I finally got a library card (long story) and I have been checking out cookbooks like you would not believe. I am so excited by the variety of cookbooks I now have available to me. I am bonding with one of my local librarians, who also checks out cookbooks. A week ago, I found myself with a stack of cookbooks and suddenly realized Julia Turshen was listed as an author on all of them. This was totally unintentional as one had been requested as a library hold, one had been recommended by my friendly librarian, and the other two were in different places in the library. Obviously this meant I needed a Julia Turshen week at home. One caveat that I need to add is that I’m not able to do as much cooking from cookbooks as I would like. Between all the things I can’t eat anymore and all the things my housemate can’t eat, a lot of these recipes were aspirational. Part of the joy of checking these books out is seeing whether there are recipes that will fit within my limitations.
In Bibi’s Kitchen is a collaboration between Somali chef Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen. It’s a drop dead gorgeous collection of recipes from grandmothers from countries that “touch the Indian Ocean” with short interviews with each contributor. (I was reading it while also listening to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, which is set in the Indian Ocean. The two activities were unrelated.) In Bibi’s Kitchen is devided by country and includes A short collection of facts and context for the culture and the food, and interviews with the grandmothers about why they chose to share particular recipes, home, community, and how they are passing on their food traditions. Along with the recipes are pages of lovely photos that feature the women sharing the recipes, and often pictures of the food and the process. The recipes range from the labors of love that take time and the surprisingly simple. This is the kind of cookbook that should have food stains all over it. If I were still in my “I can eat everything” era I would have a dinner party where everyone would bring a dish from the cookbook and we would feast. As it is, I bookmarked 6 recipes that I can definitely make, which means I will be buying a copy for myself. This is a great gift cookbook for people who like pretty pictures and some history and culture to go with their cookbooks.
What Goes With What: 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities is my kind of cookbook, and would be great for newer cooks. It has specific recipes devided by type, and then breaks down the elements of the recipes into a chart that can be applied to what you have on hand. My cooking style, most of the time, is matching up my mood with what’s in my kitchen and what needs to get used up before it goes bad. In other words, I already do this, so for me, it’s a bit basic. But for someone less experienced in the kitchen, this is a great of thinking about how to wrangle a dish out of ingredients.
I’m already forming a list of people I’ll gift this to when they get to the point that they have kitchens and are more likely to cook for themselves.
I struggled the most with Feed the Resistance: Recipes + Ideas for Getting Involved. Initially I was frustrated with it, but as I thought through what I did and didn’t find useful, it occurred to me that this is the kind of book that isn’t going to make anyone completely happy, but it is a good thing that it is out in the world. I would have liked more stories and essays from history, from community organizers, and fewer recipes. Cooking for large groups is hard and I know too much about it, so I was nitpicking a lot of the recipes. And to be honest, if you really need super low effort, too busy to cook recipes, check out The Sad Bastard Cookbook. The too busy to cook recipes in here are the person for whom cooking is easy too busy to cook. But, I really enjoyed the essays and I appreciated the contributions from a wide variety of people. Because I am reading this in 2025, I would have liked more essays from folks with more experience feeding large crowds, because I think we’re going to need that. This one is the gift I’ll be giving everyone. Proceeds go to the ACLU.
The book that turned out to be the most useful to me right now is Now & Again: Go-to Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers. This 2018 cookbook is divided into Seasonal menus. At the end of each menu is a page suggesting dishes to use up leftovers. There is a variety of recipes that look fun, bright and fresh. The photos and stories that go with the menus are lovely. At the end of the book is a section called “Seven Lists” which is a great idea! Seven things to do with leftover wine, seven things to bring as a guest, and seven things to delegate to others are all great lists that I would never have thought to add. These are all things I’ve learned the hard way and never really think about sharing with others.