Our list of food journalist books for those who love to cook (or just eat)

“Gift list under 20 balls”, “Gift list for field hockey fan brother-in-law”? This year, Konbini’s editorial staff decided to choose the prize they would like to receive. Because we are all a little different and most importantly, because we haven’t managed to come to an agreement.

The end of the year for a journalist working in the gastronomy field is often synonymous with an avalanche of yule logs and/or galette des rois tastings. This is also the time for us to sort through the countless culinary book releases, between recipe books, guides, beauty books, and chef biographies. So, for a clearer view, here’s my most eclectic, if not completely exhaustive, pick.

A book about eggs, and only eggs. Or rather a bible that collects historical texts about the product, but also photographs and works of art dedicated to it, from Salvador Dalí to Jean-Michel Basquiat, through Frida Kahlo, David Hockney or Man Ray. (Taschen, 40 euros)

Chef Manon Fleury’s book and manifesto for cereals. A way to restore their image, of course, but also to remember the importance of our food and our agricultural landscape. A burst of optimism and wealth of new recipes. One must haveas they say at Fashion Week. (Flammarion, 29.90 euros)

This budding chef is taking over your Instagram feed, and your bookstore is about to close. And believe me, it’s the best. Her book offers a gateway to a transformed kitchen, both simple and didactic, incorporating recipes and technical tips that will eventually make you want to spend more time in the kitchen.. (Oak, 35 euros)

If there was only one book to summarize the work, history, and fortunes of the Bras family, it would be this book, and this book only. A dive into Aubrac and into this single family universe like no other. (Phaidon, 49 euros)

Journalist Jill Cousin offers you, in a well-designed and well-organized book, all the keys to understanding the natural wine revolution that rocked the world of gastronomy, but not only. (Ulmer, 12.90 euros)

With this book, chef Ella Aflalo dusted off (finally) the kind of cookbook that’s started to seriously swirl. A collection of family recipes, almost intimate, that will take you to discover Mediterranean cuisine in a different way. (First, 32 euros)

A book that will delight both contemporary cooking geeks and those who want to hold the key to understanding how it works, at times complex and often contradictory. Here, Nicolas Chatenier, known for his influence and knowledge of the subject, offers a compelling, albeit obvious and assumed, reflection on the challenges of French cuisine today and tomorrow. (Fretin menu, 14 euros)

Instead of bothering to explain the tone to you, here’s a short text that encapsulates all the beauty and mystery of this comic book, signed by Zazie Tavitian and Caroline Péron. “One summer, Zazie’s cousin told me about a recipe book found in the attic. This notebook belonged to Jeanne Weill, his great-grandmother. In the family, everyone knew who Jeanne was, killed in 1943 in Sobibor, the Nazi extermination camp… But no one ever talked about it. What was Jeanne’s life like? (Calmann-Lévy, 21 euros)

The new grimoire book from the duo The Social Food offering new recipes from around the world. Beautiful, effective… In short, Social Food in text. (Rizzoli, 25.95 euros)

Recipe book, fanzine style, by Diego Alary, chef seen during the show Top chef and one of the most followed chefs in the world on social networks, and especially TikTok. Simple recipes, easy, cheap, just like the title of the book, and also beautiful objects. (Vamos! Production, €10.90)

Do you like cards? Do you like history? Do you like to eat? This is the book you need. Bonus: written by geography legend, Jean-Robert Pitte. (Arman Colin, 25 euros)

After tackling the pastries that make France and the capital so great, journalist François Blanc is back with a bit of the bible on classic street food in Paris. Essential for your library – and for shining at your next dinner with friends. (Alain Ducasse Edition, 35 euros)

The book that (finally) will make you want to cook vegetables, regardless of the season, regardless of the weather and regardless of your technical cooking knowledge. Little gem signed by culinary journalist Céline Maguet. (First, 26.50 euros)

Everyone knows Noma’s restaurant, but maybe the new version, Noma 2.0, was born after months of customization. In this enormous book, you will dive into the creative genius of René Redzepi and his team. (Du Chêne Edition, 85 euros)

A new, well-done, cheese bible written and spoiled by the magician behind La Laiterie de Paris, Pierre Coulon. For those who love cheese, or who want to find it. (First edition, 35 euros)

A book that promises more “70 pop recipes that tease tradition and pay homage to the sumptuous and bountiful Italian cuisine“, it speaks to us. Moreover, the object is very beautiful. (Webedia Books, €25.90)

The book of one of the leading pastry chefs at the time, François Daubinet, which tells through ten stories of the encounters that inspired him in the creation of his cakes. He also tells, and most importantly, the creation process, from the sketch to the selection of materials, through long tests in the laboratory.. (De la Martinière Edition, 39 euros)

The comic strip we miss in the world of cooking where chef Chloé Charles goes behind the scenes and the preparation, not always obvious, of a recipe. Full of information, lots of humor and good pencil strokes, Tiphaine de Cointet’s signature. (First, 23 euros)

At Konbini, we absolutely love Glenn Viel. So how could you not love a book that follows the culinary evolution of this unique and extraordinary chef, since his arrival at Oustau de Baumanière, in 2015, where he has proudly brought back three stars, and many more. (La Fabrique de l’Epure, 32 euros)

Xavier Pincemin made a name for himself by winning Top chef several years ago, but also by opening his gastronomic restaurant, Pincement, in Versailles. In a rare and precious story massacrewhich he presents as “probably his only book”he recounts the journey that led him to become the chef he is today. (Axe, 25 euros)