The Year's Best Cookbooks

Glance across our list of 2018 James Beard Book Award nominees, and it's clear that in this Information Age, as our worldview has widened, our palates have expanded apace. Within this year's nominees you'll find tales of oft-overlooked culinary heritages, the secret sauce behind homemade versions of your favorite snack foods, a lab-based look at loaves, and much, much more. 

Follow us on Friday, April 27, when we announce the winners of the book, broadcast, and journalism awards at the JBF Media Awards in New York City. 

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American
Homegrown: Cooking from My New England Roots
Matt Jennings
(Artisan Books)

The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine
Erin French
(Clarkson Potter)

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen
Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley
(University of Minnesota Press)
 
Baking and Desserts
BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts
Stella Parks
(W. W. Norton & Company)

Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
(Ten Speed Press)

The Sweet Spot: Dialing Back Sugar and Amping Up Flavor
Bill Yosses and Peter Kaminsky
(Pam Krauss Books) 
 
Beverage
3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon
Robert Simonson
(Ten Speed Press)

Meehan's Bartender Manual
Jim Meehan
(Ten Speed Press)

Mezcal: The History, Craft & Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit
Emma Janzen
(Voyageur Press) 
 
General
Christopher Kimball's Milk Street: The New Home Cooking
Christopher Kimball
(Little, Brown and Company) 

Dinner: Changing the Game
Melissa Clark
(Clarkson Potter)

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
Samin Nosrat
(Simon and Schuster) 
 
Health and Special Diets
The Beauty Chef: Delicious Food for Radiant Skin, Gut Health and Wellbeing
Carla Oates
(Hardie Grant Books)

Deepa's Secrets: Slow Carb New Indian Cuisine
Deepa Thomas
(Skyhorse)

Eat Right: The Complete Guide to Traditional Foods, with 130 Nourishing Recipes and Techniques
Nick Barnard
(Kyle Books) 
 
International
Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen
Gonzalo Guzman and Stacy Adimando
(Ten Speed Press)

Paladares: Recipes from the Private Restaurants, Home Kitchens, and Streets of Cuba
Anya von Bremzen and Megan Fawn Schlow
(Abrams)

The Palestinian Table
Reem Kassis
(Phaidon) 
 
Photography
Cook Beautiful
Johnny Miller
(Abrams)

Simple Fare: Spring and Summer
Karen Mordechai
(Abrams)

Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi
Peden + Munk
(Ten Speed Press) 
 
Reference, History, and Scholarship
Champagne [Boxed Book & Map Set]: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region
Peter Liem
(Ten Speed Press)

The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine Dining
David S. Shields
(University of Chicago Press)

Peppers of the Americas: The Remarkable Capsicums That Forever Changed Flavor
Maricel E. Presilla
(Lorena Jones Books) 
 
Restaurant and Professional
Modernist Bread
Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya
(The Cooking Lab)

On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen
Jeremy Fox and Noah Galuten
(Phaidon)

State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook
Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, with JJ Goode
(Ten Speed Press) 
 
Single Subject
Mastering Stocks and Broths: A Comprehensive Culinary Approach Using Traditional Techniques and No-Waste Methods
Rachael S. Mamane
(Chelsea Green Publishing)

Offal Good: Cooking from the Heart, with Guts
Chris Cosentino with Michael Harlan Turkell 
(Clarkson Potter)

The Pho Cookbook: Easy to Adventurous Recipes for Vietnam's Favorite Soup and Noodles
Andrea Nguyen
(Ten Speed Press) 
 
Vegetable-Focused Cooking
The Book of Greens: A Cook's Compendium of 40 Varieties, from Arugula to Watercress, with More Than 175 Recipes
Jenn Louis with Kathleen Squires
(Ten Speed Press)

In My Kitchen: A Collection of New and Favorite Vegetarian Recipes
Deborah Madison
(Ten Speed Press)

Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg
(Artisan Books) 
 
Writing
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Michael W. Twitty
(Amistad)

The Taste of Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World
Lizzie Collingham
(Basic Books)

Unforgettable: The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert's Renegade Life
Emily Kaiser Thelin
(Grand Central Life & Style)

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