Books of the Decade: Cookbooks and Food Lit

Over at Omnivoracious we've been blogging about the Books of the Decade and today I naturally gravitated to the subject I'm most passionate about: food. Last night I scanned the shelves at home and then did some research on Amazon this morning to make sure I didn't miss any favorites. Of all of the books listed below there is one that I turn to regularly--at least weekly--and that's Matt Lee and Ted Lee's The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. I became friends with Matt and Ted after their book came out in 2006 but I promise this selection doesn't stem from any personal bias. And I'm not the only one who just loves this book--it won top honors at both the James Beard and IACP awards.

I was cooking from the early galley edition prior to publication and in the years since it remains my most reached-for cookbook in my collection. I've made grits every which way, along with fried chicken, pork butts, pickled peaches, pies (sour orange, sorghum pecan, buttermilk-sweet potato), biscuits, plenty of cocktails, corn cob wine, crab dip, hoppin' John, collard greens, butter bean pâté, pimento cheese, and many more spectacular dishes. The book also turned me on to so many new ingredients, like sorghum, Carolina gold rice, spicy Blenheim ginger ale (which I now order by the case), country ham, scuppernong grapes, and, of course, boiled peanuts (per the bumper sticker, I "brake for" them at any occasion).

When compiling these lists, I came back to the books I cook from the most in addition to a few that I simply enjoy reading, cover to cover, like a novel, for their narrative approach, to a couple that I'm too intimidated, still, to even think about cooking from, but remain a resource of inspired ideas.

My Favorite Cookbooks (and a Couple of Cocktail Collections) of the Decade: 2000-2009 (alphabetical by author)

• Alinea (2008) by Grant Achatz
• The Complete Meat Cookbook (2001) and Bruce Aidell's Complete Book of Pork (2004) by Bruce Aidells
• Hot Sour Salty Sweet (2000) by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
• A16 Food + Wine (2008) by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren
• The Babbo Cookbook (2002) and Molto Italiano (2007) by Mario Batali
• Mexico One Plate at a Time (2000) by Rick Bayless
• Big Fat Duck Cookbook (2008) by Heston Blumenthal
• Urban Italian (2008) by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman
• Momofuku (2006) by David Chang and Peter Meehan
• The Craft of the Cocktail (2002) and The Essential Cocktail (2008) by Dale DeGroff
• Dolce Italiano (2007) by Gina DePalma
• Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen (2000) and Tom's Big Dinners (2003) by Tom Douglas
• The River Cottage Meat Book (2007) by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Tasty (2006) by Roy Finamore
• Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen (2003) and Eat This Book (2005) by Tyler Florence
• Screen Doors and Sweet Tea (2008) by Martha Hall Foose
• Barefoot Contessa Parties! (2001), Barefoot Contessa Family Style (2002), Barefoot Contessa at Home (2006), Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics (2008) by Ina Garten
• Sunday Suppers at Lucques (2005) by Suzanne Goin
• Baking (2006) by Dorie Greenspan
• The Whole Beast (2004) and Beyond Nose to Tail (2007) by Fergus Henderson
• The Cook and the Gardener (2000) by Amanda Hesser
• Perfect Scoop (2007) by David Lebovitz
• The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (2006) by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
• The Gift of Southern Cooking (2003) by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock
• Baked (2008) by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
• Bones (2005) and Fat (2008) by Jennifer McLagan
• The Naked Chef (2000), The Naked Chef Takes Off (2001), Jamie at Home (2008) by Jamie Oliver
• Recipes from Home (2001) by David Page and Barbara Shinn
• The Flavor Bible (2008) by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
• The Young Man and the Sea (2007) by David Pasternack
• How to Grill (2001) by Steven Raichlen
• The Joy of Mixology (2003) by Gary Regan
• The Zuni Cafe Cookbook (2002) by Judy Rodgers
• Charcuterie (2005) by Michael Ruhlman
• Appetite (2002) by Nigel Slater
• All About Braising (2004) by Molly Stevens
• A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes (2008) by David Tanis

My Favorite Food Lit of the Decade: 2000-2009 (alphabetical by author)

• Kitchen Confidential (2000) by Anthony Bourdain
• Heat (2006) by Bill Buford
• Born Round (2009) by Frank Bruni
• Fried Chicken (2004), Donuts (2006), Southern Belly (2007) by John T. Edge
• Cooking for Mr. Latte (2003) by Amanda Hesser
• On Food and Cooking (2004) by Harold McGee
• Setting the Table (2006) by Danny Meyer
• The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006) by Michael Pollan
• Ratio (2009) by Michael Ruhlman
• Eat Me (2008) by Kenny Shopsin
• It Must've Been Something I Ate (2002) by Jeffrey Steingarten
• Imbibe! (2007) by David Wondrich

--BTP