Some of the most exciting cooking you can do is the food of a culture you have never cooked before and these six books are your passport. From a celebrated Oaxacan family's vivid guide to regional Mexican food to a moving collection of recipes from African grandmothers, these are authoritative, culture-bearing cookbooks that treat home cooking with the respect it deserves. They are as rewarding to read as to cook from, full of story, place and genuine flavor.
We describe and compare these books rather than reprinting recipes. Pick a cuisine and start traveling.
Quick picks:
- Best for Mexican: Oaxaca by Bricia Lopez. View on Amazon
- Best for the Middle East: Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi. View on Amazon
- Most moving: In Bibi's Kitchen by Hawa Hassan. View on Amazon
The Americas and Africa
Oaxaca by Bricia Lopez
Bricia Lopez is a restaurateur from a celebrated Oaxacan family. A vivid guide to the food of Oaxaca from an authoritative source, rich, regional Mexican cooking done right.
Best for: Regional Mexican.
→ View on AmazonIn Bibi's Kitchen by Hawa Hassan, Julia Turshen
Hawa Hassan is a chef and a food writer honoring African grandmothers. Recipes and stories from grandmothers across the African continent, a moving, important collection.
Best for: African home cooking.
→ View on AmazonI Am a Filipino by Nicole Ponseca, Miguel Trinidad
Nicole Ponseca is a restaurateur and chef championing Filipino food. A definitive, celebratory guide to Filipino cooking, the book that brought the cuisine into the spotlight.
Best for: Filipino cuisine.
→ View on AmazonAsia and the Middle East
Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Yotam Ottolenghi is two world-famous chefs from opposite sides of the city. A landmark, giftable book celebrating a shared food culture, gorgeous, moving and endlessly cooked-from.
Best for: A landmark gift.
→ View on AmazonMaangchi's Real Korean Cooking by Maangchi
Maangchi is the internet's most beloved Korean cooking authority. The definitive home guide to Korean classics from the teacher who taught the world kimchi.
Best for: Authentic Korean.
→ View on AmazonJapan: The Cookbook by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Nancy Singleton Hachisu is a respected scholar of Japanese home cooking. An encyclopedic, authoritative survey of real Japanese home food, the complete reference for the cuisine.
Best for: The Japanese reference.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked past the marketing to the people behind the books: working chefs, award winners, food scientists, culture-bearers and the recipe developers whose food people actually cook again and again. Where an author is a food writer or blogger rather than a trained chef, that is a feature, not a knock: many of the most reliable, most-loved cookbooks come from obsessive home cooks. We describe and compare these books; we never republish their recipes.
