Books for the Cook
Adventurous is the word we would apply to our Edible East Bay readers when it comes to food interests, and you tell us all the time how much you like our recipes. Each time we review a cookbook we try to include a sample recipe, which makes it easy to give these books a spin in your kitchen before you decide which to gift. Here’s our 2024 list of cookbook reviews with recipes.
Curious about California’s Indigenous foods? Kristina Sepetys reviewed, Chími Nu’am: Native California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen by Sara Calvosa Olson, and if you scroll to the bottom of the review, you’ll find a link to Olson’s tamale recipe.
Have a vegan on your list? Kristina Sepetys reviewed Vegan Mob: Vegan BBQ & Soul Food by Toriano Gordon and includes this famous rapper’s Smackaroni and Cheese recipe.
Author Maria Finn is a master of cooking in the wilds. Kristina reviewed Finn’s Forage. Gather. Feast and included a recipe you’ll want to try this spring.
It was years ago that Steve Sando made his mark with his Rancho Gordo bean company as he sought out the origins of unique bean varieties in the small Central American communities where they originated. Now, his fabulous The Bean Book teaches cooks how to make the most of those tasty beans. Kristina reviewed the book and included Sando’s recipe for an Heirloom Bean and Caramelized Fennel Gratin.
Oakland-based chef and storyteller Tu David Phu brought Vietnamese cooking to the home kitchen with The Memory of Taste: Vietnamese American Recipes from Phú Quôc, Oakland, and the Spaces Between. Read our review and try Phu’s Kampuche-Style BBQ Chicken recipe.
A real homegrown Oakland effort, Joaninha’s Recipes for a Good Life gets to the basics of healthy eating. Our reviewer cooked up Joaninha’s recipes for Pistachio Pesto and Oven-Roasted Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs and found them utterly delicious.
Edible East Bay writer Anna Mindess wrote this feature story on Richmond-based multi James-Beard-Award-winning author Kristina Cho and her newest cookbook, Chinese Enough. Included is Cho’s recipe for Wispy Mushroom Chow Mein.
