These Are My Cookbooks

Take a look at my ever growing collection

I honestly can’t stop buying cookbooks. I told myself I would press pause on purchases, but then local cookbook shop Now Serving rang in its sixth anniversary by having a store-wide 20% off sale. Surely I wasn’t expected to stay home and let this event pass by? I need to support small businesses. Brick and mortar must be saved! This was not only my duty, but my downright heroic calling.

And so I went. I came home with four more cookbooks, which I stacked onto the sofa to read that afternoon. Specifically, I stacked the four cookbooks next to the other four cookbooks I had previously pulled to read, which were not to be confused with the two cookbooks I had stacked on my nightstand. Looking at the growing pile of books scattered around the home, it was clear to me that I didn’t just need to tidy up, I needed to rethink my entire cookbook organization process.

Well, don’t give me a reason to waste an hour with my toys. I pulled all the cookbooks from the shelves and dove into the revamp. For a brief moment I contemplated a rainbow organization — you know, where you arrange all your books by color. But that feels gimmicky, and I’m not sure I want to memorize the hue of every cookbook’s spine.

I decided I would just clump the books together based on cuisine, vibe, and/or theme. Easier said than done — some books fall into multiple categories, and no grouping can be too big, thanks to the cubbyhole restraints of my Ikea Kallax bookcase. This felt like making a seat chart for a wedding, but all the guests were cookbooks.

The first cubby (the upper shelf, above) naturally had to be reserved for Ina Garten and friends. I placed all my Barefoot Contessa books here, as well as Summer on a Plate, which hails from Ina’s friend, the late Anna Pump. Since the theme is friends, I also snuck in two books from my pals Amy Phillips and Adam Roberts (go support them and please note the quality pun of Adam’s book title: Give My Swiss Chards To Broadway). There’s a random Tyler Florence cookbook to the side, which I snuck in there just to rep mid-Aughts Food Network content — back when the network actually emphasized cooking shows (a cliché observation but true nonetheless). Fun fact: I bought that Tyler Florence book (Eat This Book) years ago at a used bookstore and still have yet to cook from it, but every time I think of selling it, I convince myself that it’s worth keeping. Maybe this weekend I’ll actually move the needle on this. (I won’t).

The next cubby down has general cookery titles. Books like The Food Lab and The New Basics Cookbook are excellent resources for truly anything you’d want to make. And of course Salt Fat Acid Heat is iconic for its world view on cooking (as noted in its title). I enjoy the Milk Street books greatly, and if I’d have to pick one, I’m going with Tuesday Nights. Everyday Dorie is a bit of a stretch for this section, but every wedding reception has one rando who gets stuck at a table of friends. Sorry, Dorie. Oh, and note the two deep cut Julia Child books. My mom told me she used those books to learn to cook; so she bought me some copies when she saw this was turning into a thing with me. She also gave me The New Basics when I moved to LA and moved into my first ever apartment. Thanks Mom.

Next we have the true NBD section (top cubby, above). These cookbooks are all about easy, delicious, herby meals. Many of the authors are grads from Bon Appétit or are contributors to the New York Times (or both). As much as I love my queen Ina, this is the cubby that I’m pulling from the most. Meal planning starts here and then fans outwards… if at all. Whether it’s a weeknight meal or weekend feast, I almost always consult these titles first. These are the books most closely aligned with how I like to approach cooking in 2023. The newest addition to this section is Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon. It’s wonderful, and quickly rising up the ranks in my collection.

Moving downwards to the next cubby, we have this strange compilation. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge. The best way I can describe it is restaurant-driven meets single topic (braising, pressure cooking, chicken) meets random. The Bäco cookbook, based off a now defunct and wonderful restaurant in DTLA, is great, if occasionally fussy and horrifically laid out. I also really enjoy Plenty by Diana Henry, which is all about upcycling leftovers… although, I’ve never really leaned into its gimmick. But the item I call upon the most is that maroon binder to the left, which houses nearly every single internet recipe I’ve ever printed out since 2005. And given how many sites have vanished from the Web, it’s also my only record of some of these recipes. I’m thinking I should give a tour of the binder on a separate newsletter.

Next we have what I call the Ottolenghi Cinematic Universe (top). We start with Yottam Ottolenghi’s seminal (and still best) cookbook, Jerusalem, followed by Simple and Ottolengthi. Then we get the veggie trio: Plenty, Plenty More, and Flavor. This is a real trilogy, and I’m still bothered that the third entry doesn’t have “Plenty” in its title. We segue into Ottolenghi-linked authors. First Jerusalem co-author Sami Tamimi, whose book Falestin is wonderful. Then we have two Ottolenghi Test Kitchen (OTK) tomes, which I didn’t want to buy because I already had so much Ottolenghi, but honestly they’re great and worth it. And finally Mezcla, by OTK alum Ixta Belfrage. This is a cubby hole of lengthy recipes that reward home cooks with bold flavors.

Heading south we have my European cubby. On the left are my Italian books, including new acquisition Let’s Eat by Dan “Grossy” Pelosi and one of my faves, Back Pocket Pasta by Colu Henry. Both books could do double duty in my NBD cubby. There’s also a silly 4 Step Pasta Recipes book, which I really should ditch, but it was the first one I bought when I began cooking for myself, and it got me through 2005-2008 (or, more specifically, the prime stretch of The Hills). The right side of the shelf sprawls out to Greece, Ireland, and Croatia. The Croatia cookbook is a bit of a disaster - a compilation of restaurants from the country with little editorial oversight or copyediting. But it stays for now because I bought it in Dubrovnik, and it reminds me of a nice family trip.

Up top is my Jewish / Middle Eastern / Central Asia section. Technically, Budmo! is Ukranian, but the recipes feel more aligned with this group than my European cubby. Kachka and Samarkand are perfection, but what I’m most excited for is Adeena Sussman’s Shabbat, which I picked up at the Now Serving sale. I almost left the store without even looking at the book (did I really need more Jewish recipes?), but at the last second I flipped through it, and wow, what a mistake I almost made. I am champing at the bit to try out these recipes; so I guess the answer is yes, I did need more Jewish recipes. And the best part - since it’s a Shabbat-focused book, all the dishes serve a crowd. I can see this turning into a potluck hero.

The lower cubby from this section is my Latin American / South Asian section. Strange bedfellows to some, but both regions share a surprisingly large overlap in key ingredients, courtesy of traders and colonizers. I guess more broadly, this is my tomato-cilantro-onion-chiles section. Treasures of the Mexican Table rocks, Indian Cooking is a collection essential, and Made in India is a fave. I’m particularly excited to explore the Sri Lankan cookbook Rambutan, which I bought nearly a year ago and haven’t touched, despite all the recipes being deeply mouthwatering to me.

First, we have graduated from the Ikea bookcase to a random unit. Second, I want to start at the lower cubby hole. We start in New Orleans, head into the American South, and then broaden into the African diaspora. But also, I placed Season here, which is probably best matched for the South Asian section. I also have three very tall cookbooks from The Beautiful Cookbook series, a ‘90s era collection that contains a huge amount of very fascinating recipes. Someone should reboot the series.

Up above we have some celebrity authors, bloggers, and, strangely, Mark Bittman. He doesn’t belong there! I messed up. But this is also a shelf for small books, mainly because they can fit vertically. I don’t love Half Baked Harvest but am open to giving it another try. I lost respect for the book when it called for half a teaspoon of salt to season an entire roast chicken. Shameful. The two Chrissy Teigen books are fine. The real star of this shelf though is Tin to Table, which focuses on tinned fish. Loving this little book. (Also loving The Magic of Tinned Fish, which is hiding just off camera behind Sam Sifton’s intriguing No-Recipe Recipes cookbook from the New York Times).

Lastly, we have arrived at the West Elm shelving unit. Top shelf is my baking collection (plus a few random non-cookbooks). These books bring me extreme joy, even the ones I’ve barely even touched — like the recently purchased but not used What’s For Dessert by Claire Saffitz. I’m also intrigued by the Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Book. It will be hard to top David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop — an all time favorite of mine — but this isn’t a competition. There’s room in my life for multiple excellent ice cream books. Meanwhile, uh hello, Snacking Cakes is legendary in this household, but for more ambitious projects, Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking is absolutely phenomenal, even if each recipe threatens to usurp Southern California’s entire supply of butter and sugar.

One shelf down is my Southeast Asian / Chinese / Korean section. Cook Real Hawaii is admittedly Hawaiian, but its Asian influences are deeply woven through its pages, as is befitting the cuisine and culture. At the moment, I am most eager to explore more of The Woks of Life and Coconut & Sambal, plus I still haven’t even cooked from I Am Filipino or Under Coconut Skies. This to-do list is getting out of control. Note to self: host a dinner party very soon… or at least take up permanent residence in my kitchen until I’ve attended to some of these books.

So there you have it: my cookbook collection (plus or minus a few titles that I forgot to excavate from my bedroom). I’m not sure if this book organization will keep. As I take in new titles, certain thematic clusters will spill over into other cubbies, and chaos will inevitably descend on the shelves. But for now this works.

How do you organize your books? And which of these cookbooks would you like me to deep dive?