Paper Palate

Every year, there is a new HOT cookbook that quickly empties the shelves of bookstores, and sweeps kitchens from coast to coast. Two years ago, it was Ruth Reichl’s The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 Recipes. Ruth and her team of Editors sifted through over 60,000 recipes that Gourmet magazine had printed over the last 60 years, to come up with this collection of “go to” dishes.

Last year, it was The Silver Spoon, which received the distinction of being the “fastest selling cookbook ever.” Italy’s most popular cookbook, it was translated into English (and subsequently other languages) for the first time, for this printing last year. Its section with original menus from the 15 most famous Italian chefs of the last 50 years was expanded to include original menus from Italian celebrity chefs working outside Italy. Beckoning the popularity of The Joy of Cooking, it quickly became a must-have.

This year? It’s Bon Appetit’s Cookbook.

Covering 50 years of favorite recipes from their popular magazine, this is the first time that such a collection from them has been released. A whopper of a book, it has over 1,200 recipes and 32 pages of full color drool-inducing photographs. Editor in Chief Barbara Fairchild puts it as “approachable, relevant, and fun.”

The book will be released in a week, but can be pre-ordered now.