Let’s face it, one of the things I miss most about traveling is food. I am renowned for planning entire vacations around restaurants and local cuisines I want to try. I have spreadsheet upon spreadsheet for all our trips highlighting the must-try, hidden gems, and totally stumble upon by luck, restaurants, cafes, markets, etc. So, this year to make up for the loss of new food discoveries, we have invested in a lot of cookbooks from all over the world and tried to recreate all those wonderful flavors in our kitchen. Here are my top five.
Chasing The Gator
I love London and after 15 years of living here and becoming a British citizen, there is no other place I could see myself living in. No place but one: New Orleans, I fell in love with NOLA back in 2017, the food, the culture, the music, the architecture…I could move there in a heartbeat. And it’s one of the places we dream to go back to as soon as we can travel again.
This book is everything you need to make delicious Cajun food, from Gumbo to dirty rice to boudin. Isaac Toups (Toups’ Meatery and Toups South) shares over 100 recipes amongst tall tales and salty stories. I guarantee he will make you fall in love with New Orleans and its delicious food too.
If you are interested in purchasing one of my top cookbooks, check out our link below. Currently, this particular cookbook is only available through the site within the US.
US: Click Here
Cook For Syria
I cannot think of a better Christmas gift than one that also gives back to people who need it most. Cook For Syria is a collection of recipes and photographs donated by top chefs, food writers, and home cooks for a just cause. All profits from the sale of Cook For Syria will be donated to charity in aid of UNICEF’s Children of Syria Fund.
“For those, like me, who live to eat, it’s pretty mind-bending to think of how many people in the world still eat to live. – Yotam Ottolenghi”
Be sure to check out Cook For Syria (one of my favorite top cookbooks!) through the link below if you live in the UK!
UK: Click Here
Bangkok: Recipes And Stories From The Heart Of Thailand
I have been lucky to have traveled to Bangkok often in the past few years and to this day it remains one of my favorite cities in the world. The food in particular is something that I think about often and try to recreate in my kitchen all the time.
Leela Punyaratabandhu, award-winning food writer, has collected family favorites, personal research, and tried-and-true recipes in this stunning book. Just the pictures will pull you in and having you beg for more.
‘Bangkok cookbook will be more suited to those who know—or have a strong desire to know—about the cuisine and the eating culture of Thailand, those who have fallen in love with Bangkok’s local cuisine and are motivated to replicate it faithfully, those who are accustomed to the true and uncompromising tastes and aromas of Thai dishes and ingredients or at least seek to expand their palate, those who are resourceful enough to know where to find necessary ingredients both at their local stores and markets or online, and even those who don’t cook at all but are interested in learning about Thai cuisine and culture.’ -Leela Punyaratabandhu
US: Click Here
UK: Click Here
The Book Of Jewish Food: An Odyssey From Samarkand To New York
This book has been recommended to me by Bébé Voyage Co-Founder Marianne Perez de Fransius. I could not be more grateful, I have only had a book for a couple of months and I have already tried and fallen in love with so many recipes.
Claudia Roden cleverly explores the story of Jewish people, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities, through Jewish cooking in 800 mouth-watering recipes.
US: Click Here
UK: Click Here
Wagamama: Feed Your Soul
This is one of my favourite restaurants: Wagamama (it’s a global chain but one that never fails to deliver with dishes full of Japanese flavour).
This book is a collection of dishes designed for every occasion, from totally made from scratch ramen noodles, sauces, kimchee and stocks, to easy weekday recipes to warm your soul. The best bit of the book is the fact that it always offers suggestions in case you do not have all the ingredients at home.
US: Click Here
UK: Click Here
What are some of your top cookbooks that you keep in your kitchen? Leave us a comment below and let us know!
You may also like these articles from the Bébé Voyage blog:
Editors’ Picks: Our Director Of Content Shares Her Favorite Foods To Try While Traveling
Christmas Markets Around The World Go Virtual For The 2020 Holiday Season!
Responses
Marta! You hit some of my favorite foodie destinations! We were in NOLA in 2017 too! Have you incorporated okra into your cooking yet? Claudia Roden has some good okra recipes too. 😉
And Thailand blew my mind with it’s food diversity.
And Syrian cooking is sooooooooo good. It’s Lebanese food’s forgotten cousin! (Claudia Roden also has some good Syrian recipes and explains the difference between the different Levantine traditions.)