In a library of wonderful cookbooks, one is truly foundational: Joy of Cooking.

A new version is now available, by John Becker and Megan Scott (Becker is a great-grandson of Irma S. Rombauer who created it in 1931). Whatever innovative recipe books you have in the kitchen, this is a requirement. The new version is a genuinely refreshed classic—not just scrubbed and tweaked but reimagined in very useful and appealing ways.

Quick add-ons address ways to butcher and prepare fish and fowl for cooking that are both intensely practical and easy to understand. This book is a cooking school between covers.

It has two defining qualities:

1: it is trustworthy. Recipes that require some flair or familiarity, such as risotto, are presented in a way that can be confidently executed.

2: it is comprehensive. Spatchcock a chicken, make socca like you used to love it in Nice, or roll your own sushi with Joy.