I own eleven cookbooks. I have access to over 200. The access comes from a cookbook library I built with friends. The library is informal. The library works. The library is the single best habit change I have made for my cooking practice.
Here is how the library works and why it changed how I cook.
The shift
I used to buy cookbooks the way some people buy clothes. The buying was driven by Instagram, by bookstore browsing, by the feeling that owning a cookbook meant I would cook from it. The owning was the illusion. The owning was the issue.
I cooked from about 15 percent of the cookbooks I owned. The 85 percent I did not cook from sat on the shelf, looked nice, and accumulated. The accumulation was what I had to break.
The break came when I moved apartments and realized that 30 cookbooks needed to be packed, transported, and unpacked. The work made me question what each book actually contributed to my cooking. The questioning led to giving away 25 books. The leaving 11 books was the start of the library system.
How the library works
The library is not a formal organization. The library is a set of practices that have evolved over three years.
I borrow from friends. When I want to try a recipe from a cookbook I do not own, I ask friends who own it. The asking is normal. The asking is how most cookbook enthusiasts use their collections. Most of my friends have 50+ cookbooks. Most of my friends cook from 15 percent of them. The under-utilization is the resource.
I lend what I own. When friends ask to borrow one of my eleven cookbooks, I lend it. The lending is reciprocal. The lending is how the library scales. The scaling is the value.
I photograph the recipes I want to keep. When I find a recipe I will make more than three times, I photograph the pages. The photographing takes 30 seconds. The photographs go into a folder on my phone. The folder is searchable. The folder is what I actually cook from.
I test before committing. I do not buy a cookbook until I have cooked at least three recipes from it. The testing requires access. The access comes from the library. The library is the prerequisite to a thoughtful purchase.
I buy only keepers. After the testing, I buy only cookbooks where I have cooked more than five recipes and want to cook more. The keepers are what I own. The keepers earn their shelf space.
What I own now
The eleven keepers, in rough order of use.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. The most influential cookbook of the last decade. The framework is what makes it a keeper. The framework applies to every recipe. The book has been loaned out more than any other.
Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg. The vegetable cookbook I use most. The seasonal structure works. The recipes are reliably good. The approach has changed how I think about vegetables.
The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt. The single best book on wok cooking. The science explanations are what make it valuable. The recipes are excellent. The book is essential for anyone who owns a wok.
Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi. The cookbook that taught me middle eastern flavors. The “simple” framework is actually useful. The recipes are weeknight-friendly. The book is well-used.
Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman. The most reliable weeknight cookbook. The recipes work. The recipes are well-tested. The recipes are what I cook when I have no plan.
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. The reference cookbook. The book is what I reach for when I want to know how to cook a specific ingredient. The book is a textbook. The textbook is essential.
Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The cookbook that taught me middle eastern cooking at a more advanced level. The recipes are more complex. The complexity is worth it.
The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt. The science-based American cookbook. The book is huge. The book is worth the size. The book is what I read when I want to understand cooking.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. The classic. The book is what taught me technique. The book is what I read when I want to be a better cook, not just have a recipe.
Bavel by Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. The most-used restaurant cookbook in my collection. The recipes are complex. The complexity is what makes them worth the effort. The book is for weekends.
The Olive Branch by Despina Pieri. The Greek cookbook that taught me about Greek home cooking. The recipes are simple. The simplicity is what makes them weeknight-friendly. The book is well-used in winter.
What I gave away
The 25 books I gave away and what they taught me about what to buy.
Books I cooked from once. These were impulse purchases. The impulse was the issue. The recipe I cooked from was good. The book was not worth keeping for one recipe. The cookbook is not a book of one recipe. The cookbook is a system.
Books with inconsistent recipes. Some cookbooks have a few great recipes and many mediocre ones. The mediocre ones are what filled my shelf. The filled shelf was the issue. The filled shelf was what gave away.
Books for a cuisine I rarely cook. I owned books for Thai, Indian, and Mexican cuisine. The cuisine I rarely cook was the issue. The rare cooking was what made the books unused. The unused books are now with friends who cook those cuisines often.
Books that were mostly photographs. The Instagram-driven cookbooks are mostly photographs with thin recipes. The thin recipes are not what I cook from. The thin recipes were not worth the shelf space.
Books I bought for the author. I bought cookbooks because I admired the author. The admiration was not enough. The recipes had to work. The recipes that did not work are now with friends.
The photographing system
The system that makes the library actually usable.
Folder structure: I organize by category. The categories are: Weeknight, Weekend, Baking, Vegetables, Meat, Seafood, Grains, Desserts, Sauces, Basics. The categories are what I browse when deciding what to cook.
Naming convention: Each photo is named by dish (e.g., “Ottolenghi Roasted Carrots.jpg”). The naming makes search work. The search is fast. The fast search is what makes the system usable.
Number of photos per book: I keep 3-5 recipes per book. The 3-5 represents the “keepers” from each book. The keepers are what I cook from. The other recipes are returned to the friend.
Frequency of use: I add about 5 new recipes per month. I delete about the same number when I realize I never make them. The churn is what keeps the library current. The current library is what I cook from.
What this means for cookbook authors
A few thoughts on the economics of cookbooks.
Cookbook authors are losing sales. The cookbook-sharing economy means fewer cookbooks are sold. The reduction in sales is what the publishers are seeing. The publishers are responding with more expensive books. The expensive books are what makes the sharing economy more rational.
Cookbook authors are gaining readers. The library means more people cook from each book. The more readers is what makes the impact larger. The impact is the author’s goal. The goal is achieved through sharing.
The right answer is somewhere in between. I buy cookbooks I cook from often. I borrow cookbooks I want to try. The hybrid is what supports authors. The hybrid is what supports my cooking. The hybrid is the sustainable answer.
How to start a library
If you want to start your own informal library.
Identify your cookbook friends. The friends who cook, who own cookbooks, and who would be open to lending. The identification is the first step. Most people have at least one or two friends who fit.
Propose the system. The proposal is simple: “I have these cookbooks. I will lend any of them to you. Will you lend yours to me?” The proposal works because most cookbook owners have unused books. The unused books are what they want to share.
Start with a small list. Share 5-10 cookbooks with one friend. The small list is the pilot. The pilot is what builds trust. The trust is what makes the library work.
Add new books as you find them. The library grows organically. The growth is what makes it sustainable. The sustainable library is the one that works.
Take care of the books. The books are lent and borrowed. The care is what keeps them in good condition. The condition is what makes the lending reciprocal. The reciprocity is the foundation.
The honest summary
The cookbook library is the best habit change I have made for my cooking practice. The library gives me access to 200+ recipes. The library costs me nothing. The library has reduced my cookbook buying by 90 percent.
The library works because most cookbook owners under-use their collections. The under-use is the resource. The resource is what makes the library possible.
The shift from owning to sharing was not ideological. The shift was practical. The practical benefits are real: more recipes, less money, less shelf space, more cooking.
The recommendation: try it. Start with one friend. Start with a few books. See how it works. The library will grow if it works. The library will fade if it does not. The fading is fine. The true is what you keep.
The cookbooks I keep are the ones I use. The cookbooks I use are the ones I cook from. The cookbooks I cook from are the keepers. The keepers are what earn their shelf space.
