A great cookbook is one of the best gifts there is: beautiful on the shelf, useful for years and a little window into how you see the person you are giving it to. These eight are the ones that make people genuinely happy to unwrap, from a restaurant's gorgeous love letter to Bombay to a pitmaster's barbecue bible to the James Beard-winning classic that teaches anyone to cook. Whether your recipient is a serious cook or an aspiring one, there is a showstopper here.
We describe and compare these books, we never reprint their recipes. Find the right match and wrap it up.
Quick picks:
- Best for any cook: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. View on Amazon
- Most beautiful: Dishoom: From Bombay with Love by Shamil Thakrar. View on Amazon
- Best for the griller: Franklin Barbecue by Aaron Franklin. View on Amazon
Showstopper gifts
Dishoom: From Bombay with Love by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar, Naved Nasir
Shamil Thakrar is the team behind London's beloved Dishoom restaurants. Part cookbook, part love letter to Bombay, this gorgeous, giftable book delivers the cafe's cult recipes alongside a day-in-the-city narrative.
Best for: A gift that wows.
→ View on AmazonJerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Yotam Ottolenghi is two world-famous chefs from opposite sides of the city. A landmark, giftable book celebrating a shared food culture, gorgeous, moving and endlessly cooked-from.
Best for: A landmark gift.
→ View on AmazonSweet by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
Yotam Ottolenghi is a world-famous chef and his longtime pastry collaborator. A dazzling, giftable collection of Middle Eastern-inflected desserts, as beautiful on the shelf as on the table.
Best for: A stunning baking gift.
→ View on AmazonMastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
Julia Child is the woman who taught America French cooking. The towering classic that demystified French technique for home cooks, still the most giftable, aspirational cookbook there is.
Best for: A timeless gift.
→ View on AmazonCrowd-pleasing favorites
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
Samin Nosrat is a James Beard Award winner. The rare book that teaches you to cook without recipes by mastering four elements, genuinely life-changing for home cooks and beautifully illustrated.
Best for: Learning to cook.
→ View on AmazonFranklin Barbecue by Aaron Franklin
Aaron Franklin is a legendary pitmaster. The bible of Texas barbecue from the most famous name in brisket, part manual, part story, endlessly giftable.
Best for: The BBQ gift.
→ View on AmazonMagnolia Table by Joanna Gaines
Joanna Gaines is a beloved home-and-lifestyle figure. Approachable comfort-food classics wrapped in a giftable package, a reliable crowd-pleaser and easy gift.
Best for: A comfort-food gift.
→ View on AmazonDessert Person by Claire Saffitz
Claire Saffitz is a pastry chef with a huge YouTube following. Approachable yet precise, with the recipe-tester's care that makes ambitious desserts actually work at home.
Best for: Ambitious home baking.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked past the marketing to the people behind the books: working chefs, award winners, food scientists, culture-bearers and the recipe developers whose food people actually cook again and again. Where an author is a food writer or blogger rather than a trained chef, that is a feature, not a knock: many of the most reliable, most-loved cookbooks come from obsessive home cooks. We describe and compare these books; we never republish their recipes.
