildsmith. Crowood Press, October 10.

• Chocolate All Day by Steven Hodge. Appetite by Random House, October 17.

• Let’s Eat Paris! by François-Régis Gaudry. Artisan, October 17.

• Let’s Bake Bread! by Bonnie Ohara. Artisan, October 17.

• Good Soup by Joris Bijdendijk and Samuel Levie. Tra, October 17.

• How to Make Better Cocktails by Andrew Shannon, Sebastian Hamilton-Mudge, and Natalia Garcia Bourke. Mitchell Beazley, October 17.

• Sustain: Groundbreaking Recipes and Skills That Could Save the Planet by Jo Barrett. Hardie Grant, October 17.

• An Chua: Simple Vietnamese Recipes That Taste Like Home by Julie Mai Tran. Page Street, October 17.

• There’s Always Room for Cheese by Colin Wood. Hardie Grant, October 17.

• Vietnamese Made Easy by Thuy Diem Pham. Quadrille, October 17.

• Homemade Simple by Amanda Haas. Cameron, October 24.

• Make It Japanese by Rie McClenny with Senaë Lemoine. Clarkson Potter, October 24.

• Craving Vegan by Sam Turnbull. Appetite by Random House, October 24.

• Sweet Greek by Kathy Tsaples. Touchwood, October 24.

• Basics with Babish by Andrew Rea. Simon Element, October 24.

• Sweet Vietnamese Bakes by Tara Nguyen. Page Street, October 24.

• Drink Like a Local: Austin by Veronica Meewes. Cider Mill Press, October 31.

• Festive Maryland Recipes by Kara Mae Harris. Self-published, October.

Stained Page News Classifieds

• I’ve just discovered Five Things I’ve Learned, almost 100 90-minute and two -hour classes from writers, musicians, film directors, and other creative artists and thinkers. (But so far, no chefs or cookbook writers!) Subscribe to MyFiveThings on Substack and get $10 off your first ticket to any individual upcoming or on-demand class. Then, go to myfivethings.com to check out personal video invitations to great upcoming classes from writers like Cheryl Strayed and Andre Dubus III, or singer-songwriter Valerie June. [Ad]

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Long time no see! How’s it going? I am back from my trip and getting back into the swing of things. Today, that means a ton of BOOK DEALS, as well as the return of Frances Abrantes Baca to explore a facet of cookbook design—today we’re talking BOOK SPINES!

SPN HQ update! It has finally cooled off a bit (according to my phone it is 95 out right now, lol) which means soon I will have to do something about my planters (the something is called sheet mulching) which got super overgrown when it was too hot to function. Other than that, the biggest difference between now and this summer is the produce: it might not feel like fall outside, but you better believe I am cooking with cooler weather produce. Tonight it’s gonna be miso-glazed sweet potatoes, crispy tofu, and kale sauteed with kimchi. YUM.

Lots in store for you this fall—fascinating pieces from contributors, lots of fall cookbook releases, and a Big Announcement that I am just dying to press “send” on—but you’ll have to wait on all of that. Because now, first, the cookbook news.

The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca

When admiring a cookbook’s design, its cover gets much of the attention. However, a book’s spine is almost as important—sometimes more so—in attracting the eye. A well considered spine not only ensures a book’s durability, but it also uses every inch to beckon a reader to the shelf. In fact, spines are often the only part of a book seen in a store. Real estate on shelves is tight, and a “spine out” presentation—versus a “face out” presentation, where the cover faces outward—is the typical way a book is displayed.

So how do designers make a book’s spine “pop”? We have many tricks up our sleeves: big type, high contrast, bright color, art, and special printing effects. But what I’m really interested in are spines that not only compel us to pick a book up, but are executed with a skill that leaves a lasting impression. Sara Schneider, creative director at Chronicle Books, puts it aptly: “It’s not enough to be impactful in how spines communicate content. They should offer a peek at the content’s aesthetic point of view, and create a visceral reaction.”

Schneider’s design for the Ruffage, Grist, and Pulp trilogy is an excellent example of not only strong visual cohesion as a series, but also the sensitive use of photography to capture the essence of the recipes. Will Webb’s design for The River Cottage Handbooks, likewise, skillfully uses photography to unify the series, and offers a tantalizing glimpse of its contents.

Many of Phaidon’s cookbooks have exceptionally eye-catching spines. Books such as Greece: The Cookbook, The Nordic Cookbook, Vegan: The Cookbook, and the bamboo-clad Japan: The Cookbook feature designs that beautifully reflect each book’s unique spirit. Though their titles are nondescript, their distinctive spines help commit the books to memory.

Expressive typography can leap off a spine—or threaten to burst its boundaries, as in the case of Lizzie Vaughn’s design for Stuffed, whose title lettering (by Monique Aimee) swells with chocolatey brown goodness. Designed by Evi-O.Studio, Tokyo Stories’ title literally sparkles, its gold foil letters complemented by bold color and playful illustration that recall the city’s vibrant personality. 

Cookbooks by well-known authors sometimes capitalize on their celebrity by placing their photos on spines, though this approach rarely produces remarkable results. A notable exception is a tiny photo of Carla Lalli Music, printed on the pink belly band that wraps her book Where Cooking Begins, designed by Decade. The portrait is a delightful little Easter egg I discovered on only one of many copies of her book.

I would be remiss not to mention Polpo and its striking exposed Smyth-sewn binding. Exposed spines are notoriously difficult to print on and generally disliked by retailers for their challenge to legibility. But Polpo’s one-word title, wide width, and expert production are leveraged to spectacular effect by design studio Praline.

These noteworthy spines show that a good measure (give or take a centimeter) of design imagination can help ensure a cookbook's journey from a crowded store, to a cozy kitchen. Stay tuned for more spine-out stars in future editions of The Creative Brief with Frances Abrantes Baca.

I’m a little late to this, but above find the trailer for Sitting in Bars with Cake, an Amazon Prime movie based on the 2015 memoir-with-recipes of the same name, by Audrey Shulman. The premise is Corinne (Odessa A’zion) convinces her pal Jane (Yara Sahidi) to bake cakes and bring them to bars, to meet guys. And then it seems to have kind of a sad turn? Unclear. Also Bette Midler is in it. It’s out now!

Coming Attractions: Kwame Onwuachi! Bonnie’s! Florida! Maine! Pie! Martha’s Vineyard! Gregory Gourdet! AND A LAO COOKBOOK!!!!!

• TWO BOOK DEAL! TWO BOOK DEAL! Kwame Onwuachi, chef at the critically lauded Tatiana in New York City, and author of Notes from a Young Black Chef and My America, to write TWO BOOKS for Knopf. The first is called All Hours, “a cookbook structured around a day in the life of the author,” once again written with Onwuachi’s longtime collaborator (and friend of SPN) Joshua David Stein. Pub date TBA.

• Brooklyn chef Calvin Eng to write the excellently-titled Salt, Sugar + MSG with Phoebe Melnick, for Clarkson Potter. Eng is the chef at Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie’s, and his book will be a “showcase of the author's cooking style and a tribute to classic Cantonese flavors and techniques seen through an American lens for the home cook.” Pub date TBA.

• Chef Kia Damon to write Cooking with Florida Water, a cookbook about, you guessed it, Florida, in which Damon makes the case that “the author's home state, too long excluded from the canon of Southern cooking.” On her Instagram (apologies Substack won’t let me embed it), she writes, “CWFW is an act of cultural preservation and resistance. It’s a love song. It’s an honest look at a complicated state. It’s a return home.” I’m into it! Voracious, pub date TBA.

• Maine chef Devin Finigan, of Aragosta, to write an untitled Maine cookbook with Peter Kaminsky. “Classic recipes and new spins representing all parts of Maine.” Artisan, pub date TBA.

• Hey here’s a familiar name! Tara Royer Steele, whom I have heard of because of her connection with the Royer’s pie empire in Round Top, Texas, will write Keep Your Fork, There’s Pie! for Harvest House. It’s about, well, you know. September 2025.

• Island Home by Julia Blanter will explore “the restaurants, farms, fishermen, bakers, and food artisans” of Martha’s Vineyard, in 100 recipes. Rizzoli, Spring 2025.

• Portland chef Gregory Gourdet to write Weekday Table, a follow-up to 2021’s Everyone’s Table, again written with JJ Goode. Over 100 recipes “where big, global flavors converge with accessibility.” Ten Speed, pub date TBA.

• For whatever reason, Lao cookbooks are one of the most common recommendation requests I get and there just aren’t that many published? Well NOT FOR LONG because Saengthong Douangdara, aka the guy behind Saeng’s Kitchen, will write Saeng’s Lao Kitchen, “a tribute to the cuisine of Laos with recipes, personal experiences, and historical context that brings Lao foodways from laab, jeow, sticky rice dishes, and more to the Lao diaspora and beyond.” Yesssss, give me Lao sausages and I will be a happy lady. Ten Speed, pub date TBA but not soon enough.

• Skyhorse has picked up the memoir-with-150-recipes The Spirit of the Herbfarm, written by the late chef Ron Zimmerman. Herbfarm was an early farm-to-table restaurant, opening outside Seattle in 1986. Summer 2024 (soon!).

• Camilla Marcus, of no-waste packaged foods brand west~bourne, to write an as-yet untitled book “celebrating the soul and spirit of California living while honoring the principles of regenerative agriculture and pointing the way toward a more sustainable food system.” Chelsea Green, fall 2024. (They better think of a title soon!)

• ASMR TikToker Edith Galvez (7.2 million followers) to write an as-yet untitled cookbook focused on both traditional Mexican dishes and her favorite American dishes, with an eye towards cooking as a balm to anxiety. (Not sure if ASMR is part of the book or…even how one would do that, but.) Simon Element, pub date TBA.

AWARDS SEASON Two awards programs to report on today! First, the shortlist for the Taste Canada awards, which honor both English and French language cookbooks and food books, have announced their 2023 shortlist. The winners will be announced October 30. And on the other side of the Atlantic in the UK, the Guild of Food Writers have announced their annual award winners, including a lifetime achievement award for Ken Hom CBE. Congrats to all honorees!

• This Jay Rayner profile of Madhur Jaffrey is worth your time. [Observer]

• Why recipes should be specific about tortillas. [Texas Monthly]

• Priya Krishna looks at the TikTok-to-cookbook pipeline. [NYT]

• Australia’s oldest cookbook will, apparently, delight and shock you. (Read a digitized edition of 1864’s The English and Australian cookery book here.) [SBS Food]

• Speaking of old books, the University of Leeds has acquired the oldest-know book on British cheese: a 112-page bound volume called A pamflyt compiled of Cheese from the 1580s. [Yorkshire Post]

• And speaking of Australia, everything about food has improved there over the last 50 years—but especially the cookbooks. [SMH]

• Inside a very serious cookbook club in Bangalore. [CNT India]

• Eater dives into a couple fall titles: Clarissa Wei’s Made in Taiwan and Yewande Komolafe’s My Everyday Lagos. [Eater]

• Cookbook review: My Family Kitchen by Tommy Pham. [Glam Adelaide]

• A surprising thing I keep seeing in comments on articles in the dailies and magazines and Instagram and whatnot is a ton of people wondering “who buys cookbooks these days when everything is available online?” Or, well, that’s not surprising: what’s surprising is these comments mostly seem to come from boomers, and are often responded to by people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s saying they love buying cookbooks. (Don’t believe me? Scroll up to that NYT TikTok article and go into the comments.) Anyway here’s an article from a website for the over 50 set wondering if you still buy cookbooks or nah1. [Silver Surfers]

RIP Longtime Betty Crocker recipe developer and alumna of The Pillsbury Bake-Off Kay Emel-Powell has died. Emel-Powell was behind such Betty Crocker Kitchens titles as Harvest Time Pies, Creative Holiday Recipes, and Betty Crocker’s Smart Cook. She also helped launch BettyCrocker.com. She was 76; read a full obituary here. [Star Tribune]

Fall Book Previews!

• Eater!

• Food & Wine!

• BookLarder!

• Robb Report!

And welcome to your September cookbook preview, which means it’s OFFICIAL FALL COOKBOOK SEASON, OFFICIALLY!

*bangs gong* *sets off roman candles* *rings a big bell* *cuts ribbon with comically large scissors* *plays yeah by usher featuring lil jon and ludacris*

Y’all this preview is three days late. Part of the reason is because I am currently in Brussels on “vacation” and jet lag is a pain in the butt. But part of it is because there are so, so, so, SO many cookbooks out this year. And as a one woman show, it took a long time to go through all of them!

At first I thought it was my imagination. But as I went through September releases, a little voice in the back of my head started to ask: didn’t this used to be easier? Like, a LOT easier?!

The little voice wasn’t crazy. I went back and looked at a few of the previews I did for Eater National back in the day: for example, in 2014, I featured 39 books. Not bad!

This month alone I’m featuring 39 books. And we still have 2.5 months of fall cookbook season to go. Are more cookbooks being published? Or is it that more INTERESTING cookbooks are being published? Either way, there’s a lot going on!

What this means: I am going to get much, much, much more selective about the books I feature in these previews. Only books I am TRULY excited about will make the cut. I’ve already cut out books that don’t have recipes in them (sorry food histories and memoirs, I love you) and next are the fandom cookbooks (unless it’s a very big deal, there are way too many of these to cover, and I figure if you’re part of a specific fandom, you’ll find them anyway). And it probably means a whole lot fewer cookbooks by influencers. Apologies if your book is not listed below1, I’m sure it’s lovely.

THAT SAID!!!! The books below are books I am SO SO SO EXCITED ABOUT! Books that cover cuisines I’ve never seen covered in English before, books with fascinating concepts, books with exciting recipes, books with so much to teach you. Books that I can’t wait to get by grubby little hands on. Books YOU should be excited about!

Welcome to a new kind of fall cookbook season. It’s a lot more chill here (ok it’s still pretty unchill), and, I hope, a lot more delicious.

Here are the cookbooks of September 2023.

Today's issue of Stained Page News is brought to you by Hardie Grant North America and Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, and Country Wines by Danny Childs. Slow Drinks teaches home cooks, industry pros, homebrewers, and foragers how to transform botanical ingredients—whether foraged or purchased from the store—into incredibly unique beverages and cocktails. Pre-order today.

The Stained Page News September ‘23 Cookbook Preview

• I’m always on the lookout for cookbooks on under-covered cuisines, and Afghan food is certainly one of those. And The Best of Afghan Cooking by food blogger Zaghuna S. Adel claims to be “the most comprehensive collection of authentic Afghan recipes published in English,” which sounds promising! Hippocrene, September 5.

• The title of Mayylu! is a greeting you’ll hear in the mountains of Lebanon, which is the regional cuisine author Hana El-Hibri explores in this cookbook. The book promises “secrets of Lebanon's ancient culinary heritage [that] are published here for the first time,” which is exciting. (This is actually its US release, so technically they’ve been published in the UK already. ;) Gilgamesh, September 5.

  

• I feel like we’re seeing more of cookbooks that tell immigration stories alongside recipes from multiple cuisines, which is intruiging: South of Somewhere is by Dale Gray, who grew up in South Africa, lived in South Korea for a long time, and then moved to Mississippi (so, the American South). Her recipes combine flavors from all three places. Simon Element, September 5.

• Finch Bakery Disco Bakes and Party Cakes by sisters Lauren and Rachel Finch is full of gonzo bakes: stuff like a giant “hazelnut nutella ball” (aka a gigantic Ferrero Rocher), a cookie pie with a rainbow of white chocolate that’s only visible when you cut into it, a floral cake that is presented tipped on its side, and other advanced (and very fun!) baking recipes. DK, September 5.

• The Complete Book of French Cooking is a whopping 544 pages of all things French food by Vincent Boué and Hubert Delorme, culinary teacher at the Lycée Hôtelier in La-Guerche-de-Bretagne and co-authors of several culinary reference books. 165 recipes for classics plus 9 recipes from the chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants, plus a whole bunch of technique.2 Flammarion, September 5.

  

• Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk) has written a cookbook exploring the various culinary traditions of indigenous Californians, and includes modern recipes—think acorn flour miso, wildflower spring rolls, pine pollen cacio e pepe, huckleberry gazpacho with smoked salmon, and on and on. It’s called Chími Nu’am, which means “Let’s eat!” in the Karuk language. Heyday, September 5.

• Shabbat is a cookbook of, well, recipes for Shabbat from SPN-reader-favorite Adeena Sussman. You can look forward to recipes like Fig & Pomegranate Brisket, Bubbe's Extra-Crispy Potato Kugel, Moroccan Carrot Salad, Roasted Kohlrabi, Cherry & Feta Salad, Sweet & Tart Eggplant Salad, Amba (pickled mango spread), Tomato Jam, "Schug-a-churri (“a blend of Yemenite and South American condiments”), Lemon Black-Sesame Bundt Cake, Vegan Rice Pudding, and more! Avery, September 5.

• LA baker Rebecca Grasley retired from a life of nursing only to move to the West Coast and open a pie shop called the Pie Hole. In Pie Is Messy (written with Willy Blackmore), she shares both old school pie recipes (apple, cherry, etc) and new school pie recipes (Candied Lemon Chess Pie, Drunken Plum Frangipane Tart, and Vegan Blackberry-Mango Galette). Also, dang, pie is messy. Ten Speed, September 5.

• Dan Pelosi aka GrossyPelosi on Instagram (145k followers) is out with his first cookbook, called Let’s Eat!. 101 recipes that focus on his signature Italian American recipes, including “Wednesday Night” pastas for when you just need to get dinner on the table. Union Square, September 5.

  

• File under concepts I haven’t seen before (although I am not Jewish and something like this may already exist, but it hasn’t come up in my 15 years of cookbook reporting): The Cook and the Rabbi is a book written by cookbook author Susan Simon and and rabbi Zoe B. Zak exploring recipes and stories tied to the Jewish holidays. I am getting birthday-present-for-mom vibes from it. Also I love the illustrations! Countryman, September 5.

• Lunch! Noon is a cookbook full of midday recipes from Meike Peters. Liven up your work-from-home lunch with treats like Lime Mussels with Zucchini and Cilantro, Peach and Plum Caprese with Burrata, Rösti with Pistachio-Feta Dip, and more. Chronicle, September 5.

• In The World Central Kitchen Cookbook, José Andrés and Sam Chapple-Sokol have compiled a cookbook full of dishes inspired by the countries where WCK has cooked for people. Dishes include Lahmajoun Flatbread from the organization’s time in Beirut, Ukrainian Borsch, and Chicken Chili Verde that was served to California firefighters. The book also includes recipes from chefs and famous supporters, including Michelle Obama and Meghan Markle (which means my google alerts will be flooded with Meghan news once they start doing promo sigh). Clarkson Potter, September 12.

• Simple homemade pasta? Believe it: in Pasta Every Day, Meryl Feinstein shares how you can live the fresh pasta life without losing your entire mind. Voracious, September 12.

  

• I am on the record as a RICE LOVER so obviously I am jazzed for New York chef JJ Johnson’s new book, The Simple Art of Rice (written with Danica Novgorodoff.) Rice recipes from around the world alongside technique and cultural history. Flatiron, September 12.

• Jake Cohen is out with his follow-up to 2021’s bestselling Jew-ish: I Could Nosh, a collection of recipes inspired by his Jewish heritage, with Cohen’s own personal twists. Recipes include Latke Tartines, Everything Bagel Panzanella,

  Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Meatballs with Herby Israeli Couscous, Soupless Chicken Soup (?), Kugel Fries, Tzimmes Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Crispy Persian Rice Treats, and more. Harvest, September 12.

• I watched the first season of Yellowstone and couldn’t quite handle it (sorry!!!) so I am not quite sure how this works, but: Gabriel “Gator” Guilbeau is somehow a chef, the set caterer, and a character on the show? And now he’s a cookbook author, serving recipes for western Americana in the officially official Yellowstone cookbook. Insight, September 12.

  

• Emiko Davies is perhaps best known for her books on Italian cuisine, but in Gohan she dives into her Japanese heritage for a collection of Japanese home cooking recipes, along with a bit of memoir. The book seeks to show how simple and good Japanese food can be, with recipes like tamagonogohan (stir fried egg and rice), soba noodle soup, Japanese curry, yakisoba, and miso soup. Smith Street, September 12.

• Who doesn’t love a good Mexican breakfast?! In ¡Buenos Días!, Ericka Sanchez with Nicole Presley present sweet and savory ways to start the day like huevos divorciados, chilaquiles, crepas con cajeta, and more. Familius, September 12.

• Well lookee here, it’s a big old fashioned glossy fancy chef cookbook, from global media phenom Gordon Ramsay. It has three Michelin stars on the cover! The book focuses on Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which the publishers copy calls “the jewel in Gordon's crown.” Expect lots of stark photography and very complicated recipes. Mobius, September 12.

  

• Calling all fermentation nuts (it’s me, a fermentation nut): Ferment by Portland, Oregon chef Aaron Adams is a collection of vegan fermentation recipes and dishes that use them, named after his restaurant of the same name. The recipes are not your standard fermentations: there’s fermented seaweed, chickpea miso, koji beet reubens, and much more. Sasquatch, September 19.

• Eater has a cookbook! As you perhaps know, I worked for Eater for a long time (and a long time ago), and so I can say I am thrilled for my former colleague and pal Hillary Dixler Canavan, who put together this collection of all star recipes from Eater-favorite restaurants across the country. Abrams, September 19.

• This is a cool concept for a book: in The History of the World in Ten Dinners, food historian Victoria Flexner and chef Jay Reifel join forces to, well, explore the history of the world in ten dinners (and 100 recipes). The book covers Ancient Rome, 8th-10th century Baghdad, the 13th to 16th century Silk Road, Renaissance Italy, Tudor England, 8th to 15th century al-Andulas (Muslim-ruled Spain), The Great Circulation of the 14th to 17th centuries (this is a term I have never heard before and Google is useless, but I am guessing it has to do with European exploration and the culinary culture clashes that followed…? based on the dates, correct me in the comments if I am incorrect), 13th to 19th century Ethiopia, 17th and 18th century Versailles, and 19th century New York City. Rizzoli, September 19.

• It has been so fascinating following Taiwan-based journalist Clarissa Wei on Twitter while she worked on Made in Taiwan. In this book, Wei “celebrates the island nation’s unique culinary identity—despite a refusal by the Chinese government to recognize its sovereignty” through recipes (written with Ivy Chen) like Peddler Noodles, Braised Minced Pork Belly, and Three-Cup Chicken. Simon Element, September 19.

• Desi Kitchen is a book I was excited to see when it was released in the UK, so I am glad to see it getting a US release! Sarah Woods draws on her Punjabi and British heritage in this cookbook that traces South Asian migration patterns across the UK and the resulting regional specialties. Recipes include whole roast tandoori chicken dinner (Birmingham punjabis), neeps and tatties keema pie (Glaswegian Pakistanis), sticky mango chicken wings (Harrow's African Indians), fish tacos in thepla flatbread (Leicester's gujurati hindus), kottu roti (London's Sri Lankans), carrot and kale bhajis (Mancunian Bangladeshis), and Welsh rarebit with curry oil (Welsh bengalis). (I am not sure why some of those are capitalized and some are not; I am following the jacket copy’s lead. Let me know if they are wrong in the comments.) Michael Joseph, September 19.

• For his latest cookbook, chef Pierre Thiam brings the flavors of West Africa into home kitchens with Simply West African. Full of easy weeknight recipes, including Chicken Yassa Tacos; Saucy Shrimp and Fonio Grits; Maman's Crispy Herb-Crusted Chicken; Blackened Salmon with Moyo Sauce, and more. Clarkson Potter, September 19.

• Boston chef Karen Akunowicz, of Fox & the Knife and Bar Volpe, is out with her first solo book (her first was written with mentor Joanne Chang), Crave. The book is divided into cravable flavors and textures, which is clever, like crispy and crunchy, hearty and homey, or tangy and bright. Countryman, September 19.

  

• For the Culture is an anthology-with-recipes that explores the ways Black women and femmes are changing food and hospitality today. Compiled by Klancy Miller, founder of the magazine of the same name, the book looks at storied culinary influences like Edna Lewis and Leah Chase, and features the figures shaping restaurants, cookbooks, agriculture, and food media today, like farmer Leah Penniman, chef Mashama Bailey, TV presenter and cookbook author Carla Hall, and many more. Harvest, September 19.

• This Is Not a Recipe Book by Paris pastry chef Tal Spiegel does appear to have some recipes in it, but it’s more of like…an art book designed to get you to think about desserts differently? I don’t know, it looks cool. NHP, September 19.

• Midwestern Food by Paul Fehribach is a history-with-recipes of the great Midwest, where believe it or not they eat more than jello salad. The book explores regional pizza and barbecue styles, of which there are many, hotdish, pawpaws, traditional pies and preserves, and more. University of Chicago Press, September 20.

  

• The Secret of Cooking by Consider the Fork author Bee Wilson is just a chonk of a general cookery book at 432 pages. The book is quite literally comprised of Wilson’s cooking “secrets,” described as “ways of speeding cooking up or slowing it down, strategies for days when you are stretched for time, and other ideas for when you can luxuriate in kitchen therapy.” Plus 140 recipes. Norton, September 26.

• This is definitely a topic I have not seen in a cookbook before: The Art of Extract Making by Paul and Jill Fulton covers the typically-commercial process of extract making, starting with vanilla and expanding to flavors like cocoa, caramel, coffee, ginger, and peach. Agate Surrey, September 26.

• Another concept I’ve never seen before! In Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat, Christina Ward explores the definition of religious food very broadly, from mainstream religions to the far fringe, in order to look at how everything from sacred ancient rituals to holiday traditions to crackpot faith healers have influenced the grand project of American cuisine. FASCINATING! There are also recipes?! Process, September 26.

  

• The Diner cookbook is here! The Diner cookbook is here! Andrew Tarlow’s Williamsburg diner car, where they scribble the ever-changing menu on the butcher paper tablecloths for every table, holds a special place in my heart. So I can’t wait to see what the book is like: and luckily it doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, boasting a chapter called “Brooklyn: My Part in Its Downfall.” Written with Julia Gillard, Carolina Fidanza, and Becky Johnson. Ugh now I want to go to Diner. Ten Speed, September 26.

• You know I love a high concept strategy cookbook, and this is the second one from A Dish for All Seasons author Kathryn Pauline. Piecemeal takes 20 components, including grilled corn, turkey meatballs, tzatziki, roasted grapes, and puts them together into meals that take 5+, 15+, or 30+ minutes to put together, for a grand total of 120 dishes. Which is kind of sort of how a lot of restaurants work? Anyway, get this if you have the what’s-for-dinner blues. Chronicle, September 26.

• Yes, yes, yes, yes: more international fermentation books! A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Fermentation begins with shio koji, amazake, nukazuke and three types of miso, and moves on to more complex fare like umeboshi, natto, sake lees, fermented ginger and kastsuobushi. There is a bit of a health focus—probiotics and whatnot—but I’ll allow it this once, for the topic. Tuttle, September 26.

  

• Chili crisp, the spicy, tingly, crunchy, savory condiment from Chengdu, has taken the country by storm—in large part thanks to Jing Gao’s Fly by Jing brand. And now Gao has written The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp, which shows you how to use it in recipes like Zhong Dumplings, Deviled Tea Eggs, Hongshao Carnitas Tacos, Fish Fragrant Crispy Eggplant, Spicy Scallion Oil Noodles, Chili Crisp Sundae with Fish Sauce Caramel Brittle, Poached Pear in Sichuan Pepper Syrup, Baijiu Negronis, and more. Ten Speed, September 26.

• In Cooking My Way, the legend Jacques Pépin continues to do his thing: knock out French fare, adorned with his own watercolors, this time with an eye towards cooking economically. Harvest, September 26.

• Prince Edward Island chef Michael Smith is out with his 11th cookbook, Farmhouse Vegetables. Recipes include things like kabocha squash and ancho cider broth with sage, pumpkin seed goat cheese pesto, and spicy roasted chickpeas; lentil soup with pea and mint fritters, and lentil sprouts; soba noodle bowl with golden tofu, garden peas, cinnamon basil, and miso carrot broth; basil ratatouille and swiss chard wraps with tomato marigold salsa; potato, leek, mushroom, and chicken skillet stew; and ice cream sandwiches with carrot cake cookies and parsnip ice cream. (Those all sound so good but have so many things in them!!!) Penguin Books Canada, September 26.

  

• Okay Tiffani Thiessen I am listening! Most of the time celebrity cookbooks are just sort of general, or cooking for family recipes, or even some kind of health angle. But the former Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210 star has gone with a fun concept for her new book: Here We Go Again, written with Rachel Holtzman, is a leftovers cookbook designed to help you save money, prevent food waste, and cook with leftovers in mind so you don’t get sick of them on day two. Fun cover, good title. Into it! Worthy, September 26.

More Books I’m Excited About…

• Cook It Up by Alex Guarnaschelli and Ava Clark. Clarkson Potter, September 5.

• The Friendsgiving Cookbook by Taylor Vance. Rock Point, September 5.

• Pickle & Ferment by Susan Crowther and Julie Fallone. Skyhorse, September 5.

• Peter’s Baking Party by Peter Sawkins. Black & White, September 5.

• Nixology by Elouise Anders. Smith Street Books, September 5.

• Italy by Ingredient by Viola Buitoni. Rizzoli, September 5.

• Sweet Little Cakes from Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop by Tracey Zabar. Rizzoli, September 5.

• Georgia’s Cakes by Georgia Green. Pavillion, September 5.

• How to Fall in Love with Tofu by Emma de Thouars. Smith Street Books, September 5.

• Sweet Soulful Baking by Monique McLeod-Pelanco. Page Street, September 5.

• Pizza Night by Deborah Kaloper. Smith Street, September 5.

• Cali Baja Cuisine by Michael A. Gardiner. Rizzoli, September 5.

• Wok On by Ching-He Huang. Kyle, September 5.

• Every Night of the Week Veg by Lucy Tweed. Murdoch, September 5.

• Scandinavian Gatherings by Melissa Bahen. Sasquatch, September 5.

• The Plain Cake Appreciation Society by Tilly Pamment. Murdoch, September 5.

• Bao Family Cookbook by Céline Chung. Interlink, September 5.

• Cooking from Scratch for Teens by Lisa Burns. Page Street Kids, September 5.

• Butchery: The Ultimate Guide to Butchery and Over 100 Recipes by Luis Robles and Vanessa Ceceña-Robles. Cider Mill Press, September 5.

• Beat the Budget by Mimi Harrison. Ebury, September 8.

• Madame Fromage’s Adventures in Cheese by Tenaya Darlington. Workman, September 12.

• Comfort and Joy: Irresistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen by Ravinder Bohgal. Bloomsbury, September 12.

• Tacos A to Z by Ivy Manning. West Margin Press, September 12.

• Cocina Mexicana by Adriana Cavita. Ryland Peters & Small, September 12.

• Dragtails by Alice Wood and Greg Bailey. White Lion, September 12.

• Festive Coffee Shop Drinks by Hannah Miles. Ryland Peters & Small, September 12.

• Lebanon: The Cookbook by Liza and Ziad Asseily. Saqi, July 12.

• The Thrifty Baker by Hermine Dossou. White Lion, September 12.

• Pasta et Al by Alec Morris. Hardie Grant, September 12.

• The Food of Sicily by Fabrizia Lanza and Guy Ambrosino. Artisan, September 12.

• The Dinner Party by Martin Benn and Vicki Wild. Hardie Grant, September 12.

• The Grazing Table by Natalie Thomson. Hamlyn, September 12.

• The Butcher’s Table by Allie D’Andrea. Harvard Common Press, September 12.

• The Vegan Middle Eastern Cookbook by Noha Elbadry-Cloud. Page Street, September 19.

• Vegan Vietnamese by Helen Le. Rock Point, September 19.

• The Preserving Garden by Jo Turner. Thames & Hudson, September 19.

• Juniperlooza by Elouise Anders. Smith Street, September 19.

• Every Season Is Soup Season by Shelly Westerhausen Worcel with Wyatt Worcel. Chronicle, September 19.

• A New Way to Bake by Phiip Khoury. Hardie Grant, September 19th.

• Big Yum: Supersized Cookies for Over-the-Top Cravings by Chloe Joy Sexton. Page Street, September 19.

• 30-Minute Meal Prep by Robin Miller. Sourcebooks, September 26.

• Cooking on Fire by Eva Helbæk and Nicolai Tram. Gestalten, September 26.

• Lidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours by Lydia Mattichio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Knopf, September 26.

• Party Drinks by Rebecca Hubbell. Rock Point, September 26.

• Thai Made Easy by Yui Miles. Quadrille, September 26.

• Pistachio by Barbara Bryant and Georgeanne Brennan. Cameron, September 26.

• Food with Spirit by Alicia Shevetone. Guadium, September 26.

• A Man and His Kitchen by Matt Hranek. Artisan, September 26.

And welcome to my last hot Austin update because Monday means BELGIUM!!! Where it is currently *checks phone* a reasonable 82 degrees and will be in the 60s all next week. Which means I am packing SWEATERS!! Monday also means fall cookbook season, and you will be getting your September book preview soon.

Once again Frances Abrantes Baca is back to share design insights, this time on Yogurt & Whey by Homa Dashtaki, in The Creative Brief! And there’s a bunch of cookbook news! So let’s dive in.

Publishing Start-Up Launches for Collaborative Cookbooks

I’ve been wondering for awhile now why this doesn’t exist, and now it does! Spice Write Inc. is a new self-publishing platform that allows you to collaborate on a cookbook with friends and/or family. It seems to function similarly to a Remento or Storyworth, in which family members are asked to write down memories and upload photos, which are later combined into a book and printed.

You can pick from a variety of themes, and the recipe editor seems pretty robust in terms of layout and format capabilities. Once your cookbook is complete, you can get your book printed as an 8 1/2-inch square spiral-bound book, which is the cheaper option, or an 8 1/2-inch square hardcover. Pricing varies based on page count—the base pricing starts at 24 pages—and is priced per book. Neat!

KICKSTARTING Canadian nutritionist Stacey Green is raising funds for a cookbook called You’ll Eat It & You’ll Like It, a cheeky cookbook about cooking for kids, written the grown-ups who love them (and are occasionally exasperated by them). $45 CA gets you a copy!

The Creative Brief

Yogurt & Whey by Homa Dashtaki

Many of the most compelling cookbooks are windows into an author’s life: an invitation to meet their loved ones, experience their cultures, observe their tastes, and glimpse their dreams. Homa Dashtaki’s Yogurt & Whey is a supreme example of cookbook as personal narrative. It not only offers thoughtfully written recipes, but also a portrait of Dashtaki herself—of immigrating to the United States from Iran, of assimilating into American culture while holding fast to her identity, and, finally, finding purpose making yogurt in the traditions of her Zoroastrian heritage (and establishing The White Moustache along the way). Dashtaki’s bright spirit permeates every page of Yogurt & Whey, whose striking cover effuses the same charm and playful eloquence as her writing.

“I think this book is so much more than a cookbook—it's Homa's story—and in that sense shouldn't look like a traditional cookbook,” says designer Allison Chi. And indeed the cover includes no vibrantly colored food or large title, and for a book so unabashedly personal, no prominent sign of the author (Dashtaki, in deference to her collaborators, even requested that her name be removed from the cover). Instead we have a quiet, evocative illustration by Keith O’Brien. Dashtaki and the team at W.W. Norton were supportive of an unconventional cover design, with Dashtaki requesting that it convey the feeling of making yogurt, adding “...it should feel exactly how it does when you hold a jug of milk straight from a cow: minimal, magical, pure, quiet, begging for guidance.”

Chi created as many as 30 cover designs, including several with macro photographs of yogurt. Dashtaki and creative director Sarah Cave deemed the photographic covers too modern, lacking the warmth and subtle mystery they were seeking. In response, Chi worked O’Brien’s art for the “Foundational Recipes” chapter into a set of cover sketches that evolved into the final approved design. “I felt immensely at peace when I saw the cover,” says Dashtaki. And with good reason, as the plump, creamy bubbles are dreamily dairy-like—buoyantly suggestive of bowls of fresh tangy yogurt. 

Though illustrated cookbook covers are common in other parts of the English-speaking world, Yogurt & Whey’s gently abstract design is highly unusual in the American market. Dashtaki recalls a “compliment” she received that her book does not feel very American: “And I thought: So much of America is so beautiful and actually happens in the quiet…I can’t imagine a more American cover for such an American story.” She asserts that her experience in the yogurt business has taught her that American consumers are highly adept at identifying good content, regardless of its packaging. Dashtaki goes on to praise the many people who helped bring her book to life, remarking, “All I wanted for us was to put our heads down, not worry about sales or metrics, but [about making] ART, and to know that if we build something really beautiful, our readers will find us.”

—Frances Abrantes Baca

RIP Sadly, the cookbook world has lost several key figures lately. Canadian cookbook author Rose Murray has died; I am seeing conflicting data that she wrote either 11 or 12 cookbooks, so let’s call her prolific. In the Hamptons, Helen Witty, professionally known as Mrs. Witty and the author of several award-winning cookbooks, has died at the age of 101. And finally Carole Walter, prolific cookbook author and culinary educator, has died per the IACP Facebook page. (H/T to the reader who wrote in to flag this last one, and who recommends her sour cream-streusel coffee cake recipe.) Condolences to all of their loved ones.

Coming Attractions: Hot Dish, Mushrooms, the Science of Baking, Cooking for One!

• Hot dish! George Sorensen will write Hot Dish Confidential, “in which the author recruits a group of amateur gourmets to come to his little Minneapolis bungalow, prepare a meal together, and show him the ropes.” Which is fun. You know I love a casserole. Flexible Press, April 2024.

• Forager Chad Hyatt will publish The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen—I say publish and not write because it looks like he self-published first. Mushroom recipes, duh. The Experiment, summer 2025.

• Pastry chef Nicola Lamb to write baking science book Sift: Everything You Need to Know About Baking. 100 recipes, “fully Americanized.” Clarkson Potter, fall 2024.

• And finally, Instagrammer Eleanor Wilkinson (568k followers) to write One Pot One Portion, 75 recipes for one! In one pot! Genius idea. Clarkson Potter, spring 2025.

• Deep in this piece about Jamie Oliver getting back into the restaurant game (questionable move IMO) is the fact that he has sold TWO MILLION COPIES of his cookbooks. [FT]

• Marie Curie’s cookbook collection will be radioactive for 1500 more years. [Science Alert, h/t Dr. Carlson]

• Explore one of “Australia’s most important cookbooks,” The Commonsense Cookery Book. [SBS Food]

• Why writing in cookbooks can make you a better cook. [Borneo Bulletin]

• Publishers Weekly looks at trends in Chinese and Taiwanese cookbooks. [PW]

• Also in PW, a story on Australian publisher Hardie Grant’s expansion into North America. [PW]

• Inside cookbook author Katie Parla’s Rome apartment. [AD]

• How social media has changed the way we cook. [AP]

• Cookbooks in a world of cooking videos. [WP]

• 11 cookbooks Vogue is excited about for fall. [Vogue]

• Meanwhile, Vogue India looks at the tradition of oral recipe sharing. [Vogue India]

Okay that’s all folks! See you soon with September preview.

And welcome to an exciting offering from journalist Helin Jung! Helin has written a lovely exploration of the history of Korean cookbooks in the US, which have seen an explosion in popularity over the years. But they took awhile to catch on, for a lot of reasons, which Helin lays out below. It’s a dense, smart, spectacular read that starts with a racist accounting of “Queer Korean Food” from 1904 and ends looking with hopeful eyes towards the upcoming, highly anticipated Sohn-Mat by Monica Lee, former-owner of the beloved, shuttered Koreatown staple Beverly Soon Tofu, written with Tien Nguyen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Here’s Helin.

A Brief History of Korean Cookbooks in America

—Helin Jung

Korean Food Gets a Rough Start in the US

In 1904, a wire story headlined "Queer Korean Food" circulated in newspapers from West Virginia to Kansas. A year earlier, the first Korean immigrants to Hawaii had arrived to work the sugar plantations. The Korean population in the United States only numbered in the thousands. This unbylined newspaper bulletin described the Korean diet: 

The Korean is omnivorous. Birds of the air, beasts of the field, and fish from the sea—nothing comes amiss to his palate. Dog meat is in great request at certain seasons, pork and beef with the blood undrained from the carcass; fowls and game—birds cooked with the lights, giblets, heads, and claws intact; fish, sundried and highly malodorous—all are acceptable to him. Cooking is not always necessary; a species of small fish is preferred raw, dipped into some piquant sauce. Other dainties are dried seaweed, shrimps, vermicelli, pine seeds, lily bulbs and all vegetables and cereals. Their excesses make the Korean martyrs to indigestion.

Korea, which had been open to trade for a single generation, was unknown to Americans. News from the Hermit Kingdom arrived via travelogues from Christian missionaries like Ethel E. Kestler, who often mentioned being so revolted that they refused to eat. (At a table laden with 18 different bowls of the "choicest Korean food," Kestler wrote in a letter that ran on the front page of The Monroe Journal in 1906, but "not appetizing in either odor or looks," "I did not have sufficient curiosity to investigate to find out.") 

Prejudice is a natural response when faced with the unfamiliar. Disgust catches easily. They said the food stank, made you sick to your stomach. Who would ever want to eat like a Korean? 

By 1933, a young scholar named George Kwon felt hopeful enough to publish Oriental Culinary Art, "an authentic book of recipes from China, Korea, Japan and the Philippines." Along with his UCLA classmate Pacifico Magpiong, Kwon wrote what is believed to be the first cookbook in the United States to feature Korean and Filipino recipes. 

Who is a cookbook for? In this case, "housewives other than Orientals." Like other so-called Oriental cookbooks from the 20th century, Oriental Culinary Art packaged several culinary traditions from across Asia together, including dishes like chop suey that were developed primarily in America. Chinese food was already well-known among non-Chinese Americans, Japanese food was becoming more familiar, and the authors appear to have made a pragmatic choice about how best to present the strange. As Lisa Heldke writes in Exotic Appetites, "We like our exoticism somewhat familiar, recognizable, controllable. It needs to fit into some known category for us before we can even be fascinated by it." Boost the new stuff, but don't oversell it. 

Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, the year that Harriett Morris, an entrepreneurial missionary from Wichita, self-published Korean Cooking, the first cookbook solely devoted to Korean cuisine to be printed in the United States. (The book would later be republished by the Charles E. Tuttle Company in 1959 as The Art of Korean Cooking.) Morris embraced Korea's cuisine from her position as benevolent interventionist—she helped create the Home Economics department at Ewha Womans University in Seoul—and there was no question in her mind that she should be the one to promote it. "Korean food is different from Chinese or Japanese food," she wrote in 1978, "so I decided the world should know about it." 

Morris collected recipes while in Korea, then tested them upon returning to Kansas, minimizing or even omitting "some of the seasonings…in order to be more pleasing to the American taste." The recipe for cucumber keem-chee calls for half a clove of garlic and half a teaspoon of chopped red chile pepper for three large cucumbers. Ever the proselytizer, Morris saw the book as an introduction, and she took an accommodating, less "highly seasoned" route for her intended audience.

(Some) American G.I.s Develop a Taste for “Kim Chee”

Earnest though Morris's efforts were, they were swamped by the impact of the Korean War, which began in 1950 and involved nearly 6 million Americans, many of whom had little positive to say about Korean food. When Morris promoted her book by suggesting that returning G.I.s would crave the food they'd had while stationed in Korea, she was mocked in the Hartford Courant by someone who had never tasted kimchi before but had heard of that "wicked-sounding mixture." 

The relentlessly bad PR went on for decades. Kimchi was "akin to murder." Raw sewage ran through the water. Can you believe Koreans eat dog meat? "In looking at Korean food an American wonders how people can eat such stuff," wrote a sergeant named Kenneth Stafford in a newspaper account about his time in Korea. M*A*S*H, which aired 256 episodes between 1972 and 1983, once featured Alan Alda's Hawkeye (one of "the good guys") eating food prepared by Koreans and saying that it was so spicy "the baby is going to need asbestos diapers." 

Despite all of this, there was some accuracy to Morris’ prediction about those G.I. cravings. "Whenever men who had been in the military came into my mother's restaurant, they would ask if we had Kim Chee," Cora Snow told the Oregon Statesman Journal in 1979. Snow's mother was Jung Suck Choy, the Korean writer of The Art of Oriental Cooking, a cookbook of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese recipes that was published in 1964. 

Going into a Korean restaurant with a hankering for kimchi is one thing. Wanting to cook it—finding it fashionable to do so—is another. If cookbooks are aspirational texts, as food historian Megan J. Elias wrote in Food on the Page, then it's unlikely you'd aspire to cook the food of a poverty-stricken, starved people from a country laid waste by war. It is the hunger of despair, not the hunger of appetite.

The Korean population in the United States prior to the Immigration Act of 1965 was marginal, but the three decades after 1965 saw tens of thousands of Korean immigrants arriving each year. In addition to those arrivals, over a 50-year period following the Korean War, more than 100,000 South Koreans were adopted by American families. Then came more festivals, more restaurants, more markets with more ingredients, Korean-owned sandwich shops with Korean lunch specials. An exposure therapy campaign at mass scale. 

Major demographic changes and Americans' increasing appetite for food of the global Other notwithstanding, Korean food failed to launch. After Judy Hyun, a white American woman championed by Craig Claiborne, put together The Korean Cookbook in 1970, the next Korean cookbook didn't come until Copeland Marks's The Korean Kitchen, published by Chronicle Books in 1993. Upon its release, a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote of the "bareness of the field—no other American trade publisher now has a Korean cookbook in print."

It was not for lack of attention. Having sufficiently rebuilt itself to host an Olympic Games, South Korea welcomed the world to Seoul in 1988. In anticipation, the Boston Globe named Korean food "the hot new cuisine" for 1986; a trend forecaster claimed in 1987 that Korean would be popular with dads. But this "lustier" cuisine remained the butt of jokes about dog meat and antacids. No matter that South Koreans were by this point lovers of standard American fare like hamburgers, pizza, and doughnuts. In 1990, Korean food was "still a mystery" according to a story by Charlyne Varkonyi that first ran in The Baltimore Sun; in 2001, it was "mystifying."

So Where Were All the Korean Cookbooks?

Korean food being a closed book has something to do with the fact that Korean immigrant communities have, as a rule, been insular. As sociologist Pyong Gap Min has noted, Koreans tended to work for other Koreans, continuing to speak the Korean language and remaining socially isolated. Their children, however, expanded beyond those boundaries. This new generation spoke English, they married non-Koreans (often white Americans), and they were well assimilated. Once they came of age, they made ideal interpreters. 

Still, making a Korean cookbook in English presents unique challenges. First, there's the problem of language and spelling. Romanizations of Korean can be incomprehensible and often inconsistent: Marks's book spells the Korean word for mushroom as "beuseus" and "pusud" on a single spread, for example. Both are supposed to make the same sounds, but would you know how to pronounce them? Is it better to spell it jjigae, tchigae, or chigae? It's a relief to me when a cookbook spells out the Hangul names for dishes; at least then I can know for sure what it's supposed to be. 

Korean meals are also structured differently than American ones, and while there have been plenty of concessions made to globalization, the grammar of a Korean meal requires different rhythms of preparation, not all of them easy to map onto a main-and-a-side kind of meal plan. A typical Korean meal requires multiple separate components, including, but not limited to: rice, soup, and several small plates of mit banchan. Terms and categories don't translate easily across traditions.

Beyond that, there's the fear of rejection to contend with. Ambassador foods were bulgogi, bibimbap, japchae, mandu, and kimchi—the end. Koreans have resisted touting more challenging flavors for fear of shame and ridicule. Historically, they had reason for concern, but this self-censorship closed off vast swaths of the cuisine. Without exposure, the barriers to entry for non-Koreans remained high. 

A New Millenium, a Turning Point, and Maangchi

Florence Fabricant of the New York Times declared that Korean food was "just waiting to be discovered" in 1999, the year after Jenny Kwak's Dok Suni cookbook came out from St. Martin's Press. Kwak was part of a young vanguard that succeeded in making Korean cooking less intimidating for a non-Korean readership, partly by writing from the point of view of Korean Americans with feet in both cultures. Kwak brought a greater degree of memoir into Dok Suni than had been present in previous Korean cookbooks, and two subsequent Korean cookbooks that followed, Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall's Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen (2001) and Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee's Eating Korean (2005) were similarly personal and homey in style.

Lee began writing about Korean food in the late 90s, beginning with a primer on kimchi for the Los Angeles Times. "I felt this weird compulsion," she told me, "to introduce Korean food to everyone." Forty publishers rejected her book proposal before she got to Wiley. On the book's back cover, they printed the line: "Experience the savory secrets of the 'other' Asian cuisine."

The long-awaited moment of arrival began with a new era of the Korean American chef: David Chang, Corey Lee, Roy Choi, Edward Lee, Sang Yoon. Ethnic groups take "at least three or four generations" to acquire prestige, according to food scholar Krishnendu Ray, and Koreans were on their path of ascension. Formally trained with fine dining bona fides, these male chefs were savvy marketers and exceptional communicators. They did not want to "just" be seen as Korean, but neither did they deny their Koreanness. Chang, for example, described his relationship with Korean food as “complicated” in 2016—but that didn’t stop him from putting Korean flavors and dishes like bo ssam on the menu at his restaurants. Korean food's profile began to snowball by association, even if it wasn't those chefs' express goal to make it do so.

Concurrently, the South Korean government launched a campaign in 2009 to popularize Korean cuisine worldwide, which dovetailed with the inescapable cultural imperialism of Hallyu, which has brought us everything from BTS to Parasite to Innisfree. Marja Vongerichten wrote The Kimchi Chronicles in 2011, a cookbook companion to the television series in which she explored her identity through Korean cuisine. Both the book and the series, which was supported by the South Korean campaign, featured her husband, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, but that spotlight paled in comparison to what a woman cooking in her home kitchen would soon accomplish. Yes, who would have thought: Maangchi. This undiluted ahjumma with an accent thick as my mother's showed up on YouTube to become the preeminent—should we call her an influencer? in Korean cooking. Hundreds of videos, millions of subscribers, and two cookbooks later, Maangchi, otherwise known as Emily Kim, maintains the intimacy of someone who invited you over to learn how to cook a thing for fun. 

When it Rains: A Critical Mass of Korean Cookbooks

In the last decade, a canon of Korean dishes has emerged, a constructed national cuisine. The South Korean government has played a large role in the standardization, with dishes from the north either absorbed or eliminated. Cookbook writers with audiences beyond Korea have, perhaps inadvertently, promoted this generic and decontextualized list of staples. The proliferation of these recipes has also, on occasion, allowed others to bring different ideas into the fold. 

The New York chef Hooni Kim was approached to write a cookbook in 2012, a year after his restaurant Danji became the first Korean restaurant in the world to earn a Michelin star. His first two manuscripts were restaurant books, but his editor, Maria Guarnaschelli, told him he needed to do better. By the time My Korea finally came out in 2020, it was in a radically changed form than where it began. In the intervening years, other Korean cookbooks (like Sohui Kim's Korean Home Cooking, now in its seventh printing, and Robin Ha's graphic cookbook, Cook Korean!) had taken on the mantle of presenting Korean food basics, and Kim could focus on "the way I look at Korean food." 

Who is a cookbook for? In the case of My Korea, it was for Kim. "This was like a diary," he told me, an emotional reminder of his growth as a chef of what he romanticizes as traditional Korean cooking. Kim felt unburdened to do this thanks to other recent releases, and by the fact that he was told "the audience for Korean cookbooks was not Korean," and "ninety percent aren't going to really cook any of the dishes."

The Future of Korean Cookbooks with Sohn-Mat

According to Pew Research Center, 12 percent of restaurants in the United States serve Asian food. Of those, 71 percent serve either Chinese, Japanese, or Thai food. Korean comes in sixth. The distribution feels different in Los Angeles, where Koreatown spans three-square miles and there are hundreds of Korean restaurants to choose from. Anthony Bourdain, ever a culinary adventurer if there was one, said in an interview with Lucky Peach in 2016 that whenever he was in Los Angeles, "I go to Koreatown first, because it's a wonderland. You can drive for block after block after block, it's enormous. You can really get lost. And the Korean food is so perfect, so pristinely untouched by time." 

Korean food, virginal and wild, still just waiting to be discovered. As Heldke writes, at the top of the hierarchy of exotic cuisine is the "true cuisine, unmediated by any outside influences." Here, Bourdain was boasting of having tasted it. Had he been the one to unseal the cave? Where did he get this idea that Koreatown had resisted change and influence? 

One of the places Bourdain visited in 2013 for Parts Unknown was Monica Lee's Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant. In the episode, he sits with Roy Choi, who explains that Beverly Soon Tofu, with its made-to-order, customizable menu, could have only happened in Los Angeles. Lee did not get a voice on the show, but she will in her forthcoming cookbook Sohn-Mat, the first to be written by a chef/restaurateur from Koreatown LA. (A different trailblazing book from 2009, edited by Allisa Park and called Discovering Korean Cuisine, featured recipes from several restaurants in LA's Koreatown, but it had a small run and is currently out of print.) Perhaps what Bourdain meant was that Koreatown in Los Angeles, despite having a concentration of Korean restaurants vastly superior to those anywhere else in the country, had been invisible to publishing and media outside of LA. Exotic to whom? 

In truth, Lee evolved her restaurant's menu continually from when it opened in 1986 until its closure in 2020. Encounters with her customers regularly inspired new variations and new dishes. Non-Koreans started coming to Beverly Soon Tofu a few years into its opening, she said, and toward the end, most of the clientele was non-Korean, some of whom were eating the tofu soup with a spice level that was uncomfortable even for Lee to eat. Many waited hours, in tears, on the restaurant's last days for their orders. The cookbook is a gesture of thanks, as well as an acknowledgment of her own contributions to the growing understanding of what Korean food is and has the possibility to be. To know it is often to love it, as it has taken this country just over a century to find out.

Helin Jung is a writer in Los Angeles. She owns a great many cookbooks, including some she cooks from.

And welcome to the IACP-nominated cookbook newsletter Stained Page News!!! Boy does that feel good to type. When the nominees were announced earlier this week, I almost missed the email—I’m on the cookbook awards executive committee this year1, and assumed that was why I was getting an email about it. And then I noticed the subject line started with “Congratulations.” WILD. The announcement came the second I hit send on Tuesday’s issue, which is why I didn’t mention it there!

My co-finalists are G. Daniela Galarza and Hanna Raskin, both of whom are colleagues (and in Daniela’s case, former co-worker!) I have known for years and have the utmost respect for. I can’t recommend their newsletters enough: Daniela writes the Eat Voraciously newsletter for The Washington Post, which is a what-the-heck’s-for-dinner daily newsletter full of light lift but super tasty recipes presented in Daniela’s graceful and approachable voice. And Hanna writes here on Substack, which features original reporting on food and drink in the American South, a task that seems nearly impossible to do as an independent journalist but that Hanna conquers with aplomb. It’s truly a case of just being honored to be nominated in their company.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of your for reading this newsletter, from the bottom of my heart. Stained Page News is a ton of work, and I love doing it so very much, and I will never not be shocked and honored that there are so many of you out there who love reading it as much as I love writing it. Thank you for loving cookbooks as much as I do.

Okay now let’s get into the cookbook noms before I start crying. Feel free to discuss the choices here in the comments! I can’t join in because of my role in the program, but I’m eager to hear your thoughts. (This is also why there are no affiliate links in this issue.)

The 2023 IACP Cookbook Awards Finalists

American

Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home
Eric Kim
Clarkson Potter

Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons from a Pioneer of California Cuisine
Sally Schmitt; Bruce Smith
Chronicle Books

The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know and Love from a Chinese American Family: A Cookbook
Bill Leung, Kaitlin Leung, Judy Leung and Sarah Leung
Clarkson Potter

Baking Sweet & Savory, Confections and Desserts

Flour Power: The Practice and Pursuit of Baking Sourdough Bread
Tara Jensen
Clarkson Potter

The King Arthur Baking School: Lessons and Recipes for Every Baker
King Arthur Baking Company
Countryman

The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More: A Baking Book
Maurizio Leo
Clarkson Potter

Chefs & Restaurants

Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora
Reem Assil
Ten Speed Press

Horn Barbecue
Matt Horn
Harvard Common Press

Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin’ in New Orleans
Mason Hereford; with JJ Goode
Ten Speed Press

Children, Youth & Family

Dynamite Kids: Cooking School Delicious Recipes That Teach All the Skills You Need: A Cookbook
Dana Bowen and Sara Kate Gillingham
Clarkson Potter

Gaby’s Latin American Kitchen
Gaby Melian
America’s Test Kitchen Kids

(Serious) New Cook: Recipes, Tips, and Techniques
Leah Su Quiroga; Cammie Kim Lin
Rizzoli

Culinary Travel

KOKS
Tim Ecott
Sprotin

On the Himalayan Trail: Recipes and Stories from Kashmir to Ladakh
Romy Gill
Hardie Grant Books

West Winds: Recipes, History and Tales from Jamaica
Riaz Phillips
DK

Food Issues & Matters

Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts
Daniel Holzman; Matt Rodbard
Harper Wave

The Miller’s Daughter: Unusual Flours & Heritage Grains: Stories and Recipes from Hayden Flour Mills
Emma Zimmerman
Hardie Grant Books

What Your Food Ate: How to Restore Our Land and Reclaim Our Health
David R. Montgomery; Anne Biklé
Norton

Food Photography & Styling

A Year at Catbird Cottage: Recipes for a Nourished Life
Melina Hammer
Ten Speed Press

Boards: Stylish Spreads for Casual Gatherings
Elle Simone Scott
America’s Test Kitchen

Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico: A Cookbook
Rick Martínez
Clarkson Potter

General

Food52 Simply Genius: Recipes for Beginners, Busy Cooks & Curious People [A Cookbook]
Kristen Miglore
Ten Speed Press

Milk Street: Cook What You Have
Christopher Kimball
Hachette Book Group

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things Bold, vegetable-forward recipes plus homemade sauces, condiments, and more to build a flavor-packed pantry: A Cookbook
Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi
Clarkson Potter

Health & Nutrition

Evergreen Kitchen: Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone
Bri Beaudoin
Penguin Random House Canada

Good for Your Gut: A Plant-Based Digestive Health Guide and Nourishing Recipes for Living Well
Desiree Nielsen
Penguin Random House Canada

Vegan Cooking for Two
America’s Test Kitchen
America’s Test Kitchen

International

Hoppers: The Cookbook: Recipes, Memories and Inspiration from Sri Lankan Homes, Streets and Beyond
Karan Gokani
Quadrille Publishing

Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico: A Cookbook
Rick Martínez
Clarkson Potter

THE PASTA QUEEN: A Just Gorgeous Cookbook: 100+ Recipes and Stories
Nadia Caterina Munno with Katie Parla
S&S / Gallery Books

Literary or Historical Food Writing

A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community
Natalia Molina
University of California Press

Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities
Julia Skinner
Storey Publishing

Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics
Marion Nestle
University of California Press

Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies
Rossi Anastopoulo
ABRAMS

Self-Published

At Home by Gavin Kaysen
Gavin Kaysen; Nick Fauchald
Published in the U.S. by Spoon Thief Publishing; Publisher: Nick Fauchald

My South Texas Kitchen
Yvette Zuniga Jemison
Yvette Zuniga Jemison

Room at the Table: Gluten-Free Recipes, Stories and Tips to Share With the People You Love
Lisa Samuel
Lisa Samuel

Single Subject

Cooking with Mushrooms: A Fungi Lover’s Guide to the World’s Most Versatile, Flavorful, Health-Boosting Ingredients
Andrea Gentl
Artisan Books, Workman Publishing; Hachette Book Group

Masa: Techniques, Recipes, and Reflections on a Timeless Staple
Jorge Gaviria
Chronicle Books

The Wok: Recipes and Techniques
J. Kenji López-Alt
Norton

Wine, Beer or Spirits

Bourbon: The Story of Kentucky Whiskey
Clay Risen
Ten Speed Press

Caesar Country: Cocktails, Clams & Canada
Aaron Harowitz; Zack Silverman
Appetite by Random House

Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em
Neal Bodenheimer; Emily Timberlake
ABRAMS

The IACP Julia Child First Book Award, Presented By The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts

Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home
Eric Kim
Clarkson Potter

Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico: A Cookbook
Rick Martínez
Clarkson Potter

The Vegan Chinese: Kitchen Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition: A Cookbook
Hannah Che
Clarkson Potter

Finally, a quick programming note: because my time is booked out over the next few weeks with work projects, fall cookbook season, and a much-needed vacation, I’m going to pause payments for the time being. Your paid subscriptions will pick up where they left off when I unpause (IE if you have 7 months left on your subscription now, you’ll have 7 months left when I unpause). You won’t be charged renewal fees during this time, and won’t be able to upgrade. I’m also pausing book recommendations during this time, excepting recs that have already been requested. Thanks!

And welcome to a very special issues of Stained Page News! I am thrilled to announce book designer Frances Baca has officially joined the newsletter as the SPN Design Editor! This means Frances will regularly contribute design pieces, including in these news digest issues. You’ll find her first entry, on Andrea Gentl’s Cooking With Mushrooms, below, but you also may remember her from previous SPN entries such as:

• A Cookbook Where Color Is the Main Ingredient

• 8 Cookbook Covers That Break the Mold

• Inside a Legendary Designer’s Recipe Sketchbook

• 10 Type- and Illustration-Forward Covers and Why They Work

• Peek Inside a Restaurant Cookbook Like No Other

And here’s her bio:

Frances Abrantes Baca is a book designer, creative director, and publishing consultant working in Berkeley, California. She has designed and art directed countless cookbooks, and was the founding design director of the much-loved food and culture journal Gastronomica. Her work has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation, the Society of Publication Designers, the Association of American University Presses, Graphic Design USA, the New England Book Show, and Bookbuilders West. You can hear more about her thoughts on cookbook design in the Salt + Spine podcast, and follow her work on Instagram.

Please welcome Frances to the best lil corner of the cookbook internet in the comments! And now, cookbook news.

I had to learn what was going on in my industry, in my craft, in my art, in my field. And so reading is absolutely one of the best pieces of advice I can give anybody. Read. I spent all my free pennies and free minutes as a young cook buying cookbooks. I now have a cookbook collection of over 2,500 books. I love to read them and reread them. It’s a wonderful thing.

—Chef Wylie Dufresne on the value on cookbooks for chefs. [Lit Hub]

TikTok Title Baking Yesteryear Officially A #1 Bestseller

I’ve talked a lot about TikTok food folks getting book deals in this space, and how many followers nets you a deal. What we haven’t covered a ton is sales: a lot of these books make the nonfiction charts, but a lot of them are also just doing well within their own niches. Which is fine, niches are sort of TikTok’s whole deal.

WELL. No more: Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis is officially the bestselling book in the country with 126,987 copies sold as of August 4. Not the bestselling nonfiction book, the bestselling BOOK. Take that, Colleen Hoover. Hollis shares baking recipes from 20th century cookbooks with his 10.1 million TikTok followers, often making outlandish-seeming dishes that turn out well. And people love it: he sold more than twice the copies of the #2 book, dragon fantasy novel Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

RIP British cookbook author and artist Colin Spencer has died at the age of 89. Extremely prolific—he was also a novelist—Spencer wrote 18 cookbooks, including several vegetarian cookbooks and 2002’s award-winning British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History. For more (and there’s a lot more, he has a very interesting story), head over the the Guardian for an obit. [Guardian]

The Creative Brief with Frances Baca

Cooking with Mushrooms by Andrea Gentl

Foraging mushrooms in the mountains and forests of Northern California, I recall fondly the memory of holding handfuls of freshly picked chanterelles, morels, and porcini—their earthy, gritty bodies resting lightly in my hands. In an astonishing feat of design magic, Andrea Gentl’s Cooking with Mushrooms vividly captures this sensation. The book is impossibly lightweight, its faintly grained cover printed end to end with a gorgeous photograph of various fungi—their creamy browns, yellows, and oranges peeking around hot pink vertical O-bands (paper bands that wrap around the front and back covers). The entire package evokes the look and feel of a basketful of mushrooms.

My delight at the physicality of the book doesn’t stop there. The interior pages feature a cream-colored uncoated paper (lacking any type of finish) that has the toothy texture of a mushroom, soil still clinging stubbornly to its skin. Uncoated paper is an unusual choice for a cookbook. Coated paper, whose smooth surface prevents ink from pooling and spreading in its grain—resulting in crisper type and images—is almost always a publisher’s first choice for punchier photos and cleaner all-around print reproduction. However, the expertise of Cooking with Mushrooms’s printing and production team, not to mention Gentl’s mastery of light and shadow (she shot the photographs along with her partner, Martin Hyers), capture beautifully every minute detail in the images. “The paper feels almost alive,” remarks Gentl, and, indeed, running your fingertips along the photos is a surprisingly satisfying tactile experience. 

Designer Su Barber treats the content with restraint, setting the pages in quiet sans-serif type with ample white space. The only touches of muted color appear as a few small circular sidebars and slender stripes along the edge of each chapter’s pages—also a handy navigational element. “My guiding principle was to let the photography and writing take center stage,” says Barber, adding that the design grid underpinning the composed pages allows the photographs to set full frame, without any cropping. Gentl’s photographs certainly merit this respect—they are exquisitely detailed, dramatically lighted, and elegantly styled, yet they manage to feel completely accessible—and are well complemented by the simple recipe design.

Cooking with Mushrooms's cover, however, is the real stunner. The publisher, Artisan, further shunned convention by bravely embracing a design without a title printed on the front cover. Only an impressively abundant selection of mushrooms stretches from front to back, with the title and author printed on the spine. “The team was excited by the idea of a photo-only cover,” remarks Barber. “Everyone loved that the paper band communicates the necessary information while the book is for sale, but can be removed after purchase.” The eye-catching pink (an inspired last-minute color choice by Gentl) O-bands perform the necessary duty of—on the front—identifying the title, subtitle, and author, and—on the back—displaying blurbs. But once they are slipped off, we are left with a remarkably unique cookbook that feels sprung from the very earth that inspired it.

—Frances Baca

GAME TIME Kotaku reviews Venba, an Xbox game in which you solve culinary puzzles to help a Toronto-based family who have recently immigrated from India to piece together a family cookbook. (The game is named after the mother of the family.) The review calls the game, which seems to have somewhat simple gameplay paired with impactful storytelling, “deceptively resonant.” [Kotaku]

Coming Attractions: Mamrie Hart, Sam the Cooking Guy, Fat + Flour, Pastabilities, Cocktail Farm

• Mamrie Hart, co-host of the podcast This Might Get Weird, to write All I Think About Is Food: A Vegetarian’s Guide to Never Missing Out on the Fun. The book will be comprised of dinner party recipes, including “meals composed of leftovers designed to cure even the worst hangover.” The PM copy says the photography will be “campy” so that’s something to look forward to. Countryman, Pub date TBA.

• YouTuber Sam the Cooking Guy (3.57 million subscribers) to write his third cookbook: Sam the Cooking Guy and the Holy Grill. Grilling! Countryman, pub date TBA.

• Baker, cookbook author, and owner of LA’s Fat + Flour bakery Nicole Rucker to write Fat + Flour, with recipes for “cookies, cakes, and pies,” with home cook techniques. Knopf, pub date TBA.

• Jeffrey Eisner, who has written several cookbooks, to write Pastabilities, “with low-effort, maximum-flavor pasta recipes and photographs of every step.” Voracious, pub date TBA.

• And last but not least, Belinda Kelly and Venise Cunningham, founders of Simple Goodness Cocktail Farm in western Washington State, to write Drink Your Garden, with drinks recipes and tips for planting a cocktail garden.

• Texas cookbook author and filmmaker Adán Medrano, who is perhaps best know for coining the term “Texas Mexican” and his extensive writings on the foodways that term encompasses, has donated his archives to the University of Texas at San Antonio Mexican Cookbooks Collection. According to a press release, the collection includes “drafts of the two books, menus, recipes, research files, speeches, presentations, lectures, essays, photographs, course material and notes from his time as a student at the Culinary Institute of America.” [UTSA]

• The shortlist for the UK’s Guild of Food Writers has been announced. [H&C]

• Madhur Jaffrey celebrates 50 years of An Invitation to Indian Cooking. [NPR]

• Cookbook review: Vegan: An Indian Cookbook by Niaz Caan. [The Caterer]

• Cookbook review: Mrs KM Mathew’s Finest Recipes. [Mint Lounge]

• Vegetable cookbooks that aren’t necessarily vegetarian. [Eater]

• 8 ways to organize your cookbooks. [Homes & Gardens]

• The oldest cookbooks in the world! [Daily Meal]

• 10 cookbooks from Vancouver. [Victoria Buzz]

Okay that’s all for now cookbook fans! Have a good week. Say hi to Frances in the comments. Smell you later!!!

How’s it going? Literally nothing new to report here and I know you’re all sick of me complaining about the heat, so I will just introduce today’s piece!

is here to talk about a trend she’s noticed amongst bestselling “general” cookbooks: a lot of them feature the same dishes over and over again, with only the slightest of tweaks to differentiate them from each other. While there are some easy answers for why (publishing still heavily favors white authors, for a start)(publishing is afraid of its own shadow bc capitalism, for another), she also has some ideas for how to fix it. Namely, voting with your dollars. Buy the cookbooks you want to see in the world!

And leave your favorite home bistro dishes in the comments. But be nice, we’re not here to destroy anyone’s favorite foods (or cookbook authors).

Laura, take it away!

Beyond the ‘Home Bistro’ Cookbook: A Plea for Bolder Recipe Lists

Cookbook readers can and should use their buying power to influence what types of cookbooks get published.

—By

I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder. I’ll just tell you that my cookbook collection long-ago outgrew the shelves in my kitchen. And often, when I’m bored of my usual recipe go-tos, I’ll flip through the stacks for inspiration.

Let’s start with a few recipes that have stopped me in my tracks recently. They’re from books that showcase themes I love—big flavors, accessible techniques, and impressive resulting dishes—with fresh, new dishes popping up throughout. Exhibit A: Abi Balingit’s Mayumu: Filipino American Desserts Remixed. Her Adobo Chocolate Chip Cookies don’t just toss a fun, unexpected ingredient into a traditional American cookie base; she incorporates new techniques, methods, and flavors in a familiar format to create something that stuns. I was taken aback. Infusing browned butter with bay leaves? Replacing salt with soy sauce? It’s a revelation. 

Exhibit B: Abra Berens’ latest epic, Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit, which includes hundreds of unexpected ways to use fresh fruit in your savory cooking. Ginger-Plum-Glazed Ribs with Rye Spaetzle and Greens? I just transformed into the star-eyes emoji imagining the flavor of that glaze and the challenge of making rye spaetzle. Her recipe for Pan-Roasted Parsnips with Grape Sauce and Pecans awakened a new part of me that wants to embrace grapes as a component of every savory dish I’m cooking this summer.

Exhibit C: Andy Baraghani’s beautiful The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress. As a voracious fennel lover, finding not one but two new recipes that celebrate the next thing I’m going to tattoo on my body was reason enough to drop everything and run into the kitchen. His Fennel Buried in Cream and Fennel Salad with Spicy Green Olives and Crushed Pistachios are my kind of dishes. And here’s the thing: they shine even as the book showcases its more exciting material alongside Baraghani’s versions of traditional favorites (yes, roasted chicken is on the menu).

So a few weeks ago, I hit the shelves looking for more inspiration. Instead, I started to feel like I was reading the cookbook version of Groundhog Day: similar recipes, over and over again.

Here are recipes from a few cookbooks that I own which also happen to be recent-ish New York Times best sellers (with their titles redacted so as to not be a complete asshole): 

• Unnamed Book One: Spaghetti with Clams, Skirt Steak with Potatoes, and Charred Broccolini. 

• Unnamed Book Two: Linguine with Clams, Skirt Steak with Chimichurri, and Blistered Broccolini. 

• Unnamed Book Three: Linguine with Shellfish (Clams), Skirt Steak with Chilies, and (you guessed it) more Broccolini.

And it’s not just those three recipes. It’s almost as if there’s a cool kids cookbook club, and to get in it your book must include your own version of slow-baked salmon, basic tomato sauce, seared scallops with [insert cute veg accompaniment here], wedge salads, spatchcocked chicken, roasted lamb shoulder, and chocolate chip cookies. 

Once I started noticing these kinds of recipes, I couldn’t stop. And as I flipped through more cookbooks at home and then later on library shelves, a pattern emerged: similar recipe lists winding together to create a genre of cookbook that I’ve started to call “home bistro books.” The food itself is usually European-influenced, Americanized food, occasionally studded with on-trend ingredients—an unfussy, home-cooked answer to the same type of food that fills menus in trendy, “modern bistro” restaurants across the country. These menus, packed with sure-bet favorites (and, indeed, some of my favorites!), are so similar that you can practically guess at what they’re serving: dishes like Little Gem lettuce salad, pan-roasted halibut, and dressed-up burrata. Rocked by the pandemic, these reliable favorites can be restaurants’ key to financial stability, audience loyalty, and staying power. But one thing’s for sure: these menus all feel the same. 

Similar to dishes that we see repeated on these trendy dinner menus, recipes that have appeared in countless cookbooks are a sure bet with consumers. Maybe you’re not being challenged to improve or grow with yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe, but you’re still going to end up with a bunch of delicious cookies at the end of the day. That’s a win for a large percentage of cookbook readers, and when they see a book that feels like a win, they’ll put their money where their mouth is. Capitalism is a self-fulfilling prophecy: a same-same-but-different recipe is published, the book sells, more similar books are created, and so on. 

These recipes feel familiar and well-loved, versatile and often accessible for even novice cooks. And while I’ll be the first to admit that I have a type when it comes to cookbooks—easy-to-execute, elegant dishes that present well on the plate—these repeated recipes feel like more than a coincidental statement on my personal preferences.

Listen: Alison Roman changed my life by teaching me to add anchovies to my tomato sauce. You know what didn’t change my life? The tomato sauce recipe that calls for heirloom tomatoes and basil leaves in another cookbook nearby. Or the one in another book one shelf up that calls for crushed tomatoes, oregano, and basil leaves. Or another one that calls for San Marzanos, basil leaves, and garlic. These are not recipes from writers lacking creativity or kitchen know-how. On the contrary, these are some of the writers and recipe developers I admire most.

But. (You knew there was going to be a but!) Isn’t it kind of boring? Apart from a trending towards Euro-centric classics and American comfort foods, why are all of these talented writers on a quest to keep tweaking the same classic dishes that have already been published time and time again? Why couldn’t these books skip those recipes and let the more original recipes in their cookbooks shine through? Authors of what are typically referred to as “general” cookbooks—Jamie Oliver to Joanna Gaines to the host of your favorite cooking competition show to the winner of your favorite cooking competition show—add slight tweaks and on-brand additions to familiar favorites. Is this really the best way to get home cooks excited about getting into the kitchen?

There’s hope on the horizon. In recent years, the cookbook publishing industry has exploded with titles exploring global cuisines and ingredients within the framework of the classic what-the-heck-do-I-make-for-dinner cookbook. As a result, there are books being published with tables of contents that are far more exciting than in previous generations. Seeing writers like Frankie Gaw, Priya Krishna, Esteban Castillo, and Eric Kim offer their own versions of this genre of cookbook, imbued with the flavors of their respective cultural heritages alongside experiences of growing up in the US, is just the beginning of the realm of possibilities.

Another way to look at these home bistro recipes is to put them to work in ways that do, in fact, expand the skills of home cooks. Samin Nosrat, who used well-loved recipes as tools to teach lessons about kitchen techniques in Salt, Fat Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, offers another way to stand out. The book has a recipe for roast chicken yes, but her buttermilk brine for it practically broke the internet by teaching home cooks about the power of buttermilk’s acid to tenderize meat. In both of Carla Lalli Music's books, Where Cooking Begins and That Sounds So Good, she focuses on the riff-able qualities of her recipes to fit readers' pantries. This feels refreshing, too.

As readers, these are the kinds of projects we need to be supporting, buying, and calling for more from publishers. We need to prove that we’ll buy books filled with challenging recipes, exciting flavors, and radical twists on all kinds of recipes. The magic of cookbooks happens when I’m in the kitchen and poring over a recipe, stopping time and time again to read the instructions and double-check what I’m doing. I consider myself a fairly capable cook; I always tell people that’s why I have trouble following recipes to a tee. It’s because I’ve made the same damn thing so many times! I can recite for you how to make a chocolate chip cookie or a spatchcocked, roasted chicken. You know what I can’t do? Talk you through how to filet a whole fish. Advise you on spice mixes that go well on grilled octopus. Cook okra to save my life.

These days, my cookbook collection being what it is (okay, maybe I am a hoarder), I look for the books that surprise me. Make me think bigger, expand my palate. That’s why I’m buying the book, after all. These writers are the experts—I’m just a snobby home cook with the purchasing power to prove my appetite for something fresh. Fellow cookbook nerds, this is your moment. Next time you’re in the store, look past the “home bistro” books and find something different. Post about it on social media. Buy another copy for your mom. All of a sudden, things might start tasting a little bit less boring.

is a food photographer, stylist, and writer based in Chicago. Her studio work focuses on storytelling in food photography, and her work has been featured on Eater, The Spruce Eats, and The TODAY Show. Previously, she has contributed to Life & Thyme and Different Leaf magazines. More of her writing can be found at her newsletter, Page & Plate.