Across early modern Europe, men and women from all ranks gathered medical, culinary, and food preservation recipes from family and friends, experts and practitioners, and a wide array of printed materials. Recipes were tested, assessed, and modified by teams of householders, including masters and servants, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons. This much-sought know-how was written into notebooks of various shapes and sizes forming “treasuries for health,” each personalized to suit the whims and needs of individual communities. In Recipes and Everyday Knowledge, Elaine Leong situates recipe knowledge and practices among larger questions of gender and cultural history, the history of the printed word, and the history of science, medicine, and technology. The production of recipes and recipe books, she argues, were at the heart of quotidian investigations of the natural world or “household science”. She shows how English homes acted as vibrant spaces for knowledge making and transmission, and explores how recipe trials allowed householders to gain deeper understandings of sickness and health, of the human body, and of natural and human-built processes. By recovering this story, Leong extends the parameters of natural inquiry and productively widens the cast of historical characters participating in and contributing to early modern science.

Across early modern Europe, men and women from all ranks gathered medical, culinary, and food preservation recipes from family and friends, experts and practitioners, and a wide array of printed materials. Recipes were tested, assessed, and modified by teams of householders, including masters and servants, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons. This much-sought know-how was written into notebooks of various shapes and sizes forming “treasuries for health,” each personalized to suit the whims and needs of individual communities. In Recipes and Everyday Knowledge, Elaine Leong situates recipe knowledge and practices among larger questions of gender and cultural history, the history of the printed word, and the history of science, medicine, and technology. The production of recipes and recipe books, she argues, were at the heart of quotidian investigations of the natural world or “household science”. She shows how English homes acted as vibrant spaces for knowledge making and transmission, and explores how recipe trials allowed householders to gain deeper understandings of sickness and health, of the human body, and of natural and human-built processes. By recovering this story, Leong extends the parameters of natural inquiry and productively widens the cast of historical characters participating in and contributing to early modern science.

2017 James Beard Foundation Book Award nominee The most beautiful and comprehensive resource available for anyone facing food allergies — or cooking for someone who does — with 150 shockingly tasty recipes. Allergen-free cooking has never been easier or more appealing than in these recipes made entirely without dairy, soy, nuts, peanuts, gluten, seafood, cane sugar, or eggs. Created by a mother (and power blogger) whose young children were diagnosed with severe food allergies and herself has multiple food sensitivities, this collection of family-friendly recipes means no more need to make multiple meals; everyone can enjoy every single dish because all are free of the major allergy triggers. With an 8-week elimination diet to help readers identify allergens and a game plan for transitioning to a cleaner, safer way of eating that is kid-tested and parent-approved, Pure Delicious changes cooking for the family from a minefield to an act of love.

Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, husband-and-wife chefs and the forces behind the popular blog Ideas in Food, have made a living out of being inquisitive in the kitchen. Their book shares the knowledge they have gleaned from numerous cooking adventures, from why tapioca flour makes a silkier chocolate pudding than the traditional cornstarch or flour to how to cold smoke just about any ingredient you can think of to impart a new savory dimension to everyday dishes. Perfect for anyone who loves food, Ideas in Food is the ideal handbook for unleashing creativity, intensifying flavors, and pushing one’s cooking to new heights. This guide, which includes 100 recipes, explores questions both simple and complex to find the best way to make food as delicious as possible. For home cooks, Aki and Alex look at everyday ingredients and techniques in new ways—from toasting dried pasta to lend a deeper, richer taste to a simple weeknight dinner to making quick “micro stocks” or even using water to intensify the flavor of soups instead of turning to long-simmered stocks. In the book’s second part, Aki and Alex explore topics, such as working with liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide—techniques that are geared towards professional cooks but interesting and instructive for passionate foodies as well. With primers and detailed usage guides for the pantry staples of molecular gastronomy, such as transglutaminase and hydrocolloids (from xanthan gum to gellan), Ideas in Food informs readers how these ingredients can transform food in miraculous ways when used properly. Throughout, Aki and Alex show how to apply their findings in unique and appealing recipes such as Potato Chip Pasta, Root Beer-Braised Short Ribs, and Gingerbread Soufflé. With Ideas in Food, anyone curious about food will find revelatory information, surprising techniques, and helpful tools for cooking more cleverly and creatively at home.

Standout Baked Goods that Prove Variety Is the Spice of Life It’s never been easier to find the perfect recipe for every mood than with this outstanding collection of sweet and savory treats. Ruth Mar Tam shares 60 of her favorite recipes—each with a number of variations and flavor combinations, so you can tweak them to suit any craving. While each of her recipes is delicious in its original form, the variations she offers make it easy to mix up a recipe based on ingredients you happen to have on hand or simply cater to your own personal preferences. Once you’ve mastered Ruth’s mouthwatering Spiced Coffee Crumb Cake, give it a fruity twist with her Apple-Rye variation, or make it nutty with the addition of a Nut Streusel. Or maybe you love the Tomato and Ricotta Galette as a light lunch, but you need something a little sweeter to serve at the end of a meal—in that case, try out the Plum and Honey Frangipane variation for a crowd-pleasing dessert. With sweet treats like Rhubarb and Walnut Linzer Cookies, Earl Grey Bundt Cake and Strawberry Palmiers, and savory options like Smoked Paprika and Cheddar Gougères, Nearly Naked Sourdough Focaccia and Mushroom Diamond Pastries, Ruth’s recipes offer you all the options you need for unique, creative, and—most importantly—delicious baking.

Hundreds of recipes designed to get exceptional meals on the table in under an hour With Kitchen Simple, James Peterson, one of America’s most celebrated cookbook authors and renowned cooking instructors, delivers a definitive resource for the busy home cook. Elevating routine, weekday fare into exciting culinary creations, Peterson proves unequivocally that great food need not be complicated or time-consuming to prepare. More than 200 recipes, such as Summer Steak Salad, Mexican-Style Gazpacho, White Bean Bruschetta, Red Cabbage with Bacon and Apples, and Ricotta Ravioli, are thoughtfully streamlined to require no more than thirty minutes of active prep time with delivery to the table in under an hour. For leisurely meals and celebratory occasions, there are also dozens of luxe dishes, like Red Wine Pot Roast, Eggplant Parmigiano, Duck Confit, and Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce. And, from the master of sauces, comes a paired-down primer on making foolproof Mayonnaise, Caper and Herb Sauce for vegetables and chicken, and an easy Béarnaise to dress up grilled fish. Kitchen Simple presents creative possibilities for weeknight meals, quick-and-easy breakfasts, impromptu dinner parties, and inspired last-minute desserts. And with Peterson’s invaluable variations, cooks can confidently substitute harder-to-find ingredients with items already at hand. Additional advice on how to stock a pantry with staples to make everyday cooking even easier, plus an inventory of truly indispensable kitchen tools make Kitchen Simple a go-to source of inspiration for cooks of all persuasions: novice or experienced, time-pressed or laid-back, casual or serious.