KARENBARNES,EDITOR
TheCakeBiblebyRoseLevy
Beranbaum(WilliamMorrow)
AnAmericanclassic.Everycake
youcanimagineis included,but
whatI admireaboutthistome
- andit is a tome– is thescience
underlyingeverypage,aswell
asthescholarly,thorough
approachtotesting,howtosize
upcakesandmore.Youlearn
somethingoneverypage.When
MsBeranbaumdidtheBritish
edition,I believeshecameto
liveinLondonfora whilesoshe
couldtesteveryrecipeagain
with British ingredients.
SUSANLOW,DEPUTYEDITOR
Moro:TheCookbook
bySamandSamClark
(EburyPress£20)
I couldn’tstopcookingfromthis
bookwhenit wasfirstpublished
backin2001,andI stillturnto
it regularlytoday.Theauthors,
a husband-and-wifeteam
(confusinglybothchefscalled
Sam),writesobeautifully
aboutthefoodtheydiscovered
ontheirtravelsthrough
southernSpainandtheMuslim
Mediterraneanandthatthey
cook at their influential London
thechartstonumberonein2019,
becomingthefastest-selling
non-fictiontitlesincerecords
began.CaroleTonkinson,the
founderofBluebird,which
publishedthebookPinchofNom,
believesitssuccesscomesdown
toauthorsKateAllinsonandKay
Featherstonelisteningcarefully
totheircommunity when creating
theirrecipes.
Theseauthorshaddedicated
audiencesonline– thePinchofNom
websitehada million-plus– before
theywentontocreatephysical
books.Andthemovemakessense:
muchlikefindinga foodcritic
whosetastealignswithyours,once
readershavefoundanauthorwho
speakstothem,thereisa desire
tobringthemintotheir home and
‘cook’withthem.
I RESTMY(BOOK)CASE
WhenI gotosomeone’shome,
I lovebrowsingthroughtheirbook
collection,runningmyfingersalong
thespines and taking in the titles, to
seewhichauthorsthey’vebrought
intotheirhome.VickyBennison,
creatorofPastaGrannies(a
YouTubesuccessstorywhichin
turnlauncheda cookbook),echoes
a similarsentiment.“Thelineof
booksonyourkitchenbookshelf
sayssomethingabouthowyou
liveyourlife,yourinterests and
aspirations,”shesays.
Cookbooksarea waytocatalogue
andpreservethepast,whetherit’s
therecipesofItaliangrannies,
handwrittennotesandmemories
fromourownlivesorthoseofour
grandmothersbeforeus.A good
cookbookbringstolifethestories
behindthedishyou’remaking,the
peoplewhocreatedit andthehands
ofthosewhohavemadeit before
you.If everyrecipetellsa story,
thena goodcookbookspeaksto
you,inyourownlanguage.Howwas
thatforananswer,dearseatmate?
YasminFahr’scookbook,Keeping
It Simple:EasyOne-potWeeknight
Recipes(HardieGrant £16.99) is
available now.
WHERENEXTFORCOOKBOOKS?
Luckilyforbookloversandmyowncareer,it doesn’tlookasif
cookerybooksaregoingoutoffashionanytimesoon.Despitethe
relevanceandbenefitsofdigitalmedia,spendingonfoodanddrink
booksincreasedby 23 percentintheUKbetween 2015 and 2019
- from£79to£97million.Booksinthehealth,dietingand
wholefoodsectorwentfroma categoryshareof4 percentofall
foodanddrinkbooksalesin 2009 toa quarterin2019,accordingto
NielsenBookUKdata,withthe‘vegetariancookery’sectorgoing
from 4 per cent to almost 19 per cent between 2015 and 2019.
THE LONG VIEW: HOW SOME OF OUR OLD FAVES STACK UP...
Manyofthebest-known
andbest-lovedcookbooks
ofpreviousdecadeswere
publishedbeforebook
datawaswidelyavailable,
buthere’sa snapshothow
thesalesofsomeofthe
classics compare:
OURCHOICE
Thecookbooks
thedelicious.
teamcouldn’t
do without...
PLENTYBY
YOTAMOTTOLENGHI
(2010)
Mastering
theArtof
French
Cookingby
JuliaChild
(1961)*
TheEssentials
ofClassic
Ita lia n
Cookingby
Marcella
Hazan (1992)
31,000
HOWTOCOOK:
BOOKONEBY
DELIASMITH(1998)
1 million 275,000
78,000
*ACROSS
ALL
EDITIONS,
VOLUMES
AND
BOX
SETS.OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD IN US
52 deliciousmagazine.co.uk