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Vogue
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
16 Cookbooks Defining the Way We're Cooking (and Entertaining) in 2025
We're only halfway through 2025, and already our shelves—and stovetops—are groaning with the bounty of this year's best cookbooks. From Peter Som's deeply personal Family Style to Zaynab Issa's vibrant Third Culture, the offerings thus far have been stylish, soulful, and full of flavor. A few themes are already emerging: a love of entertaining (with or without silver trays), a turn toward heritage and hybrid cuisines, and a new generation of influencers treating cookbooks like mood boards for a well-dressed life. Some books, like The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook, practically arrive with a bow on top—ready to gift or display. Others, like Umai or Lismore Castle, speak quietly but powerfully, weaving memoir into miso and marmalade. Below, the cookbooks that captured our appetite—and attention—in 2025. Third Culture by Zaynab Issa Zaynab Issa's Third Culture reads like a culinary coming-of-age story—one that speaks directly to the in-between spaces many of us occupy. Drawing on her Khoja heritage, East African diaspora, and New Jersey upbringing, Issa maps a personal geography through food, offering recipes that blend identity with imagination. French Onion Ramen, Coronation Chicken Pastries, and Almond Fudge Squares inspired by Baskin-Robbins are just a few examples of her cross-cultural, comfort-first approach. But this is no gimmicky 'fusion'—Issa writes and cooks with intent, clarity, and affection. Whether you're third culture or simply third-course curious, her debut feels both familiar and new, like a dish you didn't realize you'd been craving all along. Zaynab Issa Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation $35 AMAZON Umai by Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares With its film-like photos, lyrical essays, and humble bowlfuls of miso soup, Umai is one of the most quietly elegant cookbooks of the year. Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares invites readers into her small Tokyo kitchen and memory-soaked past, where daikon and dashi are shorthand for home. Her dishes—karaage fried chicken, foil-baked salmon, summer tomatoes with somen—offer a refreshing, unfussy take on Japanese home cooking. Yet there's still room for romance: a Kyoto sunset, a soba shop memory, a grandmother stirring early-morning rice. Like the izakayas that inspire an entire chapter, Umai is casual but reverent, intimate but deeply transporting. Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares Umai: Recipes From a Japanese Home $35 AMAZON Family Style by Peter Som Fashion designer turned culinary storyteller Peter Som delivers a standout debut with Family Style—a collection of comforting, deeply personal recipes that span his Cantonese heritage, San Francisco upbringing, and love of unfussy elegance. Expect burnt miso cinnamon toast, cacio e pepe sticky rice, and a char siu bacon cheeseburger that nods to multiple cravings at once. The dishes are sophisticated but totally welcoming, much like Som himself, and they're woven with reflections on family, identity, and style. 'Not too sweet' is the highest compliment for a dessert in his family, and that sensibility pervades this quietly confident book—rich, balanced, and entirely its own. Peter Som Family Style: Elegant Everyday Recipes Inspired by Home and Heritage $40 AMAZON The Phone Eats First by Allyson Reedy Equal parts satire and celebration, The Phone Eats First is a TikTok-glossed romp through the most viral recipes of recent memory. Food critic Allyson Reedy curates 50 hits from top social stars—think lasagna soup, donut grilled cheese, and a bagel-and-cream-cheese board made for the algorithm. But beneath the pastel smoothie bowls and ice cube tray sushi is a real question: What makes a recipe stick? The answer, it turns out, is flavor, familiarity, and a little visual flair. Perfect for content creators and the chronically online, this cookbook is a crash course in food's social life—and a genuinely useful one, too. Allyson Reedy The Phone Eats First Cookbook: 50 of Social Media's Best Recipes to Feed Your Feed . . . and Then Yourself $35 AMAZON Lismore Castle: Food and Flowers from a Historic Irish Garden by Laura Burlington The subtitle says it all. Lismore Castle is as much a storybook as it is a cookbook, offering recipes inspired by Ireland's oldest cultivated gardens alongside tales of dukes, bishops, artists—and even a Hollywood star or two. With essays from Laura and William Burlington and atmospheric photography throughout, the book serves as a seasonal diary of life at Lismore, with dishes like Beetroot Gravadlax and Irish Soda Bread grounded in the garden's bounty. It's a feast of aesthetics and history, a mood board for a slower, land-connected life, and a reminder that elegance can grow out of earth. Laura Burlington Lismore Castle: Food and Flowers from a Historic Irish Garden $50 AMAZON La Sicilia in Cucina by Dolce & Gabbana In true Dolce & Gabbana fashion, La Sicilia in Cucina is not just a cookbook—it's a visual opera of color, pattern, and excess. This 400-page ode to Sicilian cuisine is served extra large and extra lavish, with regional recipes like Parmigiana and Timballo del Gattopardo presented alongside glossy still lifes and baroque tableware. It's as much about lifestyle as it is food, with chapters that unfold like moodboards for the Mediterranean set. Yes, it's in Italian (with English in the appendix), but translation hardly matters: the drama, devotion, and dolce vita spirit are perfectly clear on every page. Dolce & Gabbana La Sicilia in Cucina $200 AMAZON The Fishwife Cookbook by Becca Millstein and Vilda Gonzalez Tinned fish has never looked—or tasted—so chic. Becca Millstein, co-founder of cult-favorite Fishwife, turns the humble can into a culinary statement in this charming debut filled with punchy illustrations, easy entertaining ideas, and 80 flavor-forward recipes. Think Smoked Mackerel Udon, Trout Tacos, or Lamb Bolognese with anchovies. With chapters dedicated to everything from solo lunches to cocktail parties, the book is part manifesto, part guide to maximalist snacking. For anyone who's ever packed a picnic with a tin of sardines and a chilled bottle of something—this one's for you. The Fishwife Cookbook: Delightful Tinned Fish Recipes for Every Occasion $30 AMAZON Tahini Baby by Eden Grinshpan Middle Eastern pantry staples meet millennial lifestyle branding in Tahini Baby, a 300-page ode to olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and laid-back elegance. Eden Grinshpan, who rose to fame on Top Chef Canada and Instagram, brings a cool-girl sensibility to her second book, packed with deeply flavorful vegetarian dishes. Yes, tahini features heavily, but so do harissa, zhoug, sumac, and za'atar—woven into dishes like asparagus with crispy za'atar oil or bright, brothy Moroccan harira. It's aspirational, of course, but also deeply cookable. A worthy addition to the Levantine canon—and your next dinner party. Eden Grinshpan Tahini Baby: Bright, Everyday Recipes That Happen to Be Vegetarian $35 AMAZON Good Things by Samin Nosrat The follow-up to Salt Fat Acid Heat was always going to be met with sky-high expectations—and Good Things delivers. Samin Nosrat returns with an everyday collection of recipes meant to be shared with people you love, from sesame-ginger slaw to mozzarella-toast giardiniera. Her signature voice—thoughtful, generous, and joyful—permeates every page, and her recipes unfold into endlessly repeatable, remixable meals. There's a lived-in quality to the book that makes you want to linger. Like a perfect condiment, it adds depth, brightness, and just the right amount of heat to whatever you're already doing. Samin Nosrat Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love $45 AMAZON The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook by Meredith Hayden A Nancy Meyers dream in cookbook form, The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook is part recipe manual, part lifestyle fantasy. Meredith Hayden, known for her 'POV: I'm your chef' videos and Hamptons tablescapes, offers a seasonal, stylish approach to cooking and hosting. There's a hot crab dip, tomato galette, and creamy truffle pasta, sure—but also advice on dressing for dinner, plating with panache, and lighting a candle on a Tuesday. For followers of the Wishbone Kitchen world, this is a long-awaited artifact; for newcomers, it's a sun-dappled invitation to cook, entertain, and live a little more fabulously. Meredith Hayden The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes for Everyday Luxury and Elevated Entertaining $35 AMAZON What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass Casey Elsass makes a strong case for retiring that tired bottle of wine and instead showing up to your next gathering with something unforgettable—and preferably jellied, layered, or gift-wrapped. His book is a love letter to the art of arriving prepared, with 75 recipes engineered for potlucks, picnics, dinner parties, and everything in between. Think Cream-Soaked Cinnamon Rolls for a brunch invite, Seven Onion Dip that outshines every chip, and the kind of nostalgic desserts (hello, Bruce Bogtrotter Cake) that guarantee an encore. With instructions tailored for transporting, adapting, and charming any host, What Can I Bring? is less about showing off and more about showing up—deliciously. Casey Elsass What Can I Bring?: Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life $30 AMAZON Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe by Alissa Timoshkina Eastern European food is often reduced down to something a bit, well, meat-forward, but Alissa Timoshkina's Kapusta takes all the flavor and history of her Siberian, Ukrainian-Jewish, Polish, Russian and Belorussian heritage and upbringing and focuses it on just five key vegetables—cabbage, beetroot, potato, carrot and mushrooms—for a finished product that's light yet deeply, intensely flavorful. If you need a star recipe to make you the hit of the break-fast at this year's high holidays, Timoshkina's Tzimmes Carrot Cake or Potato Babka should do the trick. Alissa Timoshkina Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe $42 AMAZON Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from my Palestine by Sami Tamimi Another cookbook focused squarely on the immense bounty of vegan and vegetarian cooking, Boustany is the first solo effort from Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi that reflects his Palestinian roots and lifelong habit of eating simply and seasonally. The book features jaw-dropping, visually stunning recipes like crushed butter beans with orange and a pan-baked tahini, halva, and coffee brownie that more or less deserves its own Instagram account. Sami Tamimi Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from my Palestine $38 AMAZON Sally's Baking 101: Foolproof Recipes from Easy to Advanced If you only know Sally's Baking Addiction as the website you stumble upon when you desperately need to triage a cake recipe gone wrong, you'll flip for the real, hardcover thing; self-taught baker Sally McKenney has a real knack for explaining even the most intricate of pastry procedures with a calm, relaxed tone that makes you feel like you can conquer the task at hand, and as someone who won a lot of praise for bringing her Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake to a BBQ last summer, I can attest that you need this book in your life. Sally McKenney Sally's Baking 101: Foolproof Recipes from Easy to Advanced $33 AMAZON Setting A Place For Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Community from Eight Countries Impacted by War by Hawa Hassan As a Somali author and chef whose family fled Mogadishu in 1991, Hawa Hassan knows all too well how it feels to be overlooked as a refugee; this, in part, is why she's focused her latest cookbook squarely on the food of countries dealing with major conflict, from bolani (stuffed flatbread) from Afghanistan to ghorayeba (shortbread cookies) from Egypt to mouhamara (spicy walnut and red pepper dip) from Lebanon. Deeply revealing about global politics and the people who are forced to withstand their constant evolution, Setting a Place For Us richly deserves a place on your cookbook shelf. Hawa Hassan Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Community from Eight Countries Impacted by War Hardcover – May 13, 2025 $38 AMAZON Make It Plant-Based! Filipino: 60+ Recipes for Vegan Soups, Stews, Noodles, Snacks, and Desserts by Ria Elciario-McKeown (series ed. Mehreen Karim) Filipino food is known for being hearty, filling and infinitely riff-friendly, and that last descriptor is proved true by Ria Elciario-McKeown's commitment to making Filipino recipes vegan-friendly in the latest installment of Mehreen Karim's Make It Plant-Based! cookbook series. Traditional Filipino recipes like sisig and lumpia don't give up any of their flavor in Elciario-McKeown's adaptations, instead marrying their original cultural context with new possibility in an era of increasing vegan (and vegan-ish) curiosity. Ria Elciario-McKeown Make It Plant-Based! Filipino: 60+ Recipes for Vegan Soups, Stews, Noodles, Snacks, and Desserts $25 AMAZON
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tandoori Tacos Are A Summer Snack That Belongs In Your Backyard
At first glance, you might wonder where a recipe for something called 'Tandoori Tacos' comes from. In India, a clay oven called a tandoor is used to cook meats marinated in yogurt. Tacos are, of course, one of the most beloved dishes of Mexico. The author of this recipe, Zaynab Issa, grew up in New Jersey, the child of immigrant parents from Tanzania. But as Issa explains in her recent cookbook, Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes For A New Generation, this recipe for Tandoori Tacos is as American as it gets. 'Most of us have a story of migration— if not you, then maybe your great-great-grandparents, but this reality remains: the culture of your homeland has mixed with the culture of others here, creating an entirely new one,' she writes. (MORE: Hyperlink more articles here) 'As I've grown up and lived here, my perspective on American food has shifted to reflect a new understanding: America itself is a third culture nation.' The 'third culture' she describes is a combination, one that is informed by the culture of a homeland as much as the new home that it belongs to. This recipe combines freely in exactly that way. Using the yogurt-marinating technique of Indian tandoori cooking to tenderize the skirt steak, the sweet pop of orange juice from Mexican carne asada and Cuban mojo. Topping it off with a few cherry tomatoes, this is a delicious lunch that belongs in a summertime backyard anywhere in America. Ingredients 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) plain whole-milk yogurt 1 tablespoon orange juice, optional 1 tablespoon plus 1⁄2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided 11⁄2 teaspoons garam masala 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder or paprika 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric 6 garlic cloves, finely grated 1-inch piece ginger, finely grated 1 1⁄2 pounds (680 g) skirt steak, cut into 4 (4- to 6-inch) segments 1⁄2 medium red onion, finely chopped 1 cup (145 g) cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced 1 cup (40 g) roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Flaky sea salt 12 to 16 (5-inch) tortillas, for serving Sour cream, for serving Lime wedges, for serving Instuctions To make the marinade: Combine the yogurt, orange juice, 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt, the garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, garlic, and ginger in a medium bowl. Add the steak and mix well to coat completely. Marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To assemble: Combine the onion, tomatoes, chili, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl. Chill until ready to serve. Add the remaining 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt just before serving. Heat a large cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat until very hot or smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil and working with 2 steak segments at a time, sear until deeply browned on both sides and cooked to your desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium (140°F/60°C on a meat thermometer). Transfer to a cutting board, sprinkle with flaky salt, and let rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 2 steaks. Meanwhile, warm the tortillas in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep warm. Return to the steak and thinly slice it against the grain and then crosswise into bite-sized pieces. Arrange the steak on the tortillas and top with some of the onion mixture and sour cream. Serve the tacos with lime wedges for squeezing over the remaining onion mixture. Excerpted from the new book Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation by Zaynab Issa. Photos copyright (c) 2025 by Graydon Herriott. Published by Abrams. copy writer Wyatt Williams is exploring the relationship between weather, food, agriculture, and the natural world. MORE ON - Kick Off The First Days Of Summer With A Tomato Sandwich - Have A Hot Date With This Palm Springs Date Shake - On The French Riviera, Gazpacho Tastes Like Summer
Tatler Asia
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
From viral videos to page turners: 8 food influencers whipping up bestselling cookbooks
2. Sarah Ahn (@ahnestkitchen): 'Umma: A Korean Mom's Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes' Sarah Ahn didn't set out to write a cookbook. She just filmed what her mum (or umma in Korean) was cooking. What does her mum pack for her dad, an exterior painter who works up to 12 hours a day outdoors? Why is her umma's multigrain rice not just a more protein-packed alternative, but a testament to her family's resilience? And what homemade food does she pack for their dog when they go out of town? The warmth and intimacy of their kitchen struck a chord with followers, and that connection turned into Umma , her New York Times bestselling cookbook. It's part story, part instruction manual, with banchan, kimchi and stews passed down over generations. Think Crying in H Mart , but blended with the everyday practicality of home cooking. Read more: What makes Korean food a social media sensation 3. Zaynab Issa (@zaynab_issa): 'Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation' Zaynab Issa's Third Culture Cooking is exactly what it sounds like: a recipe book shaped by the in-between. Raised with East African and South Asian roots in suburban America, Issa creates recipes that make space for all of it—tandoori tacos, samosas two ways and chocolate cake with chai buttercream. She started with a college recipe zine, moved through food media brands BuzzFeed and Bon Appétit and built a following with TikTok recipes like her cheddar and white bean dip (55 million views on TikTok alone). Her cookbook reflects that journey: part nostalgia, part experimentation and entirely personal. Book sections include tips on cooking by mood, setting yourself up for success in the kitchen and entertaining without crashing out. Read more: 5 tips from food influencers on how to film better Foodstagram reels 4. George Lee (@ 'A-Gong's Table: Vegan Recipes from a Taiwanese Home' George Lee's cooking journey began not in culinary school, but in the quiet rituals of grief. When his grandfather (or a-gong in Taiwanese) passed away, Lee and his family followed Buddhist funeral customs and abstained from meat for 100 days. During that time, he received a masterclass in cooking from monastery nuns. What started as a spiritual observance grew into a popular blog, a social media following and a cookbook. A-Gong's Table is filled with plant-based Taiwanese recipes that taste like home: sweet potato breakfast congee, meatless braised 'pork' rice and umami-rich sauces from scratch. Photographed across Taiwan, the recipe book reads like a love letter to heritage and a more compassionate way to cook. Read more: 5 vegan-friendly resorts in Southeast Asia that deliver on luxury 5. Tue Nguyen (@twaydabae): 'Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking' From culinary school to mukbang videos to sold-out pop-ups, Tue Nguyen has had an unconventional rise—one that now includes her restaurant DiDi and a cookbook named one of the best of 2024 by The New York Times. Nguyen first captured audiences with joyful, flavour-packed dishes like fish sauce eggs, seared scallops and weeknight pho that prove you don't need hours to cook with soul. That same energy animates her cookbook Di An, a celebration of her heritage at full volume, grounded in accessible techniques. If you want a recipe book that balances tradition with practicality, this one earns its shelf space. Expect recipes like shaking beef, braised catfish and bo kho 'birria' tacos that feel both nostalgic and entirely new. Read more: What is it about Vietnamese cuisine that drives the whole world crazy? 6. Carolina Gelen (@carolinagelen): 'Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes' Carolina Gelen's cooking is as inventive as her thrift-store hauls during her early days online. Born in Transylvania and now based in the US, she rose to viral fame with cosy recipes like butter beans alla vodka and orange cardamom olive oil cake—dishes that feel special without requiring anything fancy. That approach powers Pass the Plate , her debut cookbook and a 2025 James Beard Award nominee. What sets Gelen apart is her ability to make humble ingredients feel exciting. Think chicken schnitzel with caramelised lemon gremolata, upside-down pineapple coconut cake and pantry-friendly riffs on her Romanian and Hungarian culinary roots. For home cooks looking to maximise flavour and cook with joy, Pass the Plate will have you asking for seconds. 7. Nisha Vora (@rainbowplantlife): 'Big Vegan Flavor: Techniques and 150 Recipes to Master Vegan Cooking' A former lawyer turned food content creator, Nisha Vora is a go-to source for plant-based meals that don't feel like a sacrifice. Her detailed how-to videos and bold flavour profiles—rooted in her Indian heritage and global inspirations—bring vibrancy to vegan cooking. A New York Times bestseller and James Beard Award nominee, her cookbook Big Vegan Flavor lives up to the name. It's a masterclass in seasoning and technique, featuring internationally inspired recipes, flavour bombs to make everyday meals pop and smart swaps that cater to your cravings and pantry. Designed for both new and seasoned plant-based eaters, Vora's cookbook doesn't just replace meat with tofu—it reimagines vegan food as something deeply craveable. Read more: 12 Instagram accounts to follow for the best vegan recipes 8. Owen Han (@ 'Stacked: The Art of the Perfect Sandwich' Dubbed as TikTok's Sandwich King, Owen Han built his following one ASMR cooking video at a time. Drawing from childhood summers spent cooking with his Italian grandmother and Chinese father, Han brings a cross-cultural lens to handheld meals. His viral 2021 shrimp toast with gochujang mayo—a mashup of Cantonese and Korean flavours—cemented his reputation for bold, unexpected pairings. His cookbook Stacked makes good on that reputation. It's not just about bread—anything you can hold in your hands can be a canvas for flavour. Think Peking duck wrap, hoisin pork burnt ends bao and butter chicken burrito. Easy to follow, full of flavour and anything but basic. Read more: Beyond McDonald's McGriddle: 9 breakfast sandwiches in Hong Kong for which you don't have to queue up from 4am
New York Times
07-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
This Sheet-Pan Chicken Is the Perfect Dinner Recipe
The biggest (and possibly only) challenge of sheet-pan cooking is recovering the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. These caramelized juices and drippings from meats, fish and vegetables can add glorious complexity to any dish — if you can pry the baked-on puddles off the surface of the pan, that is. With a skillet, you simply deglaze it by adding some liquid and then simmering until the browned bits dissolve. But the low sides and way-bigger-than-a-burner width of a sheet pan can make that maneuver awkward. In her recipe for sheet-pan malai chicken and potatoes, Zaynab Issa shows us how to do it right. By pouring liquid into a still-hot pan, she eliminates the need to simmer — she just gives everything a firm stir. Zaynab uses heavy cream and lemon to unlock the drippings, which are an especially savory mélange of warm spices, chicken fat and green chiles. Spooned over roasted, yogurt-marinated chicken thighs and soft potatoes, it makes a rich and silky sauce for this delightful, curry-inspired dish. Featured Recipe View Recipe →
