Books

They're Here! The 2017 Piglet Community Picks

by:
February 15, 2017

Happy Piglet Day, everyone! We announced the books competing in The Piglet—the Oscars of cookbooks—just a little bit ago; see the list of finalists here. They'll go head-to-head in an NCAA-style tournament. But there's a friendlier, less-competitive, but just as impassioned part of the Piglet: the Community Picks!

These are 15 books that deserve honorable mentions and—for the first time ever—were chosen by you (over 1,100 of you!!). Every day a Piglet judgment runs, you'll also see a review of a Community Pick filled with insights, favorite moments and recipes, and one-sentence summaries from all of you, dear community. You can keep up with all of them here.

Fun, right? So let's cut to the chase—here are the 2017 Community Picks:

The Art of Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life

By Kate McDermott

P.S. You can cook through The Art of Pie with the rest of our cookbook club.

The Basque Book: A Love Letter in Recipes From the Kitchen Of Txikito

By Alex Raij and Eder Montero

Batch: Over 200 Recipes, Tips and Techniques for a Well Preserved Kitchen

By Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison

Clean Soups: Simple, Nourishing Recipes for Health and Vitality

By Rebecca Katz

Cook Korean! A Comic Book with Recipes

By Robin Ha

Cuba! Recipes and Stories from the Cuban Kitchen

By Dan Goldberg, Andrea Kuhn, and Jody Eddy

Eat in My Kitchen: To Cook, to Bake, to Eat, and to Treat

By Meike Peters

Far Afield: Rare Food Encounters from Around the World

By Shane Mitchell and James Fisher

Food with Friends: The Art of Simple Gatherings

By Leela Cyd

The Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook

By Theresa Carle-Sanders

Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs

By Julia Turshen

Sous Vide at Home: The Modern Technique for Perfectly Cooked Meals

By Lisa Q. Fetterman

Sweeter Off the Vine: Fruit Desserts for Every Season

By Yossy Arefi

The Vanilla Bean Baking Book: Recipes for Irresistible Everyday Favorites and Reinvented Classics

By Sarah Kieffer

Vegan Goodness: Delicious Plant-Based Recipes That Can Be Enjoyed Everyday

By Jessica Prescott

All images by Bobbi Lin.

Shop the Story

Tell us: Which book are you surprised to see on this list? (We love our community for their diverse taste!)

GET THE LATEST

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.

  • suzanne
    suzanne
  • Teresa @ onewetfoot.ca
    Teresa @ onewetfoot.ca
  • Nanda Garber
    Nanda Garber
  • LucyS
    LucyS
  • Ali Slagle
    Ali Slagle
Food52 (we cook 52 weeks a year, get it?) is a food and home brand, here to help you eat thoughtfully and live joyfully.

13 Comments

suzanne February 15, 2017
OMG, I didn't know that Galbadon did a cookbook but as an 'everything' Outlander I gotta get it, even if I never make or eat haggis and neep. Ugh!
 
Teresa @. February 15, 2017
This looks like just as great a line up of books as the main competition! Can't wait to read all about them!
 
Nanda G. February 15, 2017
Ali, is there a good way to stay informed of the Community category posts like this one? They don't appear in the emails from Food52, so do ppl just keep checking the website? I can't remember to do this but would love to be more active.
 
Ali S. February 15, 2017
Hi there! All Piglet posts will be found on this page: https://food52.com/topics/the-2017-piglet
 
Nanda G. February 15, 2017
Sorry, I mean the Community category of posts, not just the Piglet posts. So, for instance, how did people know to vote before this post? Do they just check under the Community tag when they visit the website?
 
LucyS February 15, 2017
Was there a community pick tester sign up this year?
 
Ali S. February 15, 2017
Hi LucyS: We're doing things a little differently this year, since the community voters had such good thoughts on the books they nominated. The reviews will be made up of feedback compiled from the community voters. That said, if there's a book you're like to review (quickly!), email me: [email protected].
 
Kristen R. February 16, 2017
I'm sorry to hear about this change. I've been looking forward to that aspect all year, and despite following on social, somehow missed the voting post in early Dec. I always feel like I'm missing posts and contests on this site and not sure how to stay more involved. Love what you guys do, just wish I could figure out to stay more on top of things.
 
Malia February 21, 2017
I agree with Kristen 100%.
 
Terry H. February 22, 2017
Also dissapointed with the change, and strongly agree that it's difficult to keep track of these things.
 
Lindsay-Jean H. February 22, 2017
Hi all - Just wanted to let you all know that one way to get really involved with the community and cookbooks is with our cookbook club! You can read more about it here: https://food52.com/blog/18922-join-our-inaugural-community-cookbook-club and find our group on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1891444884421806/
 
Leil February 28, 2017
I too was looking forward to volunteering to review--I really enjoyed it last year. I also find it hard to figure out when piglet related things are happening. It would be so nice if there was a separate mailing list for piglet things you could sign up for so you don't miss it!
 
Ali S. February 28, 2017
Leil, In fact there is a separate mailing list! You can sign up here: https://food52.com/blog/19084-sign-up-for-the-piglet-bulletin-for-exclusive-recipes-from-winning-cookbooks

And all Piglet-related posts live on this page: https://food52.com/topics/the-2017-piglet