Summer is easy — especially for chefs. With fresh ingredients aplenty, much of what we eat is still raw, taking some of the pressure (and work) out of cooking. Fall, however, is when we find chefs at their best: market offerings change, then dwindle, prompting skill and creativity to prosper where abundance lacks. It centers kitchens ’round the pantry, which is to the chef as the palette to the painter. With a little spice and bit of love, a forgotten root or a dense cabbage can suddenly turn into a showstopper.
This part of the year is also a time of gathering, when our rituals of communion are most frequent. Many of us will soon be in the kitchen, if we haven’t been drawn there already, and most of these parties require some culinary guidance. It only seems fitting, then, to showcase the best cookbooks from some of the world’s most creative and acclaimed chefs. The recipes inside range from the complex and refined to folkier fare — things that our grandmothers would have cooked up. Our favorites lean towards the latter, but choose one for yourself to try at home now.
OTHER GREAT RECIPES: Jamaican Jerk Chicken | Bacalhau à Brás from Aldea | The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey
Meat: Everything You Need to Know
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A fourth-generation butcher from one of the Tri-State Area’s most respected meat purveyors, Pat LaFrieda goes through the cuts of different meats and provides both new and hand-me-down recipes on how to best cook them.
