Readers reflect on their most treasured cookbooks and recipes

Los Angeles Times

24-04-2025

What priceless items would you grab when fleeing disaster? It's a sobering question that thousands of Angelenos were forced to answer when wildfires erupted across the region in January.
That experience made us curious about our own emotional attachment to cookbooks and the titles that have had the most impact on our cooking. Our Food writers — and a handful of local chefs and culinary figures — recently rounded up 62 cookbooks that we can't live without, spanning memoirs, out-of-print pamphlets, collector's items and forthcoming releases.
We also invited L.A. Times readers to share the cookbooks they cherish most, including the recipes that they can't get enough of. Here are some of their responses:
'I also lost my cookbook collection in the Palisades fire. My daughters posted a picture of my cookbooks on their Instagram and cookbooks started arriving from all over the country,' wrote Amy Lebenzon.
Lebenzon names 'Plenty' and 'Plenty More' by Yotam Ottolenghi as two favorites, and in particular Ottolenghi's Chickpea and Tomato Bread Soup, Barley and Pomegranate salad and Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad recipes.
Barbara Thompson's top five cookbooks and recipes include: Blueberry Lemon Verbena Galette from 'Pie School' by Kate Lebo; Croissant Bread Pudding from 'Barefoot Contessa' by Ina Garten; general recipe instructions in 'How to Cook Everything' by Mark Bittman; Creamed Corn and Magic Carrots from 'The Los Angeles Times California Cookbook' by Betsy Balsley; and 'Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook' by John Clem.
'All my cookbooks burned in the Palisades fire,' wrote Janet Davis. 'I've replaced my two (1976 and 1998) copies of 'Joy of Cooking,' a couple of Sunset magazine cookbooks and 'The Vegetarian Epicure Book 2' by Anna Thomas.'
Davis adds that, 'My entire Thanksgiving dinner is bookmarked in the 1998 edition of 'Joy of Cooking': Cranberry Sauce, Yams with Apples, Creamed Onions, Spinach Salad, Gravy. The 1976 edition has the better split pea soup recipe; my family is waiting for a batch.'
'When my house burned down,' wrote Kim Janssen, senior director of content strategy here at The Times, 'the one personal possession I saved — beyond a small overnight bag of clothes — was a cookbook my mum handmade for me when my wife and I bought our first place in Chicago a decade ago. When she died last year, I scanned it and made a bunch of copies to give to folks at her funeral. I keep it in the kitchen and cook from it often. I love that she made a handwritten index and included oven temps inside the cover.'
Amateur baker Jim Potter, who lost his house in the Eaton fire, told us about his five essential bread books: 'The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More' by Maurizio Leo, 'a home baker who left his job as a software engineer to devote himself to bread. Leo maintained the Perfect Loaf website for many years before producing this indispensable book. The pictures, clear instructions, a smattering of scientific explanation and helpful recipe timelines showcase Leo's exacting analytical mind and his life's passion for baking.
'Trained as a chemical engineer, Melissa Weller changed careers after baking every recipe in Nancy Silverton's foundational 'Breads From the La Brea Bakery.' Her subsequent training, and her experience as head baker, not least at Per Se, shows in the precision of her recipes in 'A Good Bake.' She has the last challah recipe you'll need and the best morning glory buns you could ask for.
'My first bread book was 'Tartine' by Chad Robertson. And here is the great irony: The recipes in this book and its sequels are deeply unclear and practically impossible to follow. Yet somehow 'Tartine' taught me and countless others how to make beautiful bread — and to fall in love with baking. I will be forever grateful.
'Jeffrey Hamelman, the chief baker at King Arthur, approaches his job with reverence. In 'Bread,' he writes, 'I believe that, in the lives of many bakers, an immense inner dignity develops from the daily immersion in the labor of the bake.' This is the first book I turn to when I want a recipe for a particular bread such as one made with spelt or einkorn. Hamelman always has it and with useful tips. Someday I will succeed with one of his three-state rye breads.
'Apollonia Poilâne has the best origin story of any bread book author — who can compete with her running the best bakery in Paris while a freshman at Harvard? Along with Peter Reinhart and Éric Kayser, Poilâne validates using sourdough and commercial yeast together. In 'Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery,' she has a recipe for rye and currant bread, which I make as rolls (90 to 100 grams each). Crusty on the outside, soft, studded with currants within, nourishing and just sweet enough, they're my most requested bread. After the fire, those rolls, as much as anything, assured us life would resume, even without the house we loved so much.'
The cookbooks and recipes that Katie Lipsitt can't live without are: Minestrone Soup, Tomato Sauce and Meatballs from 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' by Marcella Hazan; Buttermilk Chicken from 'Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat; 'all the pizzas' from 'The River Cafe Cookbook' by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers; vegetable and salad dishes from 'Nothing Fancy' by Alison Roman; and Turkey Zucchini Meatballs with Yogurt from 'Jerusalem' by Yotam Ottolenghi.
'I have my grandmother's copy of 'The Settlement Cook Book' and my mother's 'Joy of Cooking,' which I treasure. (The notes written inside are wonderful.) My favorite cookbook is 'San Francisco à La Carte,' which was published by the Junior League in the 1970s. And just to be a little silly, I have my original 'Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls.' I used that cookbook to teach myself how to cook when I was a child in the 1950s,' wrote Margot Tobias.
Heidi Haaland calls these five cookbooks 'Mandatory rereading, particularly during times of stress': 'Christmas Memories Cookbook' by editors Connie Colom, Lynn Anderson and Lois Klee with illustrator Lynn Anderson and a roster of '80s chefs and writers; 'The Country Kitchen Cook Book' by Edward Harris Heth; 'Pure & Simple: An InCircle Cookbook,' published by Nieman Marcus; 'Holiday Gifts From a Country Kitchen' by Mary Reynolds Smith; and 'A Child's Christmas Cookbook' by the Denver Museum of Art.
'When I was 18, I went to France to care for four children as an au pair. The family lived in Alsace. The mother was an American woman named Carol and married to a French man. She had a copy of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and taught me to cook from it. I still have my original copy that I purchased once I was back home in California. It's been my cooking bible for over 40 years. While I was in Alsace I picked up a book I still use, 'Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne' by Jeanne Hertzog. Carol and I often prepared Alsatian dishes like Choucroute Garnie. This little book allowed me to make many of these dishes once I was back in the States. Another book I treasure is 'Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition,'' wrote Charles Thompson.
DeeAnn Wong refers most often to 'Burma' by Naomi Duguid for its Japanese Pickled Cucumbers, Tomato and Spinach Salad, Eggplant Salad and Egg Curry recipes; and 'Jerusalem' by Yotam Ottolenghi for Roasted chicken with Ouzo and Clementines.
According to Beth Glazener, 'I use a ton of recipes that come from various magazines, cookbooks and the recipe repository on America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated websites. I happen to use a bunch from 'Baking Illustrated,' like Banana Bread, Sugar Cookies, American Sandwich Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, Yellow Layer Cake, Rich Chocolate Cream Frosting, Ham and Asparagus Quiche, Molasses Spice Cookies, Maple Syrup Pecan Pie and Brown Sugar and Bourbon Whipped Cream (it's to die for on top of the pecan pie).'
Barbara Felsinger's go-to title is 'The Moosewood Cookbook' by Mollie Katzen. The Pea Soup, Spinach Ricotta Pie, Rebaked Stuffed Potatoes and Gazpacho are her favorite recipes.
Anne Whitacre wrote that, 'I cooked my way through a 1973 edition of 'The Seasonal Kitchen: A Return to Fresh Foods' by Perla Meyers in my 20s and 30s and still return to it for recipes that are ranked easy, medium or hard and in three ranges of cost, especially Coquilles Saint-Jacques Printanier, Blueberries in Lemon Mousse; Salmon Steaks Suedoise and, of course, Spaghettini Primavera.'
The most loved titles from The Times' former cartoonist for restaurant reviews, Donna Barstow, include, 'An early edition of 'Joy of Cooking' from my grandmother that's falling apart. The original chocolate mousse recipe is written as if it's perfectly normal to crave such a decadent dish, with no guilt implied. And 'The Cake Bible' by Rose Levy Beranbaum, because in the preface, she explains that she fell in love with her husband when he said he weighed science ingredients the same way she did with cake recipes! Can't resist a good love story! Plus, she invented a new way to combine ingredients: flour with butter versus sugar with butter makes a richer cake.'
'My journey into appreciating the literary qualities of cookbooks came from my own work as an author. When I finished a draft of my first book, I had spent hours and hours in libraries doing research and, as some relief, wanted to start a project that involved more physicality. We had just welcomed our second son into our family, so I also wanted a project to do at home. Thus, I cooked up the idea of working my way through an entire cookbook and landed on Alice Waters' 'Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook.' I did it over the course of several years. This project pushed me into some complex lessons that remain with me to this day, namely, to think simply about the ingredients and build a meal up from their purity. That exemplified her approach, even if her first cookbook sometimes deviated from that mission. Journeying on to more of her cookbooks, and some of those by her collegial chefs, led me to understand her original vision,' wrote Tom Kemper.