This is Gemme Cookbooks, your weekly guide to noteworthy cookbooks for every occasion. You might be wondering how (or why) I decided to write about cookbooks.
So let me tell you a story.
In the summer of 2022, I wrote a piece for The Takeout about pop culture cookbooks. This was due to my sudden interest in seeing a lot of pop culture cookbooks at my local Barnes & Noble. Why were these being printed, I wondered. After all, the books were all beautiful but they didn’t look at all practical. Furthermore, many of these TV show/movie inspired cookbook recipes seemed downright unhealthy, but who am I to judge? They all looked fantastic nonetheless.
Shortly after the article went live, I began receiving emails from PR firms who wanted me to review more cookbooks. I gladly accepted the offer. The more I began looking at cookbooks, the more interested I became. These were amazing works of art!
I discovered that cookbooks, like regular nonfiction & fiction titles, require a lot of work to bring it from concept to creation—about 2-3 years. I also realized that while the cookbook landscape has changed and the way people cook has changed, cookbooks are still being published and people are still buying them. I mean, look at TikToker B. Dylan Hollis’ book, Baking Yesteryear, which sold a whoppin’ 150,000 copies within the first day of release!
So I knew I was onto something. I knew that my obsession with cookbooks have some legitimacy.
I began reading—actually reading—the cookbooks. I even tried out a few recipes. And it dawned on me that there’s a beauty in cooking from a cookbook versus an online recipe.
How?
Online recipes, by far and large, come from websites that are filled with ads. Sometimes you have to scroll through eight paragraphs about a family story before actually seeing the recipe. Even then, you may have to fill out your email address or try to click away from the pop-ups. It’s frustrating.
When you cook from a cookbook, however, it’s different. First of all, there are no ads, just the book. Secondly, there are usually lots of space for you to make your own notes, along with introductions and reference guides and indexes, all making it much easier to cook with. And lastly, the tangible aspect means that you can keep it for a long time.
There’s still a problem. Or two.
In my search for cookbook writing on the internet, I’ve found that there aren’t a lot of honest, authentic conversations around cookbooks. Many cookbooks are wonderful, but they’re not being reviewed, or not in a way that helps the reader figure out whether or not they should buy the cookbook.
Furthermore, with so many cookbooks on the market, each having its own purpose, how do you know which cookbook is the right one for you?
This is where I can help.
Using my experience reading cookbooks (yes, I read them like a regular book!) combined with my desire to help you find the right recipes, I will present a new, worthy cookbook every week, guiding you through how I selected them and what they’re best used for.
For every cookbook, I’ll test out a few recipes and talk about how they worked out. I’ll rank them based on their cover, their overall photography (because let’s be real, photos can either make you lust for a dish or dismiss it completely), and overall functionality of the recipe and book combined.
Please note that this newsletter is an ongoing conversation around old and new cookbooks. I have a separate section for older cookbooks, which I call “Oldies but goodies,” a section on new, recently published books called “So, So New.” And every once in a while, there will be a special edition where I interview cookbook authors about their favorite cookbook: this is called “My Favorite Cookbook.” Every edition will be delivered straight to your inbox at its usual time on Saturdays 8:00 a.m. PST.
I hope you’ll join me on this adventure. I’m very excited to talk about cookbooks and how it can help you solve your breakfast/lunch/dinner dilemma, so all you have to worry about is making memories with your loved ones.
XOXO,
Hoang