Don’t underestimate the importance of cookbooks in your culinary development. Starting out, find those cookbooks that can teach you the basics and then allow you to create something with those foundation recipes. Broad cookbooks like The Joy of Cooking can be a great resource for all cooking levels and should be on any cooks shelf... it’s on both of ours. As you develop as a cook or have an interest in a particular subject seek out those cookbooks that are more focused. One of our favorites is The Bread Bible. These books allow you to delve deeper into the food and discover the how’s and why’s.

The world is big and most of us will never have the opportunity to explore it but a cookbook can take you into the towns and villages and allow you to experience what is important to most of us, our food. Just like our last blog, don’t be afraid to seek out those exotic spices and ingredients from a recipe that intrigues you. They can be expensive but split the costs with a couple of cooking friends and start your travels.

When you get to the bookstore it is intimidating. The selection seems endless and it is. The way to decide is by doing the due diligence. Decide what topics you want to discover. Check the internet for reviews of books related to your topic. Ask some chefs what they recommend. Leaf through the books if you can, and see if one jumps out at you. Does it just have recipes, or recipes and pictures? How detailed are the recipes and the accompanying information? Make your choice and have fun.

As you progress and become more experienced you’ll find that a cookbook becomes less about the recipes and more about the inspiration. It can still be fun to follow a recipe exactly to see where it takes you but it’s also fun to let those recipes lead you down your own path.

Here is a list of some of our favorites and should be in any cookbook collection: