Essential Cookbooks for the Aspiring Chef - Part 1

There are tens of thousands of cookbooks out there to choose from. For someone who either wants to learn how to cook or just refine and hone your skills in the kitchen, how do you choose the best ones? Just take my advice on essential cookbooks for the aspiring chef and you’ll be on your way to building a top-notch cookbook library in no time.

I’m a self-taught amateur chef. I learned how to cook by spending hundreds of hours in the kitchen dutifully following recipes from cookbooks and cooking magazines and in the process, developing and fine-tuning my culinary skills and instincts. These recipes served as the inspiration for new dishes I began to create on my own.

That process was always a bit messy, and still is sometimes! I have had some epic failures: pans on fire in a smoke-filled kitchen with my wife Laurie and I frantically waving towels under the blaring smoke detectors to make them stop; food over salted to the point where Laurie and I were retaining water for a week; and tragically over-dressed salads with limp greens begging to be rescued from drowning in the bowl. But despite the occasional failure the recipes taught me how to execute the basics of fine cooking, along with tricks and shortcuts for making dishes that looked and tasted great.

Over time I collected a set of cookbooks and discovered that not all cookbooks are created equal – not even close. A subset of this collection became my essential “go to” cookbooks. So, what makes a cookbook essential? For me, an essential cookbook is one where almost all the recipes are ones that you go back to again and again, because they are THAT good! In fact, these cookbooks are ones where you have actually memorized many of the recipes because you have made them so often. Also, an essential cookbook is one where all the recipes are easy to follow, error-free, and always produce consistent and outstanding results. I was surprised by how many cookbooks have recipes with inaccurate cooking times, confusing instructions, missing steps, and ingredients that are almost impossible to find in local markets and grocery stores (a pet peeve of mine – who wants to order food from Amazon?!). And finally, an essential cookbook is one that complements your style and interests as a chef, like baking and international cuisine for example.

My list of essential cookbooks is very different from what a professional chef might recommend and will probably disappoint some of you who were looking for more eclectic and less mainstream recommendations from me. Their lists would likely include classics like Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer, and The Art of Simple Foods by Alice Waters as well as other quirky picks. Those are all great, but they aren’t the ones I used to learn how to cook. So here’s my list, in no particular order:

1. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten. If I was stuck on a desert island with a kitchen and only had one cookbook, this would be it. I’ve used it so much the spine is broken, pages are loose, and there are food stains on almost every page as well – all signs of a well-loved and well-used cookbook! Laurie and I have made all but a few of the recipes in this cookbook, and most are ones that are on our regular rotation. Ina has a knack for creating recipes that are fool proof regardless of your skill level and always delicious. It’s also well-rounded, with a large number of recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, dinner, vegetables, deserts, and breakfast. Recipes for filet of beef bourguignon, perfect roast chicken, and turkey meatloaf are perineal favorites in our house.

2. Grill It! By Bobby Flay. Everyone needs at least one good grilling cookbook, and this one by Bobby Flay is at the top of my list. This cookbook is organized by type of food, starting with asparagus and ending with white fish with different vegetables, seafood, fish, chicken, pork and others included in between. For each food, he includes a recipe on how to grill it perfectly, and then builds on that with a variety of different recipes for each. The recipes are innovative and focused on the use of big, bold flavors and tasty rubs, marinades and sauces with a southwestern flair. Our favorites are the pork and vegetable recipes (asparagus, corn, mushrooms, potatoes, squash) but all of the recipes are great.

3. Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups. Soup and sandwiches are on our regular weekly dinner rotation in the fall and winter months. Every cookbook library needs to have one book focused on soups – this one fits the bill with over 100 recipes for a variety of different soups including broths, cream soups, bisques, chowders, cold soups, and even desert soups. The book is beautifully illustrated and has an international flavor to it with recipes for soups from around the world. The recipes also span the range of simple to more involved soups so it’s a nice mix of options for both beginners and experienced cooks.

4. Fabio’s 30 Minute Italian by Fabio Viviani. This cookbook made the essential cut even though it fails to meet one of my critical “essential” criteria for being error-free. But I am making an exception and including it on the list because the recipes, all Italian dishes, are wholly unique and creative takes on classic Italian favorites and incredibly easy to make. When I first saw this cookbook, I quickly decided I had to have it because every recipe (not kidding here) looked fantastic and the author’s writing style was engaging, informative, and entertaining. As I worked my way through the recipes they didn’t disappoint – each was delicious and worthy of making the cut for entertaining friends and family for dinner. The only problem is that I was rarely able to make any of these recipes in 30 minutes – they all took me considerably longer than that. Perhaps the 30 minutes excludes prep time but if so, it feels a bit like false advertising. Regardless, the book is worth the price, and you will find yourself going back to these recipes time and again.

In my next blog, I’ll share my final six essential cookbooks with you. In the meantime, what are your “go to” cookbooks and which one would you bring to your desert island?