Johanna Mendelson Forman

This cookbook is one of two books I used when I was first married and in graduate school when I was learning to cook. Claiborne provided good instructions. The recipes had an international flair, yet were not too complex for a beginner.

When I first moved to Washington, D.C. in 1971 a co-worker decided to help me improve my cooking skills. She bought me this great little paperback which remains an important go-to for specific recipes. The fruit torte is one of the easiest and tastiest cakes for all seasons. While other recipes may be dated, I remain devoted to this little book and keep it on my kitchen bookshelf.

How can anyone not like the Silver Palate Cookbook? I remember their retail store in New York City. Their famous Chicken Marbella recipe became the standard for those interested in the new flavors of modern American cuisine. Even Ottolenghi has adapted this recipe using dates and credits these two women for inventing a classic on American tables.

This beautiful cookbook contains some of the tastiest recipes reflecting the borderless nature of cuisine in the Middle East. Of all of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, this volume has a depth of wisdom, a plethora of good and easy recipes, and a deep sense of place. It is my go-to for such dishes as chicken with clementines!

A recent addition to my kitchen library, this cookbook is more than a series of recipes, but a global exploration of how diasporas spread their cuisines and adopt them to the new location. Recipes are clear, and some of the cakes and cookies, but especially the Ethiopian challah are worth the price of the book.

Georgian food was once considered the only edible cuisine available during the dark days of the Soviet Union. Goldstein, a food scholar and former editor of Gastronomica, has written a cookbook about one of the most interesting cuisines that take you way beyond katchapuri that is often associated with Georgian cuisine. The anniversary edition updates the text and adds some new recipes.

This cookbook was created at the height of the Syrian conflict when thousands of people fled the country in one of the most devastating civil wars. The book contains an assortment of recipes from chefs around the world. Proceeds from the sale went to charities supporting the Syrian refugees.

I first cut my teeth on the food south of the border as a high school student in Mexico City. Gabriela Camara, a successful chef and restauranteur, has created a very enjoyable and most important, an accessible book to the excellent foods of the city – nothing fancy, but just delicious. Her Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe is one of the best and easiest to prepare.

In 2015 during the Milan Food Expo, Boturra wanted a way to use the food waste from the Expo to help feed the homeless of that city. With the collaboration of a local Catholic parish, and with the blessing of the Pope, Boturra opened the first Refettorio. He invited some of the greatest chefs in the world to come and cook in the church’s refettorio kitchen to repurpose food waste and create what I consider to be the beginning of the social gastronomy movement. The book is a testament to how food has become a means of connecting and also a way to create social integration. Today there are Refettorio dining rooms in London, Paris and Rio de Janeiro with another planned for New York City.

The kitchen is the new venue of foreign policy, and this cookbook takes that to heart. In a very clever book of recipes that follow what was in 2003 called the Axis of Evil by the George Bush administration, Fair takes on the cuisines of countries that were named to be part of this cabal – from Cuba, to Iran, she also adds her own take on bad actors that have fascinating cuisines. A true “conflict cuisine” cookbook.