Fall Preview 2021: Grab Bag
Single subject, drinks, special interest, and fandom cookbooks!
Fall Cookbook Preview 2021: Grab Bag!!!
Ingredient-Focused
The Little Prairie Book of Berries: Recipes for Saskatoons, Sea Buckthorn, Haskap Berries and More by Sheryl Normandeau
This one’s for you, Canada: a pretty little illustrated book of recipes for prairie berries from Calgary-based gardening writer Sheryl Normandeau. Illustrated by Tree Abraham and Meryl Hulse, this book covers the berries of Canada’s prairies including sea buckthorn, haskap, saskatoons, currants, sour cherries, and chokecherries. Recipes run from savory to baked goods to preserves to cocktails. Touchwood: September 21.
Chicken A to Z: 1,000 Recipes from Around the World by Mireille Sanchez
As advertised, this is a book of 1,000 recipes (they claim 4,000, when variations are factored in) from all over the world. Recipes include curries and dim sum and ramen and tagines and more. Originally released in French, this fall marks A to Z’s English debut. Rizzoli: October 19.
Cheese Sex Death: A Bible for the Cheese Obsessed by Erika Kubick
Everything you could want to know about cheese, plus recipes, pairing tips, and more. Kubick is behind the Chicago-based “cheese advocacy and events company” Cheese Sex Death, and the book promises “seductive photography and audacious prose.” Cheese! I like cheese. Abrams: October 26.
Technique-Focused
Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys: Recipes, Techniques, and Traditions from around the World by Sandor Ellix Katz
A new book from Mister Fermentation himself, Sandor Katz, this time looking at fermentations from around the world. We’re talking everything from Croatian whole fermented cabbages to doubanjiang to koji to the fermented beverages of South America, and much more. Chelsea Green: October 7.
Instantly Mediterranean by Emily Paster
A book that covers a range of gadgets, including Instant Pots and other electric pressure cookers, and Air Fryers. 100 recipes from around the Mediterranean, including tips for how to stock your pantry so you can have everything ready to go in an instant (sorry). Tiller: September 14.
Aunt Daisy, real name Maud Basham, was a radio show host in New Zealand from 1930 to 1963 who was known for her fast talking and coverage of domestic topics. She also wrote several cookbooks; this book collects over 200 of her preservation recipes that focus on reliability and economy. Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand: October 5.
How to Sous Vide: Easy, Delicious Perfection Any Night of the Week by Daniel Shumski
Cookbook author (and SPN contributor) Daniel Shumski’s latest book focuses on sous vide, the technique of low-n-slow cooking in hot water baths that allows for super precise cooking temps. Shumski takes the technique out of the professional realm and into the home kitchen, with recipes like “Carnitas-Style Pork Shoulder, Miso-Butter Carrots, Chili-Garlic Shrimp…Berry-Chocolate Cheesecake and Salted Dulce de Leche.” Workman: November 16.
Dish-Focused
Soup Club: 80 Cozy Recipes for Creative Plant-Based Soups and Stews to Share by Caroline Wright
After a diagnosis of brain cancer, Caroline Wright’s friends rallied to leave soup on her doorstep for months—and once she returned to health, she repaid the favor, courtesy a weekly soup club. This book tells her story, alongside 80 recipes for vegan and gluten-free soups including “Catalan Chickpea Stew with Spinach, Jamaican Pumpkin and Red Pea Soup, Split Pea Soup with Roasted Kale, West African Vegetable Stew.” Andrews McMeel: October 19.
Modernist Pizza by Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya
From the folks who brought you Modernist Cuisine etc., a giant book about pizza! Or, well, three volumes, plus a recipe, all wrapped up in a big red steel slipcover. Fully 1,708 pages with over 1,000 recipes, a book that insists there is no such thing as too much pizza cookbook. Cooking Lab: October 5.
The Vegan Butcher: The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Meat by Zacchary Bird
A guide to plant-based meat substitutes from Melbourne-based vegan recipe developer Zacchary Bird. Promising a book “for vegans who are tired of burgers,” Bird offers substitutes for “(almost) every dish you can think of.” Smith Street: October 26.
The Joy of Pizza: Everything You Need to Know by Dan Richer with Katie Parla
Pizza time! Managing to fit a good deal of pizza intel into 288 pages, Dan Richer of New Jersey pizzeria Razza here shares his 56-point rubric (!) for determining “pizza perfection.” Also including are instructions for pizza gadgets the Ooni and Roccbox, outdoor wood-fired ovens, and your regular ol’ kitchen oven. Voracious: October 26.
Nachos for Dinner: Surprising Sheet Pan Meals the Whole Family Will Love by Dan Whalen
Nachos for dinner… I am listening. Cookbook author Dan Whalen visits the classics here, but also offers “French Onion Nachos, Buffalo Chicken Nachos, and Cobb Salad Nachos to Fish Taco Nachos, Banh Mi Nachos, and Shrimp and Grits Nachos.” Even dessert nachos! Workman: December 21.
Drinks
The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes by Julia Momosé with Emma Janzen
I’ve been excited about this one: Julia Momosé, proprietor of Chicago’s Kumiko, pairs up with drinks writer Emma Janzen to share a deep knowledge of Japanese bar traditions. Expect recipes influenced by 24 micro-seasons, Japanese classic cocktails, non-alcoholic drink recipes, an exploration of Japanese cocktail culture, and much more. Clarkson Potter: October 12.
The Cocktail Workshop: An Essential Guide to Classic Drinks and How to Make Them Your Own by Steven Grasse and Adam Erace
The team behind Philadelphia boutique Art in the Age bring you a deep dive into 20 classic cocktails and what makes them tick. Each cocktail is accompanied by variations, including “Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master versions.” Running Press: October 5.
Can I Mix You a Drink? by T-PAIN with Maxwell Britten
T-Pain has gone from buying drinks to mixing them in this cocktail book, written with Maison Premiere alum Maxwell Britten. With each cocktail in the book pegged to a lyric from one of his songs, T-Pain offers “unorthodox mixes” and his own spins on classics. Kingston Imperial: November 2.
Death & Co Welcome Home: A Cocktail Recipe Book by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, and David Kaplan
The latest from the folks behind cocktail bar Death & Co looks at “everything you need to make and serve impressive drinks at home,” starting with a cocktail boot camp, followed by over 400 recipes (!!!) including “classics, low-ABV drinks, non-alcoholic cocktails, and hundreds of the signature creations the Death & Co teams in New York, Denver, and Los Angeles.” Ten Speed: November 2.
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails edited by David Wondrich with Noah Rothbaum
Touted by the publisher as “the first major reference work to cover [spirits and cocktails] from a global perspective,” this is an 864-page reference tome covering cocktails, their components, the techniques behind them, and much more. Illustrated, with a timeline of cocktail history and a guide to mixing drinks. Oxford University Press: November 4.
Fandoms and Special Interest
Divine Your Dinner: A Cookbook for Using Tarot as Your Guide to Magickal Meals by Courtney McBroom and Melinda Lee Holm
78 recipes that correspond to each card in a traditional tarot deck, Divine Your Dinner invites you to draw a card (“at random or with intent”) and head to the kitchen. Recipes include The Moon's Pumpkin Corn Bread, The Emperess’s A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rosé Punch, and many more. Clarkson Potter: October 5.
Friends: The Official Central Perk Cookbook by Kara Mickelson
It’s Friends! You know, Friends? No one told them life was gonna be this way (👏👏👏👏)? Those Friends. This book purports to offer recipes from the show’s coffee shop hangout Central Perk, including “iconic treats from the show and café” and presumably recipes for lattes that fill gigantic mugs. (As an aside, I have been toying recently with the idea of fictional cookbooks—cookbooks covering fictional restaurants and/or cuisines—and this is technically that, which is neat. See also the Tremé cookbook.) Insight: October 5.
Star Wars: The Life Day Cookbook: Official Holiday Recipes From a Galaxy Far, Far Away by Jenn Fujikawa, Marc Sumerak
Speaking of fictional cookbooks, in this one “acclaimed chef Strono ‘Cookie’ Tuggs returns to bring you authentic Life Day recipes from the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk.” Cookie the Wookiee! Recipes include “Bantha Surprise, Wroshyr Bramble, Jelly Life Day Orbs, and Mudhorn Eggnog.” Happy Life Day to all who celebrate. Insight: November 2.
The Unofficial Bridgerton Cookbook by Lex Taylor
Promising “five course meals with family, scandal, and romance” (presumably you will have to provide the scandal etc. yourself), this cookbook unofficially offers recipes in the style of Julia Quinn’s novels and the associated Netflix series. Regency-era British fare includes lemonade, gooseberry pie, tea sandwiches, cakes, and more. Adams: November 23.
Also Looking Forward To:
Three Ingredient Cocktails: 60 Drinks Made in Minutesby Kate Calder. Hardie Grant: October 12.
The Martini: Perfection in a Glassby Matt Hranek. Artisan: October 26.
Grind: A Modern Guide to City Living: Coffee, Cocktails, Recipes & Storiesby Teddy Robinson and Grind Coffee.Quadrille: October 26.
The Snowy Cabin Cookbook: Meals and Drinks for Adventurous Days and Cozy Nights by Marnie Hanel and Jen Stevenson. Artisan: November 9.
EGGin': David Rose Cooks on the Big Green Egg by David Rose. Andrews McMeel: November 9.
Nitehawk Cinema Presents: Movie-Inspired Menus from Brooklyn's Dine-In Theaterby Matthew Viragh. Countryman: December 7.
The Regency Book of Drinks: Quaffs, Quips, Tipples, and Tales from Grosvenor Square by Amy Finley. Abrams: December 14.