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Looking for the perfect present for the gourmets in your life? 50 Best has handpicked this year’s most exceptional cookbooks, ideal for holiday giving
Holiday shopping for food-loving friends and family can feel like a marathon, especially when there are endless options of air fryers, pans and whisks on offer, and you’re juggling everyone’s quirky tastes. So why not hedge for a classic cookbook? From vibrant Mediterranean mezze to plant-based magic from top chefs, this fresh line-up of cookbooks is sure to inspire.
Enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of the books below.
Best for: the home scientist
1. Flavorama, Dr. Arielle Johnson
£28
What actually is flavour? That’s the main question posed by Dr. Arielle Johnson’s debut book, released in mid-2024. Johnson’s no stranger to the subject, as a co-founder of the Fermentation Lab of Noma, multiple No.1 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, and now Science Director of its dedicated R&D arm, Noma Projects. She was also named an empowering educator as part of the 50 Next 2022 cohort.
To get to the bottom of the question, Flavorama goes full-nerd on the topic, pulling from microbiology and chemistry to neuroscience, and presents it in an easy-to-understand and accessible package. The book is divided into four sections, each categorised by a ‘law of flavour,’ distilling Johnson’s years of learning into a cheat-kit to mastering flavour for both professionals and home cooks. Johnson then delivers a recipe that puts learnings into practice, whether through making panela-coconut daiquiris or a morita chili, allspice and orange oil.
Best for: the collectors
2. Eleven Madison Park: The Plant-Based Chapter, Daniel Humm
£220
Since Daniel Humm took the helm of its kitchen in 2005, Eleven Madison Park has become a cornerstone of New York fine dining, earning the title of The World’s Best Restaurant 2017. In 2021, the restaurant made headlines when it announced it would be moving to an entirely plant-based menu.
The 2024 book release offers never-before-seen insight into this transformative chapter of the restaurant’s life. The three-book collection spans 528 pages of recipes, behind the scenes photography and custom watercolours from acclaimed artists alongside Chef Humm’s own illustrations. There are also full breakdowns of some of the restaurant’s standout seasonal dishes, such as the simply named but seriously intricate, sugar snap peas with tonburi and lettuce, made up of 10 separate components. Just 11,000 copies of the book have been published, making it a real collectors’ item.
Best for: the barbecue enthusiast
3. Burnt Ends Book, Dave Pynt
£55
(Image: Per-Anders Jörgensen / Burnt Ends)
Aussie-born chef Dave Pynt is the mastermind behind Singaporean open-fire cooking temple Burnt Ends, which has been a staple of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants lists since opening in 2013. At the heart of Pynt’s cooking is a simple philosophy: “We cook whatever we want, as long as it’s tasty,” and his new 368-page book tells the story of the restaurant’s rise to stardom and the recipes that have kept diners returning through its doors.
The cookbook is bound by 16 core techniques at the heart of more than 70 signature Burnt Ends recipes, including the legendary Burnt Ends Sanger, made with 12-hour slow-cooked pulled pork, chipotle aioli, pickled jalapeños and cheese. Artwork comes via illustrations from comic artist Ryan Inzana and photography from Per-Anders Jörgensen. Beyond just recipes, the book also contains general wisdom and amusing anecdotes from Pynt’s journey so far, including the time they nearly burnt down Will Goldfarb’s Room 4 Dessert restaurant during a collaborative dinner in Bali.
Best for: the baker in your life
4. Bake Club: 101 Must-Have Moves for Your Kitchen, Christina Tosi
£30
Christina Tosi, the confectionery genius behind New York’s Milk Bar and The World's Best Pastry Chef 2018, founded Bake Club in 2020 as an online community for bakers of all skill levels. It’s since grown into a community of thousands, with newsletters, recipes and confectionery-based tips shared each week.
After four years of running Bake Club, Tosi teamed up with author and hospitality veteran Shannon Salzano to compile 101 easily digestible, fan-favourite recipes from the platform that go easy on time, effort and specialist equipment. Expect both sweet and savoury dishes, from easy English muffins to cinnamon buns with brown sugar goo.
Best for: the sauce lovers
5. Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking, Mingoo Kang
£30
In Korean cuisine, 'jangs' are as essential as butter in French cooking and olive oil in Mediterranean dishes. The debut book from chef Mingoo Kang shares his deep knowledge of the foundational sauces he mastered at his Seoul restaurant Mingles (No.13 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024) with the wider world, offering 216 pages of history and culinary traditions from his homeland.
The book features 60 recipes for key sauces and components, with guides on fermentation and aging, followed by instructions for incorporating their bold, umami-rich flavours into both traditional Korean and Western fusion dishes. Think gang-doenjang bibimbap and silky ssamjang cacio e pepe.
Best for: the sustainable chef
6. Under the Sign of the Moon: Mirazur, Mauro Colagreco
£55
Mirazur in Menton, France, took home the ultimate accolade as The World’s Best Restaurant in 2019, thanks in part to its highly creative and sustainable philosophy, spearheaded by chef Mauro Colagreco. In his third book, Under the Sign of the Moon, the visionary chef explores his deep connection to nature, highlighting how his flagship restaurant harmonises with the lunar calendar.
Under the Sign of the Moon presents Colagreco’s recipes and stories, paired with photography from Matteo Carassale, across four chapters, each centred on a key type of ingredient: roots, leaves, flowers and fruits. Through dishes such as celery root and squid tagliatelle and petit pois and elderflower ragout, Colagreco guides readers through an exploration of the kitchen garden and orchards that fill the restaurant’s pantry.
Best for: the brunch bunch
7. Brunch in London, OnePlate
£40
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Australian charity OnePlate aims to empower communities across Asia and Africa through sustainable food projects that promote self-sufficiency. It released Brunch in London this year, featuring more than 100 mid-morning favourites from top chefs and restaurants across England, with all profits going to support its very worthy cause.
Contributions range from celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal – the mastermind behind The Fat Duck (The World’s Best Restaurant 2005) – through to dishes from contemporary restaurant hotspots, such as the potato cake from Brat (No.65 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024). A few London institutions round off the list, including The Savoy’s picture-perfect recipe for pancakes with strawberries.
Best for: the sun-seekers
8. Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes, José Andrés
£30
The latest book from chef superstar José Andrés takes the greatest hits from his trio of Zaytinya restaurants on the US East Coast, bringing together more than 150 recipes from across the eastern Mediterranean, with a focus on the cuisines of Greece, Türkiye and Lebanon.
The restaurant and resulting cookbook take their name from the Turkish word for olive oil, so expect recipes centred on the liquid gold that sits at the heart of classic dishes, such as mixed Greek salad and za’atar pide (flatbreads). Many dishes playfully stray from tradition, reimagined in ‘José's way’ to be comforting and accessible, and recipes are interspersed with insights into the cooking traditions, history and culture of their countries of origin, helping guests to connect more deeply with the recipes.
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