It’s the time of year when we look back and commit to our favorite books. Here at The Splendid Table, we all approach cooking and eating from different points of view, so the books that make our year-end list are usually wonderfully varied. This year is no exception.

Here are the books that have stayed in the forefront of our minds over the last 12 months. Drumroll, please!

(See book picks from 2014, 2013 and 2012.)

Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Host


Mastering Sauces

"I developed these different mock stocks, infusions and ideas where in five or ten minutes, you can make a more complex liquid that will be a step up from plain water."
-Susan Volland


The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

"The book is really a compendium of human desires, a cultural history of desire for things that are sweet and what it has caused in the world, in both the realm of pleasure and also of pain."
-Darra Goldstein


Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees

"I really feel Chinese food has been misunderstood."
-Kian Lam Kho

Sally Swift, Managing Producer


Pasta by Hand

"All gnocchi are dumplings, but not all dumplings are gnocchi."
-Jenn Louis


Mr. Wilkinson's Well-Dressed Salads

Recipe: Zucchini with Ajo Blanco Dressing & Spiced Nuts
Matt Wilkinson


Crossroads

Tal Ronnen

Jennifer Russell, Producer


The Food Lab

"Often you find that there are ways you can improve techniques or recipes."
-J. Kenji López-Alt


Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine

Lidia Bastianich


Nopi

Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully

Jennifer Luebke, Technical Director


Vegetarian India

Madhur Jaffrey


Food52 Genius Recipes

Kristen Miglore


Pig Tales

"This is the way pigs are raised."
-Barry Estabrook