UPDATE: The 2014 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks!

The Piglet is almost here! See the full line-up of books and judges -- and score your own copies in Provisions to follow along -- below! 

Update: Official play now begins on Wednesday, February 12th. Get your brackets ready. 

It's that time of year you've all been waiting for: Starting on Wednesday, February 12th, join us every weekday morning for a new cookbook match-up, judged by some of the biggest names in the food world and beyond.

If you're new to The Piglet, here's how it works: It's our NCAA-style tournament in which we seed the 16 best cookbooks from the past year into brackets and face them off. We pass each pair of books to our expert judges, they cook from the books and write up their decisions, and you get to weigh in on each day's outcome until only one remains -- the 2014 Piglet winner.

Just like last year, we'll be running Piglet Community Picks, in which our community members (yes you!) cook from our list of 2014 Community Pick nominations, and then deliver their judgments on the site each day. 

And we'd set aside a party outfit -- you're invited to the Piglet celebration at the very beginning of March. We'll update you with details very soon. 

Below is our fantastic panel of judges, who hail from all corners of food and media. For even more info, head to our 2014 Judges' page. 

David Chang, owner of Momofuku restaurants and co-founder of Lucky Peach
Aran Goyoaga, stylist, photographer, and blogger at Cannelle et Vanille
April Bloomfield, cookbook author, previous Piglet winner, and chef at The Spotted Pig
Josh Malina, actor and producer
Amanda Cohen, chef and owner of Dirt Candy
Tad Friend, staff writer for The New Yorker
Maxwell Ryan, writer; CEO and founder of Apartment Therapy
Kerry Diamond, editorial director of Cherry Bombe
Christina Tosi, chef, owner, and founder of Momofuku Milk Bar
Kat Kinsman, writer and managing editor of CNN's Eatocracy
Evan Hansen, senior editor at Medium
Tejal Rao, writer, cook, and senior editor at Saveur
Sam Sifton, writer, editor, and former restaurant critic for The New York Times
Brian Boitano, Olympic figure skater and cookbook author
Andrea Gentl, photographer, of Gentl and Hyers 
Nicholas Day, author and contributor to Slate and Food52
Liz Larkin, Food52er and purveyor of award-winning scones 
Emily Vikre, writer, contributor to Food52, food policy student, and co-owner of Vikre Distillery

And here's the official list of contenders for the 2014 Piglet. To add any one of these to your bookshelf, click the book title or image -- or head to The Piglet collection on Provisions! Our official brackets are here; you can download and print them out, fill in your predictions, and follow along.

Robicelli's: A Love Story, with Cupcakes
by Allison and Matt Robicelli

The New Persian Kitchen
by Louisa Shafia 

Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals from Our Restaurants to Your Home
by Michael Romano and Karen Stabiner

Vegetable Literacy
by Deborah Madison

Saving the Season
by Kevin West

The Art of Fermentation
by Sandor Ellix Katz

Notes from the Larder: A Kitchen Diary with Recipes
by Nigel Slater

Balaboosta
by Einat Admony

 

The A.O.C. Cookbook
by Suzanne Goin

Roberta's Cookbook
by Carlo Mirarchi, Brandon Hoy, Chris Parachini, and Katherine Wheelock 

The Art of Simple Food II
by Alice Waters 

 

Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating with Southern Hospitality
by Anne Stiles Quatrano

Whole-Grain Mornings
by Megan Gordon

Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen
by Edward Lee

Flour, Too
by Joanne Chang

Fresh Happy Tasty: An Adventure in 100 Recipes
by Jane Coxwell 

Photos by James Ransom