Whether you?ve never quite graduated from making quesadillas and guacamole to real food, or you have a tank of liquid nitrogen in your apartment for re-creating El Bulli favorites, I think most twenty-somethings could use a little of the basics, as well as some inspiration, to get cooking.? These are some of the favorites we turn to time and time again. They cover almost anything any Gen Y could ever want to eat, except for maybe Carbonated Mojito Spheres?
Chez Panisse, Vegetables ? AliceWaters, ($21.01 on Amazon)
Mom always said ?you need to eat more vegetables,? right?? Well, its time to learn how to make them properly!? Alice Waters is the queen of taking fresh, in season produce and cooking it to bring out the subtleties in flavor and texture, making that eggplant the very best eggplant it can be.? Waters herself is a champion of the slow food movement and aims at creating good tasting chow both in her restaurant and in her book:
?I feel that good food should be a right and not a privilege and it needs to be without pesticides and herbicides. And everybody deserves this food. And that?s not elitist,? said Waters.
Her book also delves into how to store, select, and prep almost every veggie you?ve ever heard of and probably 20 you don?t know.
The Silver Spoon, Phaidon Press, ($32.97 on Amazon)
It?s a pretty safe bet to make these days that anyone and everyone likes Italian food.? This book has some great recipes (more than 2,000 of them) for old favorite dishes that you should know how to make, as well as some more regional Italian dishes that are easy enough to master, but still high on the impressive factor. Delicious Days blogger Nicky Simpson said ?the book?s long history of being a definitive book in any Italian kitchen, makes you feel to have found the origins of the Italian cuisine.?
Think Like A Chef, Tom Colicchio, ($14.80 on Amazon)
Tom Colicchio maybe best known for his role as a judge on Top Chef, but he actually got his start founding The Gramercy Tavern in New York and now Craft and Colicchio & Sons as well.? This cookbook will inspire you to think about how to put together a meal properly and learn to build complex flavors out of simple ingredients.? Don?t buy this one expecting only recipes ? it has much more than that. Technique, ingredients, and an inspiring look to begin your journey into becoming a top chef.
Jeni?s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, ($14.93 on Amazon)
The famed Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni?s Splendid Ice Creams doesn?t disappoint in this cool, yet science geeky, with a hint of business savvy, all rolled together into one nice little package.? If you don?t know Jeni?s Splendid Ice Creams, they use locally sourced ingredients to make wacky, yet unbelievably tasty ice creams like goat cheese with roasted cognac figs and pale ale apricot.? And hey, everyone should make at least one batch of homemade ice cream in their lives.
Momofuku, David Chang and Peter Meehan, ($22.72 on Amazon)
If Italian is the old standby we can always count on, then Asian fusion is the fun new person in town everyone wants to be friends with.? And nobody does Asian better than Momofuku, the chain of boutique restaurants.? Get this one as much for the stories as for the recipes.? It definitely requires some out of the ordinary ingredients and cooking methods, but the results are worth it ? Pork ramen?? Yes please!
What are your favorite cookbooks and how have they helped you get cooking? Tell us in the comments!
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