Cookbooks: What’s on my bookshelf?

My Cookbook Collection: A Work in Progress

Have I ever mentioned that cookbooks are my favourite kind of books? That may seem like a no-brainer but really, there’s something about the food photographs and an organised, well written recipe that makes them a real weakness. As much as I love blogs, online forums and the quick-and-easy-accessibility of youtube videos, they can never beat old habits of curling up on a reading chair, slowly flipping through cookbooks and food magazines, scribbling down notes and ideas on scraps of paper or on my phone. These little scraps get lost amidst all my papers all the time. And nothing compares to the great sense of triumph I feel when I stumble upon these almost-forgotten little scraps after ages, determined to try out whatever little variation I had noted. 

A little known truth about me: I like owning cookbooks (and books in general) even more than I like reading them. In other words, I’m a hoarder. The first cookbook I ever owned was a birthday gift from my aunt, Pakhi Masi, on my 9th birthday – a childrens’ cookbook called Fun Cooking for Children by Rohini Singh. She and others have since gifted me many more, I have inherited (read borrowed and never returned) some from my mom and, of course, I have bought my fair share but that first one will always be my favourite. In fact, I have actually posted recipes on this blog, adapted from that book. For example, these 10-Minute Chocolate Almond Balls and this Bread & Butter Pudding.

Anyhoo, I thought that I would use this space to share the cookbooks that line my bookshelf. I actually have a separate, standalone rack for them. I bought it earlier this year so I could segregate my cookbooks from the rest of my fiction and non-fiction books. It sits in the den, between a large bay window and my couch. All I need to do is reach for one, grab a cup of chai and curl up for the day – flipping through photos and recipes.

All of these books are not purely recipe books, although they make up the bulk of the collection. They are peppered with anthologies of food writing, food & travel stories and “new-age” cook books which are more personal and are made up of stories, using recipes as punctuation marks! But I love them all.

So here they are, in alphabetical order. I’ll keep updating this post over time to account for new purchases and gifts! In the meanwhile, you can browse these. If you like what you see, you can click on the book cover and go through to Amazon and buy the book now, or save for later. (There are very few that I have not been able to find links to, mainly because they are quite old.)

Full Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post and I am not promoting any author or publishing house – it is simply a list of the books that I already own. But this post has affiliate links and if you buy products using these links, it will help support the blog.