Community Cookbook Faves!

The world of cookbooks is endless… dating back to CENTURIES ago! In our recent video, we cooked up a dish from ‘Mrs Beeton’s Guide to Household Management’ (1861), which talked us through how to run a household in the Victorian British era. 

In honour of this, we’ve put together an iconic list of cookbooks ONLY from community recommendations -  we were overwhelmed by the weird, wacky and wonderful responses we received. We had a blast putting these together and hope you enjoy reading them… let’s get started!

1. Heroes’ Cookbook: The official D&D cookbook

(Authors: Michael Witwer, Jon Peterson, Kyle Newman)

Ah, the epic world of dungeons and dragons - a popular role-playing and tabletop fantasy game! What do the dungeons and dragons games consist of you might ask? This mystical world involves embodying warriors, elves and everything in between… a staggering 50 million people have played the game to date (even more since lockdown)! So, this brings us to the 2020 cookbook dedicated to D&D (a New York Times bestseller), which includes 80 dishes (and cocktails), created by a professional chef. 

Standout Recipe: Bytopian Shepherd’s Bread

This dish is presented in thick slices and includes grated carrots! Other dishes include ‘Drow Mushroom Steaks’ and ‘Hommlet Golden Brown Roasted Turkey’. 

2. Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen

(Author: Zoe Adjonyoh)

Zoe has described this incredibly successful cookbook as ‘her love letter to Ghana’, which explores stunning West African dishes and spices! Zoe’s mission is to give West African food the acknowledgement it deserves via not just her cookbook, but also through mobile catering, a former restaurant space in London, kitchen residencies and supper clubs! As a ‘Black lesbian from a working-class immigrant background’, Zoe has described creating change within the food industry as one of her biggest drives.

Standout Recipe: Pan-roasted cod with grains of paradise

Grains of paradise are roasted before grinding to ‘enhance rather than overpower’ the cod! This dish is super quick and is drizzled with fresh lemon juice at the end for a zesty finish.

3. Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch 

(Author: Jake Cohen)

Another New York Times bestseller (2021), this incredible cookbook explores traditional Jewish recipes with a modern flair! Drawing from his Ashkenazi heritage combined with a Persian-Iraqi influence from his husband, Cohen has reinvented some classics. Cohen made it to the iconic ‘30 under 30’ Forbes list for food and drink and has almost 2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok!

Standout Recipe: Jake’s Perfect Challah

Challah is a bread of Jewish origin which is typically enjoyed on special events and occasions - the loaf is braided and is rich with eggs! Other dishes that can be found in the cookbook are ‘Roasted Tomato Bisket’ and ‘Matzo Tiramisu’. Fun fact, matzo is made from unleavened bread and is usually eaten by Jewish people during the celebration of Passover.

4. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers

(Author: Loren Bouchard)

Bob’s Burgers is an animated American-comedy series that sees the main character (Bob Belcher) run his dream burger joint with his family. Whilst the show was not instantly popular, it gradually managed to rack up an impressive 10.9 million views per episode and has built a HUGE following! Given this, it’s no surprise that the cookbook, which has 75 ‘burgers of the day from the show’, has over 11.5 thousand reviews on Amazon.

Standout Recipe: Bleu is the Warmest Cheese Burger

As mentioned in the name (which sounds delicious might we add), this dish refers to a beef patty burger with celery, blue cheese and a buffalo sauce. This is taken from season 5, episode 9 (‘Speakeasy Rider’), which is mentioned in the heading on the cookbook page - a must-have gift for Bob’s Burgers fans!

5. The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma's Kitchen

(Author: Joanne Lee Molinaro)

This visually stunning cookbook shares 80 plant-based recipes, each with a story to tell from Molinaro’s history! With over 4 million followers across her social platforms, Molinaro has developed a fan base for sharing her recipes and the beautiful, thought-provoking ideas behind them. Like many people out there, she began her TikTok page at the peak of the pandemic in 2020 as a coping mechanism. Her home town is Chicago and her parents are from North Korea, which is the inspiration behind many of her meals.

Standout Recipe: Jajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon, aka noodles in a black bean sauce, is a recipe that Molinaro used to have growing up! Another very special recipe she talks about is her ‘Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake’ - this references the foods that ‘saved her mother’s life’ as she fled from North Korea.

Have you ever cooked from these books before? Tag us on Instagram and Twitter to let us know… and while you’re at it, check out our cookbooks too on our website!

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