Artisan food-makers spend years studying their craft and perfecting their culinary techniques in order to give us the most delicious food possible. Our authors are sharing their knowledge with the world, whether it be brewing beer or making cheese. Pick up any one of the books this list to learn from the best!
If these books leave you feeling inspired, try out our artisanal recipe for junket, a sweet dairy dessert made with milk and sugar.
A New York Times Notable Book, this widely praised biography tells the remarkable life story of Patience Gray, author of the much-loved, classic cookbook Honey from a Weed. From her privileged English upbringing to her trials as a single mother during World War II to her career working as a designer, editor, translator, and author to her culinary adventures in later years (including life in a remote area of Puglia), Patience is revealed as a fascinating and spirited woman, who was very much a part of her time, and very clearly ahead of it.
Celebrated New York City forager, cook, kitchen gardener, and writer Marie Viljoen incorporates wild ingredients into everyday and special occasion fare to create a collection of nearly 500 wild food recipes. Perfect to motivate spring foraging, Viljoen offers deliciously compelling recipes for everything from cocktails and snacks to appetizers, main courses, and desserts, as well as breads, preserves, sauces, syrups, ferments, spices, and salts.
David Asher demonstrates a traditional way of making cheese, showcasing more than 35 step-by-step recipes (see facing page for one!) that are natural and intuitive, grounded in ecological principles and biological science. The book explores classes of cheese from kefir and paneer to washed-rind and alpine styles—a perfect manual for home and small-scale commercial cheesemakers.
Experimentation, mystery, resourcefulness, and above all, fun—these are the hallmarks of brewing beer like a Yeti. This book showcases a range of ancient ales (before hops was king), gruits, braggots, and more, with recipes inspired by traditions around the globe, including sahti, gotlandsdricka, oak bark and mushroom ale, wassail, paw – paw wheat, chicha de muko, and even Neolithic “stone” beers. A must for any home brewer.
Homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described “Appalachian Yeti Viking” Jereme Zimmerman demonstrates how homebrewing mead can be uncomplicated, fun, and delicious. Armed with wild-yeast-bearing totem sticks, readers will learn techniques for brewing sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meads, melomels (fruit meads), metheglins (spiced meads), Ethiopian t’ej, flower and herbal meads, braggots, honey beers, country wines, and even Viking grog.
Koji Alchemy chefs Jeremy Umansky and Rich Shih—collectively considered to be the most practical, experienced, generous educators on the culinary power of this unique ingredient—deliver a comprehensive look at modern koji use around the world. Using it to rapidly age charcuterie, cheese, and other ferments, they take the magic of koji to the next level, revolutionizing the creation of fermented foods and flavor profiles for both professional and home cooks.
One of the most influential tastemakers of our time invites you on an extraordinary culinary journey into the lacto-fermentation universe of common wild edibles. Used for thousands of years by different cultures all around the world, lacto-fermentation is the easiest, safest, and most delicious way to preserve food. And nature provides all the necessary ingredients: plants, salt, and the beneficial lactic acid bacteria found everywhere.
Junket
Ingredients
Image from The Art of Natural Cheesemaking
1 quart (1 l) good milk, raw or pasteurized but not homogenized
1 tablespoon (15 ml) active kefir or whey (optional if using raw milk)
Sugar or any other sweetener to taste (1⁄4–1 cup [60–240 ml], or none at all)
1⁄4 teaspoon (1 ml) salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cardamom
Regular dose rennet (I use 1⁄16 tablet WalcoRen rennet for 1 quart milk)
Procedure
Warm your milk to baby-bottle-warm, about 90°F (32°C).
Culture your milk (optional for raw milk) by adding the kefir or whey to the warm milk.
Leave the pot to incubate for 1 hour, to help the bacterial cultures flourish.
Mix the sugar, salt, and spices into the milk well.
Add the rennet: Dissolve the rennet in 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) of water, then add it to the milk.
Mix the rennet in with a gentle stirring.
Pour the renneted milk into individual cups immediately after adding the rennet. This way, the curd will form a firm set in the cups.
Let the pudding set, covered, at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours until firm.
Junket is best as soon as it has set but can also be kept refrigerated for several days.
Make your own kombucha at home – it’s easier than you think! Kombucha is not only great for your gut health. It’ll make your taste buds happy, too. Get bubbling with this easy recipe to make your own kombucha!
Put your cooking and foraging skills to the test with this seasonal, delicious garlic mustard pesto recipe. Create a vibrant, nutrient-packed pesto that harnesses the power of springtime foraging.
These much-loved titles are the perfect books for Mother’s Day! Gardening books, cookbooks, memoirs and more — there’s a book for every mom on this list.
Make a difference in the kitchen! Prioritize sustainable cooking through zero waste methods. From the ingredients we choose to how we dispose of what’s left behind, every small step in the kitchen can make a BIG difference!
Invasive garlic mustard gets a bad rep, but did you know it’s edible from root to leaf? Garlic mustard can be consumed in its entirety and has great nutritional value. Plus, the flavor adds a punch of flavor to any dish!
Fasting and Feasting 
