Nik Sharma

Food writer

https://www.abrowntable.com/

Biography

Nik Sharma is a molecular biologist turned cookbook author and food photographer who contributes to Serious Eats and Food & Wine and writes a monthly column for the San Francisco Chronicle. His first cookbook, Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food, was a finalist for a James Beard Foundation award and an International Association of Culinary Professionals award, and it was also selected as one of the best cookbooks of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Food52, The Kitchn, The Observer Food, and The Sunday Times. Nik resides in Los Angeles, California and writes the award-winning blog, A Brown Table.

Classic Indian Cooking

Julie Sahni

What I appreciate about this book and Julie Sahni’s work in general is the effort she puts into explaining the technicalities of Indian ingredients and techniques, an important aspect to know when trying to learn any new cuisine or style of cooking.

My Bombay Kitchen

Niloufer Ichaporia King

This is a book that is dear to my heart. I was born and raised in Bombay and every word from the headnotes to the recipes, brings back the most wonderful memories of my former home. The book is a wonderful homage to Parsi cuisine.

A Book of Middle Eastern Food

Claudia Roden

When I wanted to learn more about Middle Eastern cooking, an author recommended I read this book. It remains my number one resource. Not only does it contain a comprehensive collection of recipes from this vast region but it also shares the context behind the recipes.

The Food of Sichuan

Fuchsia Dunlop

It gives you an appreciation of the enormous task of what it takes to write a book on regional cooking of a country. Interspersed within the recipes are helpful snippets of information on how to cook with ingredients while revealing what the method actually does.

How to Eat a Peach

Diana Henry

I struggled with picking which book of Diana’s I would include here since I use them all quite frequently. This book is the perfect example of how stories can weave into recipes, and it reads like poetry.

How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

Nigella Lawson

This is a wonderful and useful book for every cook to read, regardless of their skill set. Nigella gives you the tools to cook at home but she does this in her own masterful way where you walk away confident armed with tips and tricks.

Notes from the Larder

Nigel Slater

A cookbook written as a food diary but truly gives you a sense of what it is to cook by the season. It’s easy to get transported away with this book, and I often find myself watching the weather change through a window from my kitchen.

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

Stella Parks

This is a book on classic American desserts. There is an exciting energy throughout the book that makes the complex technical approach of dessert-making fun.

Flavor Flours

Alice Medrich

This is a unique book that takes you on a journey exploring different flours and celebrates them for their individual flavors. It also deals with the challenges that arise when using non-gluten based flours and you can take the knowledge from here and apply it elsewhere in your cooking.

Chez Panisse Desserts

Lindsey Shere

When I toyed with the idea of attending pastry school, this book came highly recommended. It gave me a sense of how to appreciate locally grown ingredients for their flavor, a central theme behind the famed Chez Panisse restaurant in California.