Too Many Cookbooks: A Vittles Sunday Supplement
By Jonathan Meades, Yemisí Aríbisálà, Rosa Lyster, Ruby Tandoh, Guan Chua, Christie Dietz, Anissa Helou, Ibrahim Hirsi, Saba Imtiaz, TW Lim, Lutivini Majanja, Meher Mirza, Marie Mitchell, Rachel Roddy
A special, subscribers-only project all about cookbooks and recipe culture in the modern age. Think of this as a digital weekend supplement: features, essays, opinion and review all in one place.
15 Cookbooks That Changed Everything
The most influential British cookbooks of the last 75 years; for better, or for worse, by Ruby Tandoh.
Reinventing the Hexagon
Jonathan Meades on Alex Jackson’s Frontières and the French food resurgence. Illustration by Alex Christian.
Machiavelli in the Kitchen
Rosa Lyster on cooking to win, inspired by 'glamorously unpredictable witch', Caroline Blackwood. Illustration by Jess Nash.
'There is no recipe, take it or leave it'
Yemisí Aríbisálà on why there are so few Nigerian cookbooks. Illustration by Hannah Ekuwa Buckman.
Cookbooks in Translation
A compilation of great non-English cookbooks, by Christie Dietz, Guan Chua, Anissa Helou, Saba Imtiaz, TW Lim, Lutivini Majanja, Meher Mirza, Marie Mitchell & Rachel Roddy.
Credits
Too Many Cookbooks was written by Jonathan Meades, Yemisí Aríbisálà, Rosa Lyster, Ruby Tandoh, Guan Chua, Christie Dietz, Anissa Helou, Ibrahim Hirsi, Saba Imtiaz, TW Lim, Lutivini Majanja, Meher Mirza, Marie Mitchell & Rachel Roddy.
It was illustrated by Alex Christian, Hannah Ekuwa Buckman and Jess Nash.
This supplement was subedited by Tom Hughes. The full Vittles masthead can be found here.
"you will be hard-pressed to find a cookbook review anymore"
I still plod away writing long-form reviews of cookbooks but as writing isn't my day job, I only manage to write a few every year. I do know there's a (small) audience that definitely appreciates the comprehensive nature of my efforts and I enjoy doing then, though they take a lot of time. The last one I published was for Tim Anderson's Hokkaido.
Love this focus on cookbooks and especially the look at recommended titles that haven't been translated to English or published here.