Jewish Cookbook Ranks #3 in Top 50 List
Trying to decide the world’s best cookbooks is a futile endeavor. As food critics Jay Rayner, Bill Buford, Rachel Cooke and Allan Jenkins write in this weekend’s Observer Food Monthly “After all, one person’s sauce-stained personal favourite is another’s shelf-filling waste of space.”
But the team of writers, along with several other noted foodies, made an honorable effort when they compiled “The 50 best cookbooks.” The list, which is dominated by Brits, spans the earth’s cuisines, including Chinese, French and American fare. And, in a pleasantly surprise, it lists Claudia Roden’s 1996 “The Book of Jewish Food” at number three. Jay Raynor, the toughest critic on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters praises it: “In truth it is less a cookbook than a cultural over view of the entire Jewish diaspora, with appropriate recipes attached.”
Other classics, including Julia Child’s original “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and Alice Water’s “Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook” come in at 21 and 11 respectively, not even breaking into the top ten.
Israeli/British chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegetarian cookbook “Plenty,” which debuted in the UK earlier this year, rings in at number 40.
For excerpts from several of the books, check out Eater’s coverage of the list.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
