2011’s ‘Best of’ cookbooks lists

What were the best cookbooks of 2011? The opinions are varied, but there are a few that stand out.

Thu, Dec 29 2011 at 10:52 AM EST

'Plenty" by Yotam Ottolenghi was mentioned on several lists of the best cookbooks of 2011.

About a month ago, I began to notice the “best of 2011” lists being published on websites and blogs, and I bookmarked them to do a little unscientific survey. The opinions are varied, and I thought it would be interesting to see which book is first on each list. I also wanted to see which book shows up the most on all of the lists, regardless of its position.

Huffington Post The 11 Best Cookbooks of 2011 – “The Art of Living According to Joe Beef” by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan and Meredith Erickson.
NPR 2011’s Best Cookbooks: Revenge of the Kitchen Nerds – “Cook This Now” by Melissa Clark.
Epicurious Best Cookbooks of 2011 – Also “Cook This Now” (However, this list was alphabetical).
Bon appetite The Best Cookbooks of 2011 – “Home Made: The Ultimate DIY Cookbook” by Yvette van Boven.
Serious Eats 10 of Our Favorite Cookbooks in 2011 – “Cooking in the Moment” by Andrea Reusing.
David Lebovitz Favorite Cookbooks of 2011 – “The Art of Living by According to Joe Beef”
The Kitchn Our Readers Top Five Cookbooks of 2011 – “Super Natural Every Day” by Heidi Swanson
The Atlantic A Food Editor Picks Her 5 Favorite Cookbooks of the Year – “Bi-Rite Market’s Eat Good Food” by Sam Mogannam and Dabney Gough
Washington Posts Best Cookbooks of 2011 – “Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites From My Life in Food” by Jaques Pepin.
New York Times Notable Cookbooks from 2011 – “Ancient Grains for Modern Meals” by Maria Speck

Which books were mentioned most frequently on these lists? Several books ended up on five or six different lists.

“The Art of Living According to Joe Beef” by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan and Meredith Erickson (5)
“Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi” by Yotam Ottolenghi (6)
“American Flavor” by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman (6)
“Cook This Now” by Melissa Clark (5)
“Ruhlman’s Twenty” by Michael Rhulman and Donna Turner Ruhlman (5)