Introducing the Cookbooks of September 2023

Howdy cookbook fans!

And welcome to your September cookbook preview, which means it’s OFFICIAL FALL COOKBOOK SEASON, OFFICIALLY!

*bangs gong* *sets off roman candles* *rings a big bell* *cuts ribbon with comically large scissors* *plays yeah by usher featuring lil jon and ludacris*

Y’all this preview is three days late. Part of the reason is because I am currently in Brussels on “vacation” and jet lag is a pain in the butt. But part of it is because there are so, so, so, SO many cookbooks out this year. And as a one woman show, it took a long time to go through all of them!

At first I thought it was my imagination. But as I went through September releases, a little voice in the back of my head started to ask: didn’t this used to be easier? Like, a LOT easier?!

The little voice wasn’t crazy. I went back and looked at a few of the previews I did for Eater National back in the day: for example, in 2014, I featured 39 books. Not bad!

This month alone I’m featuring 39 books. And we still have 2.5 months of fall cookbook season to go. Are more cookbooks being published? Or is it that more INTERESTING cookbooks are being published? Either way, there’s a lot going on!

What this means: I am going to get much, much, much more selective about the books I feature in these previews. Only books I am TRULY excited about will make the cut. I’ve already cut out books that don’t have recipes in them (sorry food histories and memoirs, I love you) and next are the fandom cookbooks (unless it’s a very big deal, there are way too many of these to cover, and I figure if you’re part of a specific fandom, you’ll find them anyway). And it probably means a whole lot fewer cookbooks by influencers. Apologies if your book is not listed below1, I’m sure it’s lovely.

THAT SAID!!!! The books below are books I am SO SO SO EXCITED ABOUT! Books that cover cuisines I’ve never seen covered in English before, books with fascinating concepts, books with exciting recipes, books with so much to teach you. Books that I can’t wait to get by grubby little hands on. Books YOU should be excited about!

Welcome to a new kind of fall cookbook season. It’s ...