Gift Guide: 14 cookbooks for the culture vultures and culinary artists on your list
Québécois, Persian, Palestinian, African, and Jewish cuisines are among those featured in standout 2022 titles; then there are some killer desserts
FOR SO MANY KEEN HOME CHEFS, aspiring culinary artists, and food fanatics, the Internet’s got nothin’ on a real, actual cookbook, a tangible item you can hold in your hands, flip through, read in bed, prop up on a kitchen counter, and spill on, the splatters and splotches on certain pages becoming built-in bookmarks for your favourite recipes. There are several standout titles to gift (or treat yourself to) this year; here’s a look at a few of our favourites.
Where the River Narrows: Classic French & Nostalgic Québécois Recipes From St. Lawrence Restaurant (Appetite by Random House)
Without a doubt the most eagerly anticipated Canadian cookbook of the year, Where the River Narrows (pictured at top) is chef Jean-Christophe (J-C) Poirier’s love letter to his home province of Quebec (written with Joie Alvaro Kent). The Saint-Jérôme native who heads St. Lawrence—awarded a Michelin star in the inaugural Vancouver guide—proudly shares personal stories behind everything from soupe aux petits pois (yellow pea soup) (a must-have at cabanes à sucre, or “sugar shacks”, where people gather for the annual harvest of maple syrup) to cailles en sarcophage (stuffed quails in puff pastry, a signature St. Lawrence dish) to tarte au sucre (nothing compares to his grandmother’s). The through line is Poirier’s kind voice. Having trained at such acclaimed places as Montreal’s Toqué! and Vancouver’s former Lumière, he can flawlessly execute classic French fare—think morue à la dieppoise (cod with mussels and shrimp in a white wine cream sauce and îles flottantes et crème anglaise (poached meringues), both rarely found on restaurant menus—but he’s as down-to-earth as some of his rustic dishes, like coq au vin (chicken in red wine sauce) and tourtière du Lac St-Jean (rustic meat pie with cubes of various meats).
Poirier’s philosophy is essentially summed up in the blurb accompanying his recipe for salade d’endives, pacane, pomme et Bleu Elizabeth (endive salad with pecans, apples, and Blue Elizabeth cheese): “Even though some might find it boring, I had no doubt that it would have a place on the St. Lawrence menu. After all, I swore to myself when we first opened our doors that I would cook for the people and not to feed my ego.”
The book’s content is broken down into categories that chronicle his life in food: Quebec, classic French, St. Lawrence, home cooking, chef’s essentials, and menus (including tips on how to prepare a successful meal). There are some recipes that only the most undaunted of chefs will attempt, namely pâté en croûte au canard et noisettes (pâté in pastry with duck and hazelnuts). This one comes from Colin Johnson, who leads the restaurant’s pâté program. It comes with a “wee note” (read: you’ve been warned); this iconic dish requires a long weekend, lots of fridge and freezer space, and “a significant degree of commitment”. But most of the recipes are approachable and come with Poirier’s straight talk and encouragement. It’s fun to learn the kinds of dishes he enjoys at home with his wife and two daughters, like steak aux poivres, poulet rôti du Dimanche (Sunday roasted chicken), and mousse au chocolat.
Where the River Narrows provides much more than a taste of Québécois cuisine; immersed in Québécois culture, you feel like you’re a welcome guest at Poirier’s table.
Honey Cake & Latkes: Recipes From the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors (Melcher Media)
The title may stop you in your tracks. Ronald S. Lauder, chair of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation (who’s also president of the World Jewish Congress and son of Estée Lauder) gets straight to what you’re probably thinking in the book’s forward: how could a collection of recipes inspired by Auschwitz, with all of its hunger and horror, possibly exist? In fact, Honey Cake & Latkes is a book of hope and human triumph, he writes, one inspired by the love that every Jewish mother puts into everything she makes. The people who survived, Lauder reminds, were determined to go on living—and food, of course, is a pillar of life.
When Lauder visited Poland for the 75th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz in January 2020, he had the opportunity to speak with many of the 120 elderly survivors who made the trip. Their conversations ultimately turned to the recipes they brought back with them—recipes for dishes that reminded them of loved ones who died, that kept their children and grandchildren nourished after the war, and that carried traditions and stories. Three months later, during Passover in the midst of the global lockdown, he reconvened the survivors, many of whom were alone, for bimonthly reunions online. Acknowledging how hard 2020 was for people, he asked those on the call to share their favourite gefilte fish and other Passover recipes. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation was inundated with responses. A team from the foundation spent the ensuing months conducting interviews with survivors and their families, gathering memories and insights that stemmed from food.
Many of the recipes have notes that will also make you pause. Eugene Ginter’s chocolate sandwich goes back to Germany, where his mother found him right after the war; she made this simple treat to fatten him up. Eva Shainblum shares a recipe for Hungarian layered potatoes, noting that she was 16 years old in 1944, when her entire family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This dish represents the last meal they had together, and it’s the ultimate comfort food for her. Michael Bornstein shares a recipe for sweet noodle kugel in honour of the one his mother used to make; she didn’t have any written-down recipes, so his family came up with the one in the book after much trial and error. Ruth Webber’s chicken soup brings back fond recollections of having the nourishing broth at her maternal grandparent’s house every Shabbat before the war.
With biographies as well as archival and current photos of the survivors, Honey Cakes & Latkes is easily the most moving and important cookbook of 2022, one you’ll read over and over. Full proceeds from the book sales go toward the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation.
Dine in Palestine: An Authentic Taste of Palestine in 60 Recipes from My Family to Your Table (Page Street Publishing)
Heifa Odeh is a first-generation Palestinian-American recipe developer and the creator of Fufu’s Kitchen (named after her childhood nickname), which won Saveur magazine’s best food culture blog in 2019. Although Odeah didn’t grow up in Palestine, she is fiercely proud of her heritage and passionate about sharing her culture and identity through its vibrant cuisine. Every summer, she would travel back to Palestine, where most of her extended family lived, and along with so many hugs and kisses there was so much delicious food. Every single day, a different relative would invite her over for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or coffee and tea; they would share meals family-style sitting knee to knee on mattresses on the floor, with bread made that same day and olive oil so fresh it would almost burn her throat. Now based in Chicago, she has a kitchen filled with ingredients like cinnamon, allspice, tahini, za’atar, molasses, garlic, lemon, yogurt, and fresh herbs—lots and lots of fresh herbs. Dine in Palestine features beautiful, full-page colour photos by Doaa Elkady and recipes for dishes such as fattet hummus (a layered, statement brunch dish sprinkled with toasted pine nuts, sumac, and fresh parsley), za’atar-spiced tilapia with lentil salad, and chocolate almond baklava. The fig and honey pistachio cake, with a hint of cardamom, is inspired by the first fig she ever tasted in her life while at her grandparent’s home in Palestine—a life-changing moment.
The Anime Chef Cookbook: 75 Iconic Dishes from Your Favorite Anime (Rock Point)
A culinary and visual artist, Vancouver’s Nadine Estero has been watching anime for as long as she can remember, and one of the reasons she’s still drawn to the genre is because of the role food plays within it. The self-taught cook decided to re-create food from anime and video games, documenting her culinary adventures on social media beginning in 2020. In her debut cookbook, Estero shares a mix of sweet and savoury recipes, some that are common Japanese dishes and others that she invented based solely on their appearance or any hints she could glean from dialogue about their flavours. Complete with Estero’s own illustrations, the book draws inspiration (and shares quotes from) from Samurai Champloo (mitarashi dango, skewered sweet rice dumplings with a soy-brown sugar syrup for drizzling), Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (paprika seafood Caesar salad), Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s breakfast plate, ideally cooked over a fire), Tokyo Revengers (mini matcha mochi pancakes), Kiki’s Delivery Service (Kiki’s chocolate cake with chocolate ganache glaze and whipped ganache), and many other series, comic books, graphic novels, and films.
Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal (The Experiment)
Vanilla from Madagascar, Penja white pepper from Cameroon, raw and roasted cacao beans, tamarind, chili peppers, and preserved lemon are some of the staples in Marie Kacouchia’s pantry; she also regularly cooks with African superfoods such as avocado, cacao, garlic, sweet potato, and kinkeliba, a bushy shrub that’s typically infused into teas. The Paris-based author of Vegan Africa has juggled the cultures of two different countries—France and Côte d’Ivoire—since childhood. In both places, food brings people together. Drawing from the cultures and traditions of more than 15 African countries, Kacouchia shares recipes for everything from savoury Mauritian crêpes and Ivorian vinaigrette to chapati (East African flatbread) and Malian peanut stew.
Persiana Everyday (Aster)
British-Iranian chef and author Sabrina Ghayour has been called the “Golden Girl of Persian Cookery”, with multiple international best-selling cookbooks to her name: Persiana, Sirocco, Feasts, and Bazaar. Her latest, Persiana Everyday, features recipes that are simple, quick, and delicious, a selection of no-cook, one-pan, one-pot, oven-baked, quick-prep, and slow-cook dishes that are ideal for busy families. Baked halloumi is a “thing of beauty”; pomegranate-glazed eggplant is nice and easy; sesame and spice roasted salmon (with garlic, paprika, sumac, and cayenne) is a go-to dish in the Ghayour household; and lamb and eggplant kebabs combine two of her favourite ingredients (along with dill, tomato paste, garlic, turmeric, and scallions) in a twist on a charcoal-grilled classic.
Don’t Worry, Just Cook: Delicious, Timeless Recipes for Comfort & Connection (Appetite By Random House)
Canadian culinary icon Bonnie Stern teams up with her daughter, Anna Rupert, for the first cookbook she has written since closing her Toronto-based cooking school in 2011 after 37 years. The book’s title comes from heartfelt advice Stern has given to other people her whole adult life—even though she admits to being the biggest worrier on the planet. This is an eclectic collection of diverse recipes ranging from Ja’ala herb salad with lemon honey dressing (its name coming from the Yemenite custom of serving a variety of roasted nuts and dried fruits as a snack when people drop by) and Moroccan-inspired tagine with roasted vegetables to Korean marinated flank steak and Thai omelet with herbs and chilies. Chuck’s double chocolate brownies 2.0 is Stern’s update to the treats she sent to her nephew when he was in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces (and which disappeared before he could put them on the table); right about now, with so much flu going around, the book’s good health tea seems like a good idea. Or maybe a guava margarita would do the trick.
Showstopping Cakes: Mastering the Art and Science of Baking (Kyle Books)
Born and raised in India, Rahul Mandal taught himself how to bake on weekends while working as a researcher at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Rotherham, England. He watched YouTube baking videos and practised over and over again, with plenty of errors in his trials. He made his first cake in 2016. Two years later, he appeared on The Great British Bake Off—and won. In Showstopping Cakes, Mandal shares solutions to common baking problems, ideas for flavour pairings, tips on fillings and frostings, techniques for decorating, how to temper chocolate, and, most importantly, how to transform everyday cakes to works of art that will make people’s jaws drop. He shares recipes for meringue-based and gluten-free cakes, too.
Evergreen Kitchen: Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone (Penguin Random House Canada)
Vancouver-based recipe developer and certified holistic nutritionist Bri Beaudoin, who blogs at Evergreen Kitchen, isn’t out to convince people to give up meat but rather seems genuinely enthusiastic about helping folks find easy answers to the daily question: “What’s for dinner?” with dishes that just so happen to be plant-based. Her husband, Anguel Dimov, provides the full-page colour photos that accompany each recipe plus others that show step-by-step techniques (for dishes such as barbecue pulled mushroom sandwiches, crispy veggie potstickers, crispy tofu banh mi, and spicy miso ramen). We can’t wait to try Beaudoin’s roasted butternut squash pasta with toasted hazelnuts.
Eatertainment: Recipes and Ideas for Effortless Entertaining (Appetite by Random House)
Hosts with the most Sebastien and Sheila Centner come across as almost too perfect in their new cookbook, like a couples’ version of pre-scandal Martha Stewart, but it’s hard not to like the serial entertainers’ artful ideas when it comes to hosting people for a meal. Splitting their time between Toronto and Miami, the two share creative time-saving tips and easy ways to add beauty and whimsy to a gathering. For a winter get-together, for instance, they pull out lots of wood and greenery to decorate, lay a long garland down the centre of a table, and use pomegranates for place cards. The book’s menus feature dishes that look beautiful but don’t take a ton of time or know-how, like baked cranberry Brie, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, oven-poached salmon with dill sauce, and grilled calamari salad.
Mochi, Cakes and Bakes: Simple Yet Exquisite Desserts with Ube, Yuzu, Matcha and More (Page Street Publishing)
Catherine Zhang is a Chinese-Australian pastry chef who won the second season of an Australian reality show called Zumbo’s Just Desserts and whose goods are inspired by her Asian background. Count us in for Zhang’s ube custard donuts; her take on bombolini (Italian donuts rolled in sugar with a custard filling); mango pancakes (a staple at yum cha, Cantonese brunch that includes Chinese tea and dim sum); matcha tiramisu; and pandan chiffon cake, the national cake of Singapore, among other treats.
The Art of Raw Desserts: 50 Standout Recipes for Plant-Based Cakes, Pastries, Pies, Cookies and More (Page Street Publishing)
Soaked raw walnuts and cashews, dried golden figs, and hazelnut and almond milk are some of the ingredients that show up frequently in the new cookbook by raw vegan chef and culinary instructor Crystal Bonnet, founder of Crystal Dawn Culinary. Then there’s coconut. Coconut nectar, coconut sugar, coconut milk, coconut flour, dried coconut, coconut meat… Raw cakes are Bonnet’s jam, and varieties like blackberry ginger lime zebra cheesecake, carrot cake with orange cheesecake frosting, and apricot pecan butternut squash cake with coconut cream are eye-catching—if not for the lazy cook.
The Unofficial Princess Bride Cookbook: 50 Delightfully Delicious Recipes for Fans of the Cult Classic (Epic Ink)
Aaas yooou wishhh!!!! Portland-based author Cassandra Reeder is a self-described geek who comes up with food inspired by books, movies, TV shows, and video games at www.geekychef.com. Reeder’s first recipe collection, 2015’s The Geeky Chef Cookbook, was inspired by the likes of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, and The Hunger Games. Her latest pays tribute to the impossible-not-to-love 1987 fairy tale/romance/fantasy adventure of Wesley and Buttercup. Ranging from cocktails to candies, the recipes include those for Humperdinck’s crown roast (a showstopper easy enough for any “wart-hog faced buffoon” to make), vengeful Spaniard’s sangria (just the thing to toast Inigo Montoya’s blood oath to avenge his father), “twu wuv twuffles” (with raspberries and white chocolate), and Man in Black’s “no one to be trifled with” trifle. Gimmicky, to be sure, but Reeder does her research to come up with her flavourful creations: in this case, besides the fact that she could already quote most of the lines in the movie before the cookbook opportunity came along, she listened to the soundtrack while cooking, played the movie in the background while she wrote, read the script and William Goldman’s novel over and over again, listened to Cary Elwes’s As You Wish audiobook night after night, watched every cast interview she could find, and more. And she loved it so much she claims she would still watch the movie again tomorrow and enjoy every second of it. Inconceivable!
Zach Neil’s Death for Dinner Cookbook: 60 Gorey-Good, Plant-Based Drinks, Meals, and Munchies Inspired by Your Favorite Horror Films (Rock Point)
Chef-entrepreneur Zach Neil loves Halloween so much that he opened Beetle House, a restaurant with locations in New York City and Los Angeles, where it’s All Hallow’s Eve every single day. The eateries are inspired by horror culture, magic, and the cinematic and literary works of Tim Burton, Alfredh Hitchock, and Bram Stoker, among others. His new book is a follow-up to 2018’s Zach Neil’s The Nightmare Before Dinner, Recipes To Die For. The only blood found in his new title, Death for Dinner, is made from beets, but the fare is hearty and stick-to-your ribs. Lending inspiration for sickening starters and sides, monstrous mains, depraved desserts, cursed cocktails, and atrocious accompaniments are movies like Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Rosemary’s Baby, and Us and TV shows such as Dexter, Hannibal, and The Walking Dead.
There’s more to this slice of evil than recipes for everything from Pumpkinhead soup to sweet-and-sour maggots (ginger cake inspired by The Lost Boys with marzipan larvae, best served in a Chinese takeout container); Neil also shares killer tips on how to set a scene. To serve the Texas BBQ “chikon” burger, for instance, he suggests buying cheap chainsaw blades at a hardware store, cleaning them, and placing them atop plates, then resting the burger on top. If you have a chainsaw, place it in the centre of the table, and drizzle the blades and chains with beet ketchup. A few carrots shaped just so with that same sauce resemble bloodied fingers. That’s some good barbecue there.
Related Articles
