These books are an eclectic group from gifted authors whose recipes, tips, instruction and/or explanation of techniques will edify the way you look at ingredients and how you transform them into meals. Look at these authors like the mentors they are and embrace what they have to say. This was the hardest category to narrow down. I get literally hundreds of books a year to review, but I’m keeping these.
Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison
Ivan Ramen by Ivan Orkin
Pizza by Gabriele Bonci
The AOC Cookbook by Suzanne Goin
Saving the Season by Kevin West
One Good Dish by David Tanis
Maximum Flavor by Alex Talbot and Aki Akosawa
Tartine Book No 3 by Chad Robertson
Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book by Emily and Melissa Elsen
Notes from the Larder by Nigel Slater
The Photography of Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myrvold
Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss