Kristina Soljo
Looking for the best cookbook? Every December, we delight in picking the best cookbooks of the year. These range from the most recommended cookbooks and popular cookbooks that make for great Christmas gifts to the best recipe books full of heart from celebrated chefs and home cooks.
In 2024, we’ve cooked our way through this year’s releases to present the 10 new classics to work into your repertoire. From Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s fourth book that celebrates the seasons to a dreamy collection of coastal Italian recipes to a weeknight cooking bible full of easy wins.
Best cookbooks of 2024
Good Cooking Every Day, Julia Busuttil Nishimura
Busuttil Nishimura’s reputation precedes her. When her fourth book landed on our desk, we knew to expect everyday recipes to inspire and delight. Working our way through, we also discovered a celebration of the seasons. From winter’s excess of greens (potato and silverbeet al forno) to summer’s zucchini flowers (stracci with zucchini and their flowers), mid-week meals get a delicious upgrade. (Plum, $45).
Chae, Jung Eun Chae
Melbourne chef Jung Eun Chae believes patience is a virtue. You’ll need it when faced with the 8000-person waitlist to dine at Chae, the micro-restaurant she runs from home. And you’ll need it to master the ferments in this slow Korean cookbook. The rewards are worth waiting for. (Hardie Grant, $60).
On Sundays, Dave Verheul
From Monday through to Saturday, Verheul sets the standard at his excellent Melbourne wine bar, Embla. On a Sunday, the New Zealand-born chef relaxes into a long lunch. Organised into seasons, this is a blow-by-blow account of what and how the chef cooks when he entertains at home. (Hardie Grant, $55).
Love Crumbs, Nadine Ingram
A birthday, a heartbreak, a rite of passage; these are the reasons we bake. For Flour & Stone’s Nadine Ingram, cake is also a love language. In this “meaningful memoir of cake”, as she describes it, Ingram documents the recipes she has developed to bring sweetness into people’s lives. (Simon & Schuster, $55).
Italian Coastal, Amber Guinness
Dreams of moving to Italy will be bolstered by this swoon-worthy book. In her follow up to A House Party in Tuscany, the focus shifts from farmhouse to the Tyrrhenian Sea. And it’s a marvellous place
to summer. (Thames & Hudson, $60).
A Fish For All Seasons, Sydney Fish Market
Consider this your sustainable seafood roadmap. The Sydney Fish Market is on a mission to put under-utilised seafood species on our menus. It starts here with a stunning sea urchin taglioni and a barbecued redclaw with brown butter among the 100-strong recipe collection. (Sydney Fish Market, $58).
Easy Wins, Anna Jones
When simple ingredients come together as more than the sum of their parts, it’s an easy win. In this weeknight cooking bible, best-selling British author Anna Jones zeros in on 12 hero ingredients across a dozen chapters. The result? 125 recipes to cook on repeat. (4th Estate, $55).
Adriatico, Paola Bacchia
Bacchia’s passion project is an express ticket to Italy’s Adriatic coast. In these pages, the Melbourne-born Italophile traverses her mother’s homeland through food. Cucina povera lives on. (Smith Street Books, $55).
Eat NYC, Yasmin Newman
Proving New York isn’t just a city, it’s a mindset, Newman gets us into a Manhattan mood with this recipe compilation. An everything bagel, pizza by the slice, a Reuben worthy of When Harry Met Sally are among the highlights. (Smith Street Books, $65).
Ho Jiak, Junda Khoo
The chef and owner behind the Ho Jiak empire shares his origins story in recipe format. From his amah’s (grandmother’s) congee to the juicy Hainan chicken he learnt from his favourite street vendor in Malaysia, this volume is a tasty tribute to the influences that shaped him. (Hardie Grant Books, $55).
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