The Piglet
Meet Our 16 Favorite Cookbooks of 2018 (& Tell Us Yours)
The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks is crying "wee-wee-wee" into its 10th year.
Have we reached a Golden Age of cookbooks in 2018? We certainly think so. Which is why we're thrilled to welcome another rousing rendition of the Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, now celebrating its 10th birthday (my, don't they grow up fast?)!
Kicking off in March 2019, the nearly month-long, bracket-style tournament will go down in four rounds. 16 incredible cookbooks go head-to-head in the first round, and will be reviewed against one another by an illustrious cast of judges. Over the three weeks that follow, the strongest books advance through the rounds until one winner comes out on top. Along the way, all manner of surprises, upsets, triumphs, and oops!es in the mix will keep you hanging out on the edge of your seat!
In addition to the drama, the Piglet is all about getting acquainted with some of the year's best cookbooks. And boy, do we have a line-up for you. In fact, we were too excited to keep our picks to ourselves that we had to share them with you, here and now.
But—before you scroll down—there's more we'd like to share! We're bringing back Piglet Community Picks, the tournament's more laid-back, just as festive cousin. It goes a little something like this: you nominate your favorite cookbooks from 2018 that didn't make it into this year's Piglet, we share the 10 nominees you loved best, and give you the chance to pick one to review at home and send our way.
We'll select a handful of these reviews, and will run them on the site once a week, starting in January, right up until the Piglet tournament starts in March. (We hope that helps you cope with the anticipation for the tournament—we know we'll definitely need it.)
Now that the housekeeping's taken care of, without further ado, here are (in no particular order)...
Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food by Nik Sharma
Rose's Baking Basics: 100 Essential Recipes, with More Than 600 Step-by-Step Photos by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One by Anita Lo
At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking by Nigella Lawson
Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel by Alon Shaya
All About Cake by Christina Tosi
Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day by Alexander Smalls, JJ Johnson & Veronica Chambers
Superiority Burger Cookbook: The Vegetarian Hamburger Is Now Delicious by Brooks Headley
Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes by Todd Richards
Coconuts and Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South by Von Diaz
Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories by Naz Deravian
How to Eat a Peach: Menus, Stories, and Places by Diana Henry
Mastering Pizza: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pizza, Focaccia, and Calzone by Marc Vetri
The Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes by James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst
The Noma Guide to Fermentation(Foundations of Flavor) by René Redzepi and David Zilber
I Am a Filipino: And This Is How We Cook by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad
We're so excited about this year's Piglet books! Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments. And stay tuned for Piglet Community Picks reviews, starting on January 11!
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
Written by: Brinda Ayer
Popular on Food52
35 Comments
I say this from a place of love - I'm a Philadelphian with deep respect for what Vetri does.
As I've mentioned above, there were soooo many good books out in 2018, it was super-hard to choose 16. I hope you find another cookbook gem you love as much as Saladish during this year's Piglet.
We're avid cooks and have made many drool-worthy burgers that I dream about from Green Burgers---and we're not even vegetarian. The guy is just a genius about flavor combos and every recipe is so darn satisfying (and clearly well-tested), I could imagine it pulling off an unlikely vegetarian cookbook win were it included in the Piglet. I guess I'll have to submit it to Community Picks and hope it helps this gem of a book get more attention.
As for Green Burgers, my colleague Emma LOVED that book, too, and wrote about it here: https://food52.com/blog/21782-the-greenest-veggie-burger . Can't wait to get my hands on it and try out some dishes—clearly it's gotten some high praise from your household and from Emma.
Very interesting point about the Noma Guide to Fermentation. I've just been keeping in mind that Brooks Headley's Fancy Desserts did win some Piglets ago, so to me, could be anyone's game. Glad you're liking the book, though—can't wait to try out the kombucha recipes, myself.
Join The Conversation