TOP COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR
Experts share their favourites
We've baked bread, we've canned tomatoes, we've pickled, fermented, slow-cooked, grilled and roasted. We've worked our way through dog-eared cookbooks and cracked open new ones. Food has been a constant source of comfort, entertainment and pleasure during these long pandemic months. Those who never cooked began learning how, and those who loved cooking took on more challenging recipes and new cuisines. And thankfully, there was always takeout.
Although it's been a tough year, we've never spent more time in the kitchen, learning new skills, getting excited (or groaning) about what to make for dinner, and actively seeking out recipes. We will never again take going to a restaurant for granted, but hopefully we will also appreciate cooking at home even more, especially when we can finally make our dishes of this past year for friends and loved ones.
With so many wonderful cookbooks out there, it's always nice to do a roundup around the holidays — not only to cap off the year (we can't turn this page fast enough), but to take note of what people are enjoying cooking and reading. This year, who better to ask than the chefs and culinary industry people of Montreal? So, straight from the experts to you, their favourite cookbooks, along with recipes they're making right now.
JONATHAN CHEUNG
Chef and owner, Appetite for Books (celebrating 15 years)
Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews, by Evan Bloom and Rachel Levin (Chronicle Books)
“This is one of the most fun reads of the year. With chapters titled Bris: On Pastrami and Penises; Hanukkah: Christmas Inferiority Feelings, With Latkes; and Christmas Dinner: Can We Get a Lazy Susan-topped Table for Twelve, Please?, how can you not want to read this? The recipes are really great as well — in particular, Manny's Morning After Matzoquiles in the J Dating: Oh, the Pressure chapter. I also had a lot of luck with the Wise Sons' Brisket. I've had some good Jewish boys tell me in confidence it is better than their mothers'.”
The Flavour Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained + More Than 100 Essential Recipes, by Nik Sharma (Chronicle Books)
“This cookbook gives really great insight on why food is good, breaking it down into a simple equation: emotion, sight, sound, mouth feel, aroma and taste equals flavour. Nik Sharma is really terrific in incorporating flavour — and when I say that, I mean adding spices, which most westerners are afraid of using — so his recipes always have that extra kick that others lack. I'm a big fan of the Chicken Hakka Noodles (Indo-chinese), which incorporate Chinese and Indian spices to make it a unique, unexpected flavour bomb. But at the same time, it's easy enough to whip up on a Tuesday night after work.”
Falastin: A Cookbook, by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley (Appetite by Random House Canada)
“I'm a huge fan of cookbooks featuring under-represented cuisines. We're lucky these days that people are writing beautiful books about authentic Romanian, Russian and Baltic foods. As we move on from the flood of generic `Persian' cookbooks, authors are now beginning to localize their subjects. There is no one better than Sami Tamimi to write about food from Palestine. I'm a huge fan of his colourful, vegetable-forward style — especially the really simple Na'ama's Buttermilk Fattoush, a terrific take on the traditional staple dish. The incorporation of the non-traditional buttermilk gives it a creamy tartness that rounds out the dish.”
MEREDITH ERICKSON
Cookbook author (Alpine Cooking, the Joe Beef cookbooks and many others)
Olive + Gourmando: The Cookbook, by Dyan Solomon (KO Éditions Inc.)
“While technically 2019, the Olive + Gourmando book is my favourite of the past 12 months. My go-to recipe is the brownies (with Valrhona chocolate and a hit of espresso) — I like to have one in the morning with my favourite Detour Dark espresso, a roaster from Hamilton, and I buy the beans at Caffè in Gamba on Parc Ave.”
Baking at the 20th Century Cafe: Iconic European Desserts From Linzer Torte to Honey Cake, by Michelle Polzine (Artisan Books)
“Polzine is a famed San Francisco baker. It's the anti-bon Appétit Magazine book, and I love that about it. It's aspirational, elegant, delicious and not easy. When did easy become a virtue? Focused on central European baking, this book is all about Linzer tortes, strudels, tall Russian honey cakes and streuselkuchens (Viennese coffee cakes) — yes, close to my Alpine heart. To my trained eye, it's full of recipes that actually work.”
JUANLOPEZLUNA
Chef and owner, Alma and Tinc Set
Etxebarri, by Juan Pablo Cardenal and Jon Sarabia (Grub Street)
“This is a true `cookbook,' in the sense that it's not so much about recipes and the result, but about the journey. It's a story of the person behind the restaurant, his connection with the ingredients and his unwavering vision. It shows you the power of humility, hard work and focus in the kitchen — a chef who still works on the line every day, no matter his fame or his success. It's about simple food, working with the freshest of products, working with fire and, most importantly, with full conviction.”
MICHELLEMAREK
Chef, recipe developer and editor Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors, by Sonoko Sakai (Roost Books)
“This is hands-down the book I have used the most in the past year. It hits the right tone of home cooking without shying away from more technical projects for those looking for a challenge. Every single thing I have made from this book has turned out perfectly. When I suddenly had reams of time, but no ability to focus, I threw myself into hand-making soba noodles. Her method and recipe are spot-on — all you need is practise to get the thickness and cutting right. (Check out her soba noodle-making webinars.)
Bonus: the book features a recipe for rustic buckwheat dumplings (sobagaki), which are much easier to make than soba noodles and give you the same great taste when you use fresh sobakoh flour.”
CHANTHYYEN
Chef, Parliament Pub and Parlour, Touk
Maenam: A Fresh Approach to Thai Cooking, by Angus An (Appetite by Random House Canada)
“Chef An takes us on an incredible journey that harmonizes Thai cuisine with west coast ingredients, like the bright and fragrant scallop ceviche, a recipe that also pays homage to one of his mentors, Toqué! chef Normand Laprise. Another highlight is the sea urchin sundae. This is such a delicious, daring recipe — a challenge for the domestic cook as well as the professionals.”
JANICETIEFENBACH Chef, Elena Chinese Protest Recipes, by Clarence Kwan (e-book, downloadable for free at 032c.com/clarence-kwan)
“I discovered this on a friends' recommendation. It's a bit unconventional as a cookbook, as there are often very few details or precise measurements. It's more about conveying the essence of a dish, as opposed to being particular. The author (@thegodofcookery on Instagram) has drawn on Chinatown restaurant classics and family recipes that are close to his heart, and presented them as a form of protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. It's unpolished, raw and real.”
Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking — A Cookbook, by Toni Tipton-martin (Penguin Random House)
“Toni Tipton-martin's background as a culinary journalist, activist and historian means this book is very well researched and interesting. I really enjoy her approach, and the recipes all look insanely delicious. I'm looking forward to reading it cover to cover and making some seriously good staff meals for my crew at Elena.”
MICHELEFORGIONE
Chef and co-owner, Impasto, Gema, Chez Tousignant, Vesta and Joon Chez Lesley, by Lesley Chesterman
(Éditions Cardinal)
“I'm obsessed with cookbooks. I was also a pastry chef (people don't know that) and Lesley Chesterman was my teacher in cooking school. The recipes in her cookbook evoke so many memories — it's all very personal for me. I've been reading it a few times a week. Lesley is a really talented cook — she's very intuitive and precise — so this is a really good cookbook. I bought it the minute it came out and I can't put it down. Full disclosure: the pizza dough recipe is mine.”
MÉLANIE ROY Editor, KO Éditions
Ottolenghi Flavor, by Yotam Ottolenghi (Appetite by Random House Canada)
“As our publishing house has the rights to translate all of Anglo-israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks for the Quebec market, I had the chance to work on his latest. I was able to access it months before the official release, and cook — in secret — the recipes before anyone else. (The advantages of being an editor!) Each new book by Ottolenghi is a feast, where fans discover what makes his cuisine so addictive, including the impeccable marriage of flavours that makes each dish an aromatic bomb — the working title actually was The Ottolenghi F-bomb.
“By dedicating a third book to vegetarian cuisine, one might wonder what he still has to say about vegetables. The answer is: a lot. He made me see possibilities and combinations that I had never even thought of. A simple whole celeriac cooked like a roast? Combining Gruyère cheese and kimchi in rice fritters? And who would have thought that by cooking onion with butter and miso (three ingredients!), we would get a side dish that still makes me dreamy months later?”
SHAUNHUGHES
Chef and owner, Furley (in Hudson) Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth
Looking for the Secret of French Cooking, by Bill Buford (Penguin Random House)
“Although this is not a traditional cookbook, it is a great story about a young cook's journey through the kitchens of Lyon, France. It's just one of those reads that takes me back to the early days of cooking in kitchens. All the small details, the language, the personal interactions, the food they cook. Not as hardcore as Kitchen Confidential, but a great insight into professional kitchens in Europe.”
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Little, Brown and Company)
“This is a perfect handbook for inspired home cooks or the young professionals wanting to learn more about raw ingredients. It takes you through an endless list of produce, spices, meats and vegetables, then breaks down the flavour profiles, growing season and pairings to match with other ingredients.
It's a book that helps you understand recipes better and helps you build your own ones. A must in any arsenal of food books.”
DEREKDAMMANN
Chef and owner, Maison Publique; co-owner, Mckiernan
Tu Casa Mi Casa: Mexican Recipes for the Home Cook, by Enrique Olvera with Luis Arellano, Gonzalo Goût and Daniela Soto-innes (Phaidon)
“This is a collection of Mexican dishes that encourages readers everywhere to incorporate traditional and contemporary Mexican tastes and ingredients into their recipe repertoire, no matter how far they live from Mexico. This book hasn't been put on the shelf since I bought it.”
Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland and Labrador, by Jeremy Charles with Adam Leith Gollner (Phaidon)
“Jeremy Charles and Newfoundland — what more do I need to say?”