A matter of taste
Cookbooks need to fit recipient’s preferences
Are you thinking of buying a cookbook for a holiday gift? I have some ideas about how to make a good choice for the recipient.
First, think about whether they use cookbooks. Some people who enjoy cooking rely strictly on online sources when they are looking for recipes. Investing in a cookbook for someone like that might not be the best use of your gift money. Some websites about food, cooking and recipes charge a membership fee, and purchasing a gift membership might be more appropriate.
If they do use cookbooks, think about their individual needs and style in the kitchen.
What about dietary needs? Do they cook for someone who has a condition with nutritional implications, such as Type 2 diabetes or celiac disease? Are they lactose intolerant? Do they have to stick to a low fodmap plan? There are specialized cookbooks designed for people in such situations.
Some people adopt dietary patterns that will influence your choice of cookbook. Does the recipient follow a vegetarian or vegan diet or low carbohydrate or high protein? Do they adhere to religious requirements, for example Jewish dietary laws? There are books that cater to or are at least suitable for people on these regimens.
Some people love local books prepared by community groups in which they can find recipes for foods they’ve tasted and enjoyed (e.g. Linda’s gingerbread cookies or Joan’s pistachio dessert) or favourites of people known by their neighbours to be good cooks. They’d rather have these than books featuring a lot of dishes and ingredients that they are unfamiliar with. There are a host of these community collections for sale by church groups, curling clubs, WI branches and other organizations in need of fundraising revenue.
At the other end of the spectrum are folks who enjoy big, lush cultural cookbooks, as full of stories and travel pictures as they are of recipes. They help us to picture what and how people eat in places we may never visit. For those who don’t even cook much, but love to read about food and culture, this type of book could be a winner.
Certain cookbooks target a specific type of cooking, such as baking, fermenting or preserving. These are great for people who enjoy diving in and learning a lot about a single subject.
A similar category is books that focus on pressure cookers, slow cookers, air fryers or other small appliances. These fit in particularly well if the recipient will also find the appliance in question under the Christmas tree.
On the other hand, someone with lots of interest but little experience in cooking might appreciate receiving a good general cookbook, with numerous illustrations and detailed instructions for basic techniques.
Consider also their age and stage in life. Are you choosing a book for a student with a single frying pan and saucepan, a young parent trying to raise healthy children or maybe someone living alone who needs small scale recipes or a socialite who entertains often and loves to serve exotic cocktails? All of these situations have a bearing on the type of cookbook you might choose.
Budget plays a role when people are deciding what to cook, and a book written to help the reader make the most of the food budget can be a useful choice.
There are certain qualities to consider no matter the type of cookbook. Most of them have some bearing on how userfriendly the book is, though their relative importance depends on the person using the book.
Does the book lie flat when opened? You don’t want a book that snaps shut as soon as you let go of it. Similarly, you don’t want a binding that allows the pages to easily split away from the spine.
Is the font clear and large enough? Is information crowded on the page? Some books refer to weights of baking ingredients instead of the more usual volumes. Does the recipient use a kitchen scale?
A well-chosen cookbook is a gift that will remain useful for years after it’s received.