Possibly my very favorite cookbook. The recipes are simple but evocative, with travel essays and photographs to help you envision the land and the culture the food comes from. And the breads and side dishes are great, too.
The best intelligent, thoughtful, down to earth food writing out there.
In search of both the perfect barbecue and the perfect weight loss drug.
I thought nothing could replace the Joy of Cooking as my basic "what do I do with this?" reference. This has.
Our go-to meat book. I don't always follow the flavoring suggestions, but the cooking techniques and butcher counter advice are excellent.
Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen: Fifty Recipes Introducing Indian Spices and Aromatic Seeds by Madhur Jaffrey
Despite its tiny size, the most useful Indian cookbook in my library.
Shameless gluttony, stupendous drinking, long walks with the dog to work it off. Nobody's quite like Jim Harrison, except perhaps Mario Batali.
Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food by Evan Goldstein
This book smells funny. It makes me never want to use it.
The very best ice cream book ever. Make the strawberry-sour cream ice cream, you won't be sorry.
The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
One of my first cookbooks. I spent my junior year of college working my way through the pasta section.
If you like Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, you must read this.
What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water by Andrew Dornenburg
The best food-and-drink pairing book yet. Very straightforward and helpful.
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant by Judy Rodgers
The Zuni roast chicken has become a household staple. Also like the fava bean salad with manchego and the beet salad with walnut oil. Yum.
My parents have had this book since I was very small, and I grew up with the German Apple Pancake and the Curried Eggs. I had to get my own copy. If you want rich and cheesy, this is your book!
Puts a whole new slant on Chinese cooking. I'm sorry I never made it to the restaurant before Barbara Tropp died. She was a great writer and cook.
I can't help myself, I love Nigella. I really like the way this book is organized, with menus for different sorts of seasonal lunches and kitchen dinners, and her casual, friendly writing style.
I've driven by Thomas Hobbs' house in Vancouver, B.C. - it's fantastic, of course. Love the vivid photography in his books.
Not just the man who ate everything, but the man who tried to bake a pizza in an oven on the self-clean cycle.
Light, humorous, self-deprecating essays on food and cooking.
Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking by Anthony Bourdain
Traditional French bistro recipes with a good dose of smart-aleck commentary and obscenities. I love it.