For more than a decade, we've checked in with Celia Sack of Omnivore Books in San Francisco to get her recommendations for the best cookbooks of the year. They make great gifts for the food fanatics on your holiday list. She is back with her picks for 2024.
Every year, certain authors make their cookbook efforts a family affair. Sack is partial to Does This Taste Funny? by husband and wife team Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert. "There's another one by Dolly Parton that's really fun that came out this year, called Good Lookin' Cookin'. Usually, I'm not so into the ones that are by people who are not cooks or cookbook writers but that one by Stephen Colbert and his wife is really wonderful," she says.
Sack's recommendations include:
General Cooking
Big Night: Dinners, Parties, and Dinner Parties by Katherine Lewin
Justine Cooks by Justine Doiron
What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers and Eva Kolenko
Sift is filled with technical baking information imparted in an easy, digestible manner. Photo courtesy of Clarkson Potter.
Baking
Sift by Nicola Lamb
Baking in the American South by Anne Byrn
Sweet Tooth by Sarah Fennel
Breaking Bao by Clarice Lam
Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss
The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Bernbaum
Plant-Based/Vegetarian
Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking by Joe Yonan
Sebze by Özlem Warren
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America details one woman's influence on a budding cookbook industry. Photo courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
Food History
The Editor by Sara B. Franklin
The History and Natural History of Spices: The 5000-Year Search for Flavour by Ian Anderson
Endangered Eating by Sarah Lohman
Beverages
Buzzworthy: Cocktails Inspired by Female Literary Greats by Jennifer Croll
The Connaught Bar: Cocktail Recipes and Iconic Creations by Agostino Perrone, with Giorgio Bargiani and Maura Milia
Big Tequila by Emanuele Mensah
Zao Fan: Breakfast of China is a flavorful journey through the country's diverse morning meals. Photo courtesy of Interlink Books.
International
Zao Fan: Breakfast in China by Michael Zee
Dac Biet by Nini Nguyen and Sarah Zorn
The Memory of Taste by Tu David Phu and Soleil Ho
Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen by Nok Suntaranon and Natalie Jesionka
Plus, Sack hopes that Kristina Cho's Chinese Enough falls open onto more kitchen countertops. In addition, the Good Food team made their own selections for the best cookbooks of 2024.