Food Tank is highlighting 20 cookbooks that showcase diverse culinary voices and feature delicious recipes as well as the stories, traditions, and adaptations that inspire them. Khushbu Shah’s Amrikan, for example, celebrates the Indian American diaspora with innovative recipes that blend classic dishes with modern flair. Chinese Enough by Kristina Cho merges Cantonese traditions with California influences, highlighting her experiences as a first-generation American with dishes that defy simple categorization. And The Bean Book is a guide to cooking and preparing 50 different types of beans from Rancho Gordo’s kitchen. From the history of regional cuisines to the deep-rooted traditions of family recipes, these cookbooks celebrate the art of cooking and the connections it creates.
1. AfriCali: Recipes from My Jikoni by Kiano Moju
Inspired by author Kiano Moju’s heritage and upbringing, AfriCali celebrates Nigerian, Kenyan, and Californian cuisines. Moju’s debut book includes accessible and flavorful dishes like peri peri butter, coconut mandazi, and Swahili chicken biryani, as well as photos from the author’s travels in Africa.
2. Agak Agak: Everyday Recipes from Singapore by Shu Han Lee
Author Shu Han Lee invites readers to rely on their senses and experience, rather than tools or formulas, with recipes that bring Singaporean flavors to home cooking. Blending traditional flavors with a flexible approach rooted in the art of cooking ‘to taste,’ Agak Agak includes classic and modern recipes such as kaya toast with half-boiled eggs and chilli crab spaghetti.
3. Amrikan: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora by Khushbu Shah
Amrikan honors the creativity and adaptation of the Indian diaspora with 125 recipes including saag paneer lasagna and pani puri mojitos. In her debut cookbook, author Khushbu Shah offers clever tips and tricks and essays chronicling the evolution of Indian cuisine in the United States.
4. Bayou: Feasting Through the Seasons of a Cajun Life by Melissa M. Martin
Chef and author Melissa Martin takes readers on a culinary journey through a year in South Louisiana, featuring 100 recipes that honor life’s big and small occasions. Bayou captures the unique spirit of South Louisiana celebrations, from summer seafood boils to holiday classics.
5. Chinese Enough: Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries, and More by Kristina Cho
In Chinese Enough, award-winning author Kristina Cho blends Cantonese traditions with California ingredients to create 100 recipes that embody her experience as a first-generation American. Alongside dishes that are neither entirely Chinese nor entirely American, like smashed ranch cucumber and creamy tomato udon, Cho shares personal stories and culinary insights.
6. Cured: Cooking with Ferments, Pickles, Preserves & More by Steve McHugh with Paula Forbes
Steve McHugh’s Cured is a comprehensive guide to enhancing meals with pickles, jams, preserves, and sauces, featuring more than 150 recipes for both quick dinners and elaborate gatherings. Inspired by the idea of prolonging moments of joy in everyday life, McHugh teaches readers how to source ingredients at their peak and cure them to enjoy later.
7. Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen by Marie Mitchell
Kin is an exploration of Caribbean cuisine, the vibrant food cultures of the diaspora, and author Marie Mitchell’s Jamaican heritage. Mitchell’s debut book features 80 recipes, from crispy saltfish fritters to zingy lime and ginger cheesecake, that challenge misconceptions about Caribbean food and explore the connections food can foster.
8. Kismet: Bright, Fresh, Vegetable-Loving Recipes by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson
From the chef-owners behind restaurants Kismet and Kismet Rotisserie, Kismet combines Mediterranean flavors and vegetable-centric California cuisine. Authors Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson offer over 100 recipes like peanut muhammara and malawach that are thoughtfully adapted for home cooks.
9. Koreaworld: A Cookbook by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard
Koreaworld takes readers on a tour of Korean food around the world, including Seoul, Jeju Island, New York City, and Portland. Authors Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard take an insider’s look at Korean food’s global evolution with 75 recipes alongside stories, conversations, and photography.
10. Life’s Sweetest Moments: Simple, Stunning Recipes and Their Heartwarming Stories by Dominique Ansel
Award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel discovered that behind every dessert is not only a recipe but also a story to share. Life’s Sweetest Moments includes over 40 simple dessert recipes like hot chocolate with pink champagne marshmallows and tiramisu paired with stories of Ansel’s loved ones and customers.
11. Mayumu: Filipino American Desserts Remixed by Abi Balingit
Mayumu features 75 dessert recipes blending Filipino treats with Western style baked goods like adobo chocolate chip cookie and match pastillas. Alongside the recipes that are both nostalgic and new, author Abi Balingit includes essays celebrating her heritage and Filipino American experience.
12. My Egypt: Cooking from My Roots by Michael Mina
In My Egypt, chef and author Michael Mina looks back to what originally inspired him to cook: his Egyptian heritage. My Egypt brings readers to Cairo to examine the foundations of Egyptian cooking, and marries Egyptian flavors with global influences in dishes like harissa ratatouille and labne frozen yogurt.
13. Ottolenghi Comfort: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi with Helen Goh
Ottolenghi Comfort reimagines comfort food in over 100 recipes that are both global and personal. Author and chef Yotam Ottelenghi –and co-authors Helen Goh, Verene Lochmuller, and Yara Wigley– incorporate childhood memories and travels around the world to celebrate food, friends, and connection.
14. Our South: Black Food Through My Lens by Ashleigh Shanti
Author Asleigh Shanti helps readers understand how Black influence has defined food cultures in the south with recipes exploring the Backcountry, Lowcountry, Midlands, Lowlands, and Homeland. Our South is a testament Black culinary traditions, revealing the depth and diversity of Southern cooking.
15. The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen by Steve Sando with Julia Newberry
The Bean Book is a guide to 50 bean varieties, educating readers on cooking beans through a variety of methods and transforming them into dips, soups, salad, mains, sides, and desserts. From the founder and owner of the Rancho Gordo bean company, The Bean Book includes 100 recipes alongside tips, historical background, and photographs.
16. The Deerholme Mushroom Cookbook: From Foraging to Feasting, Revised and Updated by Bill Jones
This revised and updated edition of Deerholme is a guide to all things fungi, both wild and cultivated. Author Bill Jones explains how to safely forage, effectively grow, and thoughtfully buy mushrooms, and presents over 120 recipes including semolina mushroom cake and porcini naan.
17. The Heart Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook by Hari Pulapaka and Jenneffer Pulapaka
Authors Jenneffer Pulapaka and Hari Pulapaka combine culinary expertise with medical knowledge in over 100 recipes that are both heart healthy and delicious. Alongside recipes, The Heart Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook offers guidance on stocking your pantry and on habits for a healthier heart.
18. The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes from Around the World by Lisa Kyung Gross and the Women of the League of Kitchens Cooking School, with Rachel Wharton
League of Kitchens is a cooking school, founded by author Lisa Kyung Gross, that empowers immigrant women to share culinary expertise and culture through cooking workshops. The League of Kitchens Cookbook brings these workshops to the reader with recipes from all over the world, accompanied by personal stories, cultural and family traditions, and secret tips and tricks.
19. When Southern Women Cook History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers by America’s Test Kitchen, with a foreword by Toni Tipton-Martin (forthcoming November, 2024)
Covering almost every region and flavor of the American South, When Southern Women Cook celebrates Southern food and the many women who have shaped the cuisine, past and present. When Southern Women Cook offers 300 recipes from over 70 women and showcases the contributions of the cuisine’s diverse heroes.
20. Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon by José Andrés
Chef and author José Andrés shares his creative adaptations of classic dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon in recipes that are accessible to the home cook. Zaytinya, like Andrés’s restaurant of the same name, showcases the region’s food traditions through dishes like crispy fried vegetables and fluffy pita.
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