Guest blog: Best cookbooks of 2009
What were the best cookbooks of 2009?
Year-end lists are as arbitrary as human nature. Cookbook lists pose even more of a problem, mixing in more variables. (What sort of food do you like, compared to the person compiling the list? How skilled are you in the kitchen?) along with the usual issues of writing and style.
Adding a little analytical heft to the process, Publisher鈥檚 Weekly took on the job of 鈥渞ounding up the roundups鈥� and comparing eight year-end cookbook lists, from the New York Times to websites like . To my pleasure, they also included one of my favorite sources of cookbook reviews, , a site that only launched in October of 2008, and regularly features smart, in-depth, and unflinchingly honest assessments.
PW鈥檚 conclusion? There were two 鈥済imme鈥� cookbooks of the year, both featuring celebrity chefs: The much-heralded "" by David Chang and Peter Meehan (on five of the eight lists), followed by "" by Thomas Keller with Dave Cruz (on four lists). I was surprised to see that "" by Eugenia Bone, which seemed to me a landmark heralding a new era of home cooking, only made one list (Amazon.com), and that Molly Wizenberg鈥檚 lovely 鈥�A Homemade Life鈥� wasn鈥檛 on any (perhaps it was classified as a memoir). I never would have heard of 鈥溾�� if the Denver Post hadn鈥檛 listed it as a favorite (one of the choices PW classified as 鈥渞ogues鈥�); now I鈥檒l鈥� well, I鈥檒l at least pick it up if I come across it.
Curious? Here鈥檚 the . And I鈥檇 love to hear about it if you have a 2009 favorite that鈥檚 not on anyone鈥檚 list but your own.
Rebekah Denn writes at .