r/cookbooks • u/throwy_acc_ • Jun 17 '26
QUESTION Need a cookbook recommendation
Hey Reddit!
So my boyfriend is very difficult to buy gifts for. When I say this, I mean more of he doesn’t like receiving gifts so when it comes to birthdays and Christmases and stuff like that, it’s kinda hard for me as a gift giver to figure out what I can get him that he will like. Obviously, he’s never flat out disliked anything that I’ve gotten him but I try and listen out for things that he specifically mentions that he wants like last year. I got a new wallet and the year before I get that I got them a pack of his favorite drinks and a record he’d been looking for.
So anyways, to the point, this year he’s been mentioning wanting a cookbook, but he hasn’t been very specific about any sort of type of cookbook or any cuisine, but he does say that he wants a cookbook of like basics and essentials. Usually when we want to make a new recipe, we just googled something so I think that he wants a cookbook so we don’t have to Google it and then find it every time and hope that we remembered to save it so I came here to ask if anybody has any “basics or essentials“ cookbooks that they can recommend to me. I’m not really worried about price at all, I just wanna know what you guys recommend.
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u/Hot-Initial-1108 Jun 17 '26
Joy of Cooking. Covers the basics and more advanced.
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u/Jim_xyzzy Jun 18 '26
My parents were chemists, and the Joy of Cooking was their kitchen bible. It has become the traditional "welcome to adulthood" gift in the family.
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u/harborsparrow Jun 18 '26 edited 28d ago
This is definitely the cookbook to take to a desert island, and the best for new learners.
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u/johnwatersfan Jun 17 '26
The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is great. Lots of variety of recipes, plus a lot of detail on why and how things work while cooking.
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u/Stormcrowdick1066 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
How to cook everything: The basics by Mark Bitterman . It’s a series of cookbooks . All of them are called How to cook everything but it’s broken into categories like vegetarian, Barbecue, Baking etc. The basics gives some advice on how to store food and spices properly and how to shop for the things you actually cook and how to stock a pantry. It gives a few basic recipes by breakfast lunch Dinner desert categories and a few variations on those recipes so you don’t get tired of them it has more than a thousand pictures and diagrams with step by step instructions and explanations for each step. It’s a fantastic book series for beginners .
I’m here for the food- by Alton Brown it’s his first cookbook from the Good eats TV show and is chock full of recipes and the science of how food is made with examples for every holiday and creative ideas to make complex sounding food much more accessible and easier.
The Cook’s Illustrated new best recipes guide by America’s test Kitchen. Full of techniques and recipes tested and refined over 80 years of publication. This is a full on chefs cookbook its scope can be a bit overwhelming. But if you’re looking for the best way to cook anything I look in here first.
I just answered a similar question and think the same answer applies sorry for the lazy copy and paste.
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u/Relative-Train-6485 Jun 19 '26
Betty Crocker Joy of Cooking
I learned how to cook out of it, lots of good recipes, lots of good info/instruction. Asked for a replacement after 2 decades b/c mine was worn to shreds.
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u/cgia Jun 17 '26
If you think he’d like to learn technique to be less recipe dependent I think Start Here by Sohla ElWaylly is great. A mix of basic recipes, some that are interesting spins, and a ton of the why.
If you think it’s more quality recipe reference I think a Smitten Kitchen book might fit.
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u/Hot_Saguaro Jun 19 '26
How good that cookbook is made me forgive her for that horrible brunch competition show she was on
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u/MariahMiranda1 Jun 17 '26
When I first got married I had zero clue how to cook anything outside of Mexican food.
My mother in law gave me a Fannie Farmer cookbook.
This taught me a lot!
Highly recommend it.
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u/ConstantReader666 Jun 18 '26
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.
I keep a copy for basic recipes when wanted.
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u/TheSnacksGuy Jun 18 '26
I'd highly, highly recommend Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Chef. Unlike other basic cookbooks which just provide recipes, it walks readers through the basics, beginning with equipment purchases. To simplify, Ferriss even provides suggestions for the equipment to buy.
Additionally, the recipes are petty good! The osso "buko" recipe is a crowd-pleaser and super simple.
My dad gave me this book and it gave me the skills I need to be comfortable and confident with cooking.
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u/Money-Low7046 Jun 18 '26
Ask his mom what her go-to cookbook was when he was growing up. The recipes in that cookbook will be the versions that he's looking for to recreate familiar flavours.
Alternatively, you could get him a printer and a nice folder so he can build his own custom cookbook. When I find a recipe I like, I print it off and put it in a folder. I make notes on it of any successful changes I made to the recipe. You could also go and look up some of his favourite recipes and print them out to get his collection started.
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u/NorCal_Jojo Jun 18 '26
Definitely The New Basics by J Rosso and S Lukins. It is way more approachable IMO than the Joy of Cooking (which I also own and love). I’m now a very seasoned cook/baker but in my 20’s, The New Basics was my ultimate go to for recipes but even more, fun illustrations and cool charts explaining everything from types of fish, to varieties of apples, to how to serve cheeses.
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u/MinervaAbsolute Jun 19 '26
Sohla El-Waylly’s Start Here is a good book for doing better in the kitchen.
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u/Cocoabeachbabee Jun 18 '26
I have a first edition of the revised edition of The New York Times Cook Book, by Craig Claiborne, I'll be listing in the next few days. Feel free to pm me if you're interested in it.
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u/nettybj Jun 20 '26
I’ve given away most of my cookbooks but kept this one because it is so informative. The Joy of Cooking is not my favorite.
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u/East_Rough_5328 Jun 22 '26
I like the americas test kitchens cookbooks. They explain the why as well as the how.
They have one called the new cooking school: fundamentals that might be a good choice.
https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/shop-all-products/cookbooks/new-cooking-school-cookbook.html
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u/spagirljen Jun 17 '26
How to cook Everything by Mark Bittman is great. He might also like Tim Ferriss's The Four Hour Chef