"My Most Battered, Besmirched, And Beloved Cookbook Of All Time:" People Are Sharing Their Most Reliable Cookbooks, And It's So Helpful
If you're anything like me, you love a good cookbook: familiar glossy pages and grocery lists with stories from my favorite chefs' kitchens. But, when looking to buy a new book, how do we sort out the most effective, full-proof recipe collections from the myriad of colorful cookbooks on the shelf? Look no further than a clever Reddit user, u/ExtraMayo666, to ask the question: "What cookbook do you use over and over again?"
People's answers ranged from perfectly practical to nostalgic and heartwarming. I've collected some of my most favorite responses below:
1."I have my mother's Betty Crocker all tattered from use. When she was in a nursing home with dementia, I'd talk cooking. One day, I asked 'mom, the sweet potato casserole dish, do you remember how you made it?' She took a minute as her mind started working and said, 'oh, for goodness sake, it's on page 189, Betty Crocker Cookbook!'"
"And it was. I had finally found how to talk to her about something that would bring her back at times. Great conversations about cooking always made her smile. I open it often and see her notes, her grease spots. Much love."
2."My Ina Garten cookbooks get SO. MUCH. LOVE."
Food Network / Via youtu.be, Clarkson Potter Publishers / Via bookshop.org
3."One Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones — some pages are almost illegible with annotations and splatters. There’s chapters containing dozens of short recipes featuring an often wasted ingredient and her recipes are fantastic in general. Just perfect for flipping through when you’re stuck for ideas."
4."The ATK cookbook should be everyone’s kitchen bible."
Hundreds of users agreed, with u/muscs saying, "Yes, that’s my most battered, besmirched, and beloved cookbook of all time."
5."I have a 1988 book by the McIlhenny (Tabasco) Company called Louisiana Cookin'... I learned all of my gumbo, jambalaya, and other Cajun/creole recipes from that book. There are smudges all over it, the cover was ripped off, but I still cherished and referred to it even though I know those recipes by heart from cooking them for 30 years."
"Fast forward to 2022 when my now grown daughter took a book-binding class in college and bound this book in hardback binding with her hand drawn illustration on the front. So, yeah, I cherish this even more than I can say now."
6."My edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (you know it, it has the red–and–white–check cover) is my daily driver. It was a wedding gift 30+ years ago, and has been annotated with notes, additional recipes, the obligatory 45 min /// 37 is perfect annotations, etc."
"Tatters? Yep. Splatters? Oh yeah. Pages falling out? I gotcha. Handwritten notes? You bet."
7."I was gifted the Best of Bridge cookbook for my wedding, and the aunts all got together and annotated it with their notes for me. :-) Best gift ever."
8."Salt Fat Acid Heat has a handful of core recipes that I come back to a lot. My grandma begs me to make the pumpkin pie recipe."
Netflix, Simon & Schuster / Via bookshop.org
9."Bouchon by Thomas Keller. It's more that I use what I learned from that book almost every day as opposed to making things out of it directly."
10."I use Meera Sodha's Fresh India very heavily — her recipe for Gujarati Cabbage and Potato curry can be found online if you need convincing- it’s honestly the perfect weeknight comfort dinner in cold weather."
11."My momma’s copy of Calling All Cooks. She passed in 1990 and in '92 we had a house fire. The cover is gone, it's stained up, with notes added. I was 12 when she passed and this book taught me how to cook. It’s on my counter right now because I made fudge today."
12."I’m a baker so my copy of Tartine Book No. 3 is held together by a little bit of tape."
13."100% Nigel Slater’s Real Fast Food — falling apart, spattered mess. Because it’s what everyone needs to know about cooking without fuss, but with flavor."
14."The Flavor Bible is invaluable to me. Also, when I’m inspired to try something new, especially with ingredients I’m not familiar with, I like to consult The Flavor Bible to see which other ingredients are potentially a good match. Highly recommend it to those who love to cook and tinker with recipes."
15."How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman has been my go-to for years, I bought copies for all four of my children when they moved out."
16."Joy of Cooking. It was a wedding shower present to me in January 1981. I don’t have the same husband and have gained cookbooks then downsized almost all cookbooks. What still holds it’s place is Joy of Cooking. I have read it cover to cover a couple of times."
17."Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni and World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey. Both great, well-tested, everything works out for me, and I love the range of flavors in both."
18."The Tucci Cookbook. I bought it because some friends and I decided to have a themed movie night and recreate the timpano from Big Night. Didn’t expect much from a cookbook written by an actor (sorry, Stanley, I misjudged you!). Now I use it all the time, and it contains my go-to recipe for basil pesto."
Gallery Books / Via bookshop.org, Waterstones / Via youtu.be
I was pleased to see some of these cookbooks already on my shelf and some are absolutely on my wish-list now. But I want to know, what amazing cookbooks did this list miss? Let us know in the comments below! Or submit an anonymous cookbook recommendation with this form! Your response could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post.
