Ann Yonetani

I've always been a fan of this great publication for their thorough, scientific approach and analysis to recipes--the "why?" of cooking.

I know this is such an old-school cliche, but I really do turn to this book a lot for tried and true standards to which creative twists can be added.

I was gifted this book by a Japanese friend and use it often for simple, modern, everyday Japanese home cooking ideas.

So gorgeous, I want to eat the book itself. I love the huge range of vegetarian dishes in here, encouraging me to use and combine new plant-based ingredients in such delicious ways.

I've been a hardcore fan of Momofuku & co. ever since being one of their very first ramen bar customers. Love his creative, casual and critical approach, a fun read as well.

This is my most recent cookbook purchase after having the great pleasure of dining there. An amazingly beautiful, thoughtful and original cookbook with which I hope to recreate a bit of the meal I enjoyed.

This is the essential book on fermented food--so comprehensive, thorough and precise in its coverage of a huge range of ferments, including both recipes and delightfully extensive culinary/historical/medicinal information.

This is a humungous five-volume set of art books detailing the science & applications of modernist/"molecular" techniques. Might not actually make it to or be of practical use on the desert island, but an incredible illustrated encyclopedia of knowledge in this area of cooking which interests me a lot, as you can see from these last three choices on my list.

The title is accurate; this book is much less a cookbook than an easy-to-read molecular gastronomy (as defined by Herve This) textbook on the chemistry of cooking with great interview material from experts in the field. It does, however, contain many recipes, many with an unconventional "molecular" twist and useful cooking tips. A fun book.

This book is primarily a collection of essays by deep food geeks, examining the biology, chemistry and physics of various dishes with scientifically-informed recipes. A very academic book for food science fans.