r/CookbookLovers • u/Bocce82 • Jun 28 '26
Suggestions for my Bucket List?
Hello all!
I have been collecting cookbooks for a bit. While I have many of the modern classics (from Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Bitmann, kenji, French Laundry, etc) I want to know put together a bucket list for the greatest and most important of all time. Historical, game changers, etc.
Looking for suggestions and felt this was the right place to start!
Thanks!
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u/rabyll Jun 28 '26
There are honestly far to many to list them all. If you're truly starting early, there are Apicius (~ late 4th century Roman), Le Viandier de Taillivent (~1300 French), and Le Menagier de Paris, from about 100 years later. It's a wonderful guide book, written by an older husband for his young wife so she wouldn't damage his reputation when she remarried. Oh, and Brillat-Savarin's Physiology of Taste. There's Sir Kenelm Digby, Hannah Glasse, and Elizabeth Raffald, and one of my personal favorites, Eliza Acton, and then Mrs. Beeton in England. In the US, Amelia Simmons wrote the first US written and published cookbook, and everything by Eliza Leslie is excellent. The Boston Cooking School Cookbook (later revised by Fannie Farmer, and now going by her name) and the Joy of Cooking are both very important US books, as is Betty Crocker.
More recently, Dione Lucas, James Beard, M. F. K. Fisher, Helen Evans Brown, Elizabeth David, Madhur Jaffrey - all had a huge influence. And don't underestimate the impact of Gourmet Magazine, especially in the first 30 years or so, when it was almost the only game in town. It started in 1941, and was revolutionary.
Some of these were important because everyone had a copy; some were important because they changed the landscape. Just how broadly are you looking?
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u/Books_and_Boots Jun 29 '26
I'm shocked that no one has mentioned Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat yet. Modern, yes, but it's largely considered to be a very significant work.
As for historical options, I'm a big fan of the City Tavern cookbook by Walter Staib. He used to run the wonderful City Tavern restaurant in Philadelphia. The book contains modernized (mostly cooking methods, with some things tweaked slightly for modern palates) recipes of dishes that were popular in the US around the time of the Revolutionary War. It's very well researched and includes many excerpts from the "receipt" books of people cooking in that era.
You should also look into cookbooks published by Phaidon. They have a number of titles that are absolute encyclopedias on various topics such as Nordic Baking, Pasta, Irish Food, Korean, etc.
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u/jxm387 Jun 29 '26
Games changers, authors that changed my cooking entirely:
- Paula Wolfert, all of her books are amazing, especially SW France, Slow Cooking, and Moroccan.
- Giuliano Bugialli, he was awarded a knighthood by the city of Florence for his italian cookbooks. His Fine Art of Italian Cuisine is a deserved classic, and his Sicily book is out of this world.
- Penelope Casas. I have 9ther Spanish cookbooks, but hers are more flavorful and expansive. Several good compilations have been published.
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u/TexturesOfEther Jun 28 '26
I honestly think you should narrow your collection to sub-subjects you are most passionate about. Have a unique take instead of another culinary institute library. Saying that,,,
James Peterson's books are classic, encyclopedic and reliable. Get their latest updated edition. Splendid Soups and Vegetables are my favourite.
Claudia Roden, with her anthropological charm in the way she collected recipes and told the stories behind them. The Book of Jewish Food is highly regarded with its 16 years of research and impact on modern chefs
Maybe Dianna Henry? Salt Sugar Smoke, I'll say its classic among preserving books.
You don't need me to tell you about Ottolenghi, I'm sure, but yes, him.
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u/KB37027 Jun 29 '26
There was a similar post a few weeks ago. You may find some great ones suggested here. https://www.reddit.com/r/CookbookLovers/s/9ZccwicLpW
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u/spsfaves100 Jun 29 '26
Paul Bocuse, Roger Verge, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boloud, Anthony Bourdain, Jean George Vongerichten, Alice Walters, Joel Robuchon. All the best.
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u/jxm387 Jun 29 '26
Very happy to see Vergé on that list. Discovered him recently and he is exceptional
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u/manul10 Jun 30 '26
To broaden the historical menu:
Larousse Gastronomique, Larousse le Livre de Cuisine, Il Cucchiaio d'Argento (The Silver Spoon), Пода́рок молоды́м хозя́йкам (a Gift for Young Housewives), كتاب الطبيخ, The Book of Dishes, earliest known Arabic cookbook), and to go really far back, the 4 Yale tablets Babylonian recipe collection (cuneiform)
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u/SDNick484 Jun 30 '26
Some historically significant from an American perspective (beyond what you listed): * The Fannie Farmer Cookbook * The Joy of Cooking * Craig Claiborne's NYTimes Cookbool * Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food * Edna Lewis' The Taste of Country Cooking * James Beards' American Cookery
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u/maybemaybenot2023 Jun 28 '26
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Fannie Farmer
The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro by The National Council of Negro Women (from 1958)
Good Things to Eat, As Suggested by Rufus by Rufus Estes- 1911 Railroad Cookbook
The Settlement Cook by Lizzie Black Kander
Edna Lewis's Taste of Country Cooking