Community

Nominate Your Favorite Cookbooks of the Year

February 28, 2018

While The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks highlights the 16 cookbooks we deemed the most impressive of 2017 (check ‘em out here!), it’s only 16 books—out of heaps and heaps of cookbooks that came out last year. Yes, "heaps and heaps" is an official count.

Last year, everyone from cinephiles and taco lovers to bakers with some spare dough laying around had a cookbook come out just for them. Heck, if you like vinegar, two books came out for you. As Paula Forbes put it in her article, “2017 is coming on strong right out of the gate, with big names (Paul Kahan, Moosewood), big ideas (3-ingredient cocktails, modern slow cooker recipes), and big flavors (QUESO!).” And now we even have a new section on our bookshelves: Instant Pot cookbooks!

2017 was overall a great year for cookbooks: Sales were up 8% over the previous year—just the top ten bestselling cookbooks sold nearly 1.5 million copies—so it's likely that the 16 Piglet contenders are maybe missing a few favorites (we did our best!), which is where your Community Picks come in. We want to know what cookbooks you held close last year, and what we should cook from them.

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This year, the Piglet Community Picks will go a little differently: In this Google form, make your really compelling case for which book(s) should’ve been in the Piglet. We’ll tabulate the results and select the top books and share them with you next week!

Join The Conversation

Top Comment:
“I know that the nominations are "closed," but in addition to Dining In, which I still can't get over is not in The Piglet, I think Bread Toast Crumbs is a good book. It was given to me as a gift, and I was surprised by how much I like it. It has some really great recipes and a lot of good ideas.”
— Victoria C.
Comment

All sound good? Get to voting!

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The Piglet—inspired by The Morning News' Tournament of Books—is where the 16 most notable cookbooks of the year face off in a NCAA-style bracketed tournament. Watch the action and weigh in on the results!

GET THE LATEST

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • zooeybechamel
    zooeybechamel
  • Victoria Carr
    Victoria Carr
  • Anne Duckett
    Anne Duckett
  • Morningside Heights
    Morningside Heights
  • CaffeineSpasms
    CaffeineSpasms
Editor/writer/stylist. Author of I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To). Last name rhymes with bagel.

22 Comments

zooeybechamel March 19, 2018
still no results?
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 19, 2018
They're here! https://food52.com/blog/21870-2018-piglet-community-picks
 
Victoria C. March 14, 2018
I know that the nominations are "closed," but in addition to Dining In, which I still can't get over is not in The Piglet, I think Bread Toast Crumbs is a good book. It was given to me as a gift, and I was surprised by how much I like it. It has some really great recipes and a lot of good ideas.
 
Anne D. March 9, 2018
4 Nominations: Milk Street by Christopher Kimball, Bringing it Home by Gail Simmons and Beyond the Plate:Top Food Blogs From Around the World, and Dining In by Alison Roman
 
Morningside H. March 8, 2018
Dining In by Alison Roman. I was surprised it didn't make the Piglet list. Also Smitten Kitchen and Saffron Tales by Yasmin Khan.
 
CaffeineSpasms March 7, 2018
Darn! Missed the deadline! Anyway, I've been cooking a lot from Back Pocket Pasta and while I wasn't surprised that it didn't make the Piglet, I for sure want to spread the word that it is a carb-filled delight.
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 8, 2018
Good news, we've extended the deadline for entries to Monday 3/12, so please weigh in via the link above!
 
Victoria C. March 7, 2018
Dining In was my favorite cookbook of the year, and I have moved beyond shocked to aghast that it wasn't in the lineup.
 
Pam H. March 7, 2018
Totally agree. Two others I’d add in are Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman, and Real Food Heals by Seamus Mullen. Deb Perelman’s recipes are always stellar, and Mullen has a great approach for eating healthfully.
 
zooeybechamel March 5, 2018
when will the finalists be announced? I saw no information regarding deadlines and the Piglet tournament is already on...should't the reviews be out at the same time?
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 6, 2018
There won't be reviews this year, but the Piglet Community Picks will be revealed at the end of this week! (Love your username!)
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 8, 2018
Circling back to let you know that the Community Picks won't be revealed quite yet as we've extended the deadline for submissions to Monday the 12th to make sure everyone has a chance to get their favorites in!
 
zooeybechamel March 13, 2018
Are you revealing them today?
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 13, 2018
Later this week!
 
txchick57 March 5, 2018
The Fearless Baker by Erin McDowell (of Food 52). Really underappreciated book.

The Artful Baker by Cenk Sonmezsoy
 
Lindsay-Jean H. March 6, 2018
Hi txchick57, have you joined our Baking Club on Facebook? We're baking through The Fearless Baker this month!
 
txchick57 March 8, 2018
I'd rather drive nails into my eyes than sign up for Facebook. Too bad, I'd like to read that.
 
txchick57 March 8, 2018

Jesse Felder
‏ @jessefelder
8m8 minutes ago

‘Facebook tracks your buying habits, location, which apps you’re using, web browsing history, etc. It adds this to your salary, car preference, home size and political affiliations to create a very good portrait of you it can sell to the highest bidder.’
 
boulangere March 2, 2018
Not strictly a cookbook, The Comfort Food Diaries by Emily Rees Nunn (a Food52 contributor) is a wonderful read full of recipes for foods which ultimately brought her back home. To herself.
 
EmilyNunn March 13, 2018
Thank you, Boulangere!❤️❤️❤️
 
Elizabeth G. March 1, 2018
Sweet by Helen Goh and Yotam Ottolenghi. Undoubtedly the best book of this year along with Bravetart and Dining In. Three best. Ever.
 
Bevi March 1, 2018
I think Dining In by Alison Roman is one of the best cookbooks of the year. It's designed to elevate home cooking with approachable recipes.