Essential Cookbooks Everyone Should Own

I firmly believe that a good book is worth its weight in gold. I have taught myself nearly everything I know from reading books and diy. Thus I am putting together a list of, what I believe, are essential cookbooks for people living with the land. These first few are what I use now but will be added to substantially in the future as I discover more gems. I am currently collecting James Beard Foundation Award winning cookbooks and 18th century cookbooks. I will arrange the books into categories to help you find exactly what you need.

General Cooking
Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking by Maangchi
America's Cook Book by the New York Herald Tribune Home Institute

Baking
The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Porkish

Food Preservation and Convenience Food
The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
The Make-A-Mix Cookbook by Eliason, Harward, and Westover

Pre-1850 Cooking
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse 1805 edition reprint

Hi Ryan, is that James Beard also known as the Urban Peasant?  

The two cook books that I have used habitually throughout my life are:

The Joy of Cooking. An edition that was published about 50 years ago.

The Ball Blue Book. A current edition.

I could go all day listing great tomes but my two top personal favorites:

https://www.amazon.com/French-Provincial-Cooking-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141181532

https://www.amazon.com/Jack-Ubaldis-Meat-Book-Butchers/dp/0020073100

Hi Ryan, is that James Beard also known as the Urban Peasant?

Urban Peaseant was the great James Barber

sad that there's only eight videos in his "official" channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/UrbanPeasantShow

I really enjoy the Encyclopedia of country living for other reasons, but I find that the recipes included are also a really great resource for realistic farm cooking.

pusang halaw wrote:
Urban Peaseant was the great James Barber

Are you calling me old and forgetful, lol?  James Barber is the reason I cook.  Thanks for the reminder and the link.

Timothy Markus wrote:Are you calling me old and forgetful, lol?  James Barber is the reason I cook.  Thanks for the reminder and the link.

Good heavens, no. Apologies, I am just the biggest Urban Peasant fan in southeast Asia 🙂

There are a few more nuggets in youtube and i think i've 'leeched' them all.

Sorry for the hijack.  I second The Joy of Cooking.  I love Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I've used the Better Living cookbook as well, and I think my mom had a Rose Flour book of baking recipes, though I'm not sure of the title, or if it was a Canadian thing, but I know it was old when I was a kid.

The cook book that got me started on a healthier path; Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon   Nourishing Traditions book link

Love it!!