The Classic Cookbook Alton Brown Says Is A Must-Have For Every Kitchen

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Quirky and professorial Food Network celebrity chef Alton Brown is a veritable encyclopedia of food knowledge, and fans around the country seek out his advice on everything from indispensable cooking tips to how to properly stock your cookbook shelf. In a 2019 Reddit "Ask Me Anything" Q&A session with fans, he called out the 1962 version of the game-changing volume "Joy of Cooking" as a must-have for any home cook. First published by Irma Rombauer in 1931, it took on a life of its own as a definitive work covering just about any type of food an American cook might care to attempt, from chicken stock to pancakes.

This seminal cookbook was groundbreaking in many ways. It was originally written during the Great Depression, and though ingredients were scarce during this time, recently widowed mom of two Rombauer encouraged cooks to seek out ingredients that might have been less common, and used inclusive language and instructions when speaking to her fellow home cooks. She also encouraged cooks to have fun in the kitchen, which was illustrated on the book's first cover, which featured patron saint of cooks, St. Martha of Bethany, slaying the dragon of kitchen struggles.

While "Joy of Cooking" continued to be updated and re-released over the years, including wartime versions that addressed issues like rationing, the 1962 edition introduced new chapters on more modern cooking guidance, as well as more coverage of European cooking methods. It was brought to life by Irma's daughter Marion (who, interestingly, made the paper cut of St. Martha of Bethany which featured on the original cover). It is this version that became the defining American cookbook that is often displayed proudly (and lovingly weathered and used) by legions of cooks and chefs, including Alton Brown, who is an acclaimed cookbook author in his own right.

Other vintage cookbooks that have become firm fixtures on many a shelf include Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book," and Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." Among these, "Joy of Cooking," affectionately known in shorthand to cooks around the globe as JoC or simply "Joy," continues to be the gold standard for its comprehensive content. Whether it is how to approach wild game meat, properly stuff a tomato, make lasagna, or the proper ratios for banana bread, JoC has you covered. If you're set on the fundamentals and are looking for a more modern Alton Brown cookbook recommendation, consider "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science" by Kenji López-Alt, which Brown also praised during the Reddit Q&A.