New discussion for the New Year - 2024. Do you have your eye on any new cookbooks? What’s been added to you shelf (or e-book reader) lately?
I’m curious about the new-ish Maunika Gowardhan book Tandoori, though I think I have had better success from her website recipes than from her cookbook recipes, so I’ll probably wait for it to show up at my library.
I still need to check out Andrea Nguyen’s newest, Ever-Green Vietnamese, love her recipes and past books.
I got Ever-Green as an ebook loan from my library; I skimmed through it, not for me.
Did you like her earlier books?
I was in a small mountain town with a book shop on Jan. 1, so my first cookbook of the year was purchased there. Their selection is small and often odd; usually many things I’ve never heard of. I purchased Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook by Melissa Thompson. It seems to be a thorough book that the author worked hard to properly test, so my hopes are high. I will attempt to actually cook some Jamaican food rather than just dream about it (and sample it infrequently at restaurants). This week I’ll start with her hard dough loaf and pepper sauce recipes.
I’m thinking about buying Bread and Roses, Bake Smart, and Filipinx in the future. Thoughts on any of those?
I looked at the EYB list of recipes at some point and also decided I didn’t need it. There didn’t seem to be many (any?) new-to-me combinations. I do still love Vietnamese Every Day, though – a great book that truly helps you put a great meal together quickly.
@Saregama asked:
Looking back, I missed that Nancy Silverton put out a baking book last year — has anyone looked at it? EYB has a 2024 cookbook preview; https://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2023/09/18/2024-cookbook-preview
I’ve only scanned the recipe titles in The Cookie That Changed My Life, but it’s the current selection for the busy Food52 Baking book club on Facebook, where it’s gotten mixed reviews so far, with reports saying specialty ingredients may or may not have a noticeable presence, and that instructions are often overly fussy, as well as varying opinions on the outcomes.
Looking back, I missed that Nancy Silverton put out a baking book last year — has anyone looked at it?
EYB has a 2024 cookbook preview;
https://www.eatyourbooks.com/blog/2023/09/18/2024-cookbook-preview
Speaking of baking books, Rose Wilde’s Bread and Roses looks amazing, but considering my circumstances and lack of access to ingredients, I really can’t justify getting it. I saw photos of a buckwheat cake with a milk tea soak, yuzu curd, coconut cream, and meringue and I was so tempted to get it, but it’s just not practical.
There’s a 2024 thread for everything that’s not continuing a previous conversation, so I’ll carry my reply over there.
Baking books: My stepmother got me a copy of Gateau as a gift, which she told me about a few weeks before actually handing it to me (because she knew I wanted it, and “I didn’t want you to buy it for yourself”). She’s not a huge baker, but she thoroughly perused it in the meantime and ended up making the visitandines (little almond cakes akin to financiers).
I’m (still) on the library hold list for Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours by Samantha Seneviratne. I don’t know whether it’s something I’ll at all feel I need, but several of the recipes sound intriguing.
I picked up 100 Morning Treats by using my excess of bookstore gift cards. Looking forward to further baking from this book.
I am putting this on hold as soon as the Toronto Public Library has their hold system back online!
The Ottolenghi cookbook factory has a new book coming this fall, Ottolenghi Comfort. As usual, the graphic cover of the UK is much more attractive. Based on the blurb, they’re overstating the case; at least in the US, there’s no shortage of kicked-up comfort food, whether in cookbooks, magazines, or online sources.
That U.K. cover is stunning and may have to go on display at my house!
Today I was checking out Nigella Lawson’s cookbook corner. Her most recent review is for The Sweet Polish Kitchen by Ren Behan. Sounds interesting. I like to check out Nigella’s cookbook reviews because I find books that might not come onto my radar.
In Classic German Baking, I like the Sunken Lemon Cherry Cake. I make it every year when sour cherries are in season.
It is a bummer that we don’t have the chowhound COTM archive around because this was one of the Baking COTM books and I recall there was a lot of participation.
Honestly, I think it would be very worth revisiting as a BCOTM here. @MunchkinRedux, you might want to check the recipe notes from EYB users.
The spiced chocolate-cherry cake was very good. Lots of recipes with sour cherriesI
I’ve made that sunken sour cherry cake - it’s fantastic, and what led me the book in the first place. FWIW it’s good with either sour cherries, or a mix of sweet and sour.
Can’t wait for cherry season!