Like every year (or almost when the harvest is good), we are happy at Tastet to offer you some titles to place under the tree to spoil your loved ones, family, friends or colleagues, who will in turn spoil you with discoveries made in these pages.
This year, Santa Claus is particularly inventive. Among his Christmas Gifts, cookbooks, others on wine, others on cocktails since the latter seem to be up to date for an ever more interested public, mixologists being on the way to becoming stars with their art.
You will also find other details on cultures from elsewhere and on realities other than ours, see Persian Feasts or British Cuisine. So, we can also eat intelligently by discovering what’s happening in our neighbors’ kitchens.
The prices of these Christmas gifts are like everywhere else and tend to skyrocket; we thank certain authors for thinking about our little wallets, see Marilou. We must remember that this or that book which offers a few hundred recipes or suggestions does not sell for more than a dish served in a good restaurant or a good bottle of wine, both of which will disappear after the festivities. These books, on the other hand, will remain present for a long time – making many people happy – and, if you have had the kindness to dedicate them, you will remain in the heart of the person to whom you have offered them each time they cook a dish, open a good bottle or prepare an original cocktail.
The entire Tastet team wishes you a wonderful end-of-year celebration, cooking with joy and drinking in moderation during the celebrations.
We look forward to seeing you again in 2025 with, while waiting for the next Christmas, new suggestions for good restaurants, delicious bars and always intriguing cafes.
Our gift suggestions
Three times a day: My low-cost recipes
Marilou says: “I imagined this sixth volume “Recipes at low prices” to help all people who want to indulge in the art of saving. » In these somewhat disrupted economic times, we can only applaud and appreciate anyone who offers us ways to consume in moderation. Tips, tricks and other practical advice for cooking without breaking the bank. Thank you Marilou! To help your children and grandchildren cook, Marilou has also just published Your first recipes. Thanks again Marilou!
- Marilou
- Cardinal
- 256 pages
- 32,95 $
The book of British cuisine
Who said the English didn’t have a kitchen? Not this author in any case who demonstrates the opposite. With more than 550 recipes, this “culinary historian” takes us on a journey to the land of Fish and Chipsof the crumpets and scones. And when we read “British cuisine”, we understand that we find here recipes from the cuisines of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, but also from elsewhere than in the United Kingdom. Plain (like that of Chicken Tikka Masalatried and devoured, for example to recommend it to you). Traditional recipes that reveal another dimension of this often mocked cuisine.
- Ben Mervis
- Phaidon
- 463 pages
- 64,95 $
Home cooking
The full title of this book is “Home cooking. My favorite recipes for my family and friends”. This gives a better idea of what Chuck, a keen chef (Garde Manger) and show host, whose products can be found on grocery store shelves, offers here. Here are the inspiring and comforting recipes of a dad and husband. You might think that 85 recipes isn’t a lot, but it’s quite a bit more than most husbands and dads typically have to offer to their family and friends. Treat yourself!
- Chuck Hughes
- Les Éditions de l’Homme
- 288 pages
- 42,95 $
The history of great wines in comic strips
Published in France in May 2024, The history of great wines in comic strips is offered by the Quebec publishing house Édito. Benoist Simmat and Daniel Casanave, respectively author and designer, tell the thousand-year-old history of this beverage so appreciated and celebrated throughout the world. From the Egypt of the pharaohs and ancient Greece to the rich contemporary regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and California, we learn so many interesting details that this comic is likely to be among your favorites of 2024.
- Daniel Casanave et Benoist Simmat
- editorial
- 240 pages
- 29,95 $
Elena’s kitchen
Elena’s Kitchen is good news for all those who “love” Italian cuisine. Elena indeed offers original recipes — her version of Quick fagot or Veal meatballs are real gifts in their own right — and gives details about the neighborhood, its history and many other things; for example on its Quincaillerie Dante opened in 1956 and on its Mezza Luna cooking school. In Montreal and not just in Little Italy, Elena is a true star and her big heart has made her the friend of many chefs who have now become stars in their turn. As for the clientele of both companies, they are made up of loyal people who have been attached to them for years.
- Elena Vendittelli Faita
- Trecarré
- 264 pages
- 42,95 $
Chef John Mike: The Cookbook
Jean-Michel Leblond, aka Chef John Mike, is a well-known figure in the restaurant world. We discovered him at his late restaurant Tripes & Caviar, in his numerous popups and at Kabinet, which he recently left to devote himself to his media projects. The chef was revealed to the general public in the television series Get me out of here et Wood headsnotably, and to a lesser extent as a country singer. It is to the sound of this music that he suggests we cook the recipes from his very first book: “Put on some country music and cook the classics from my repertoire with me. Perfect recipes from aperitif to dessert, to prepare at the chalet, to assemble on the go or even on the boat! From the captain’s lunch to sexy romantic food, I’m sure this book will set your gatherings and other gourmet moments on fire!”
- Jean-Michel Leblond
- Les Éditions de l’Homme
- 216 pages
- 39,95 $
Persian feasts
Delighting yourself with the hundred recipes in this book — including a dozen rice recipes, each more delicious than the last — takes you on a journey to a country that we hear too much about with bad news. Inspiring and delicious recipes and very informative texts. The author visits Iran and talks about it differently. The history of the country, but also his own, family history. Written in collaboration with Lila Charif, Laya Khasjavi and Bahar Tavakolian and enriched with photos of dishes that will make you salivate.
Leila Heller
PHAIDON
271 pages
59,95 $
Ottolenghi: Comfort
Any work by Yotam Ottolenghi attracts crowds and is doomed to success. This will not be denied for RÉCONFORT, his most recent book. With the help of a trio of co-authors as keen as he is, he offers here a hundred very personal and very tasty recipes. Tested and devoured for you, his recipe for “Roast chicken with curry leaf dukka” is perfect for all the gourmands around the table.
- Yotam Ottolenghi
- KO Editions
- 320 pages
- 44,95 $
Cocktails Signature
If you are a cocktail lover, this book is for you. Amanda Schuster is a multi-talented New Yorker. Freelance writer, beverage industry consultant, sommelier to name but a few. She has just published COCKTAILS SIGNATURES with Phaidon, a veritable little bible. In this book illustrated with magnificent photos, the author talks about the history of the XV cocktaile century to the present day, and presents some 200 cocktail recipes, classics, popular ones and more recent creations
- Amanda Schuster
- PHAIDON
- 432 Pages
- 49,95 $
Janette’s recipes
To conclude this list, a sort of miracle: Janette’s recipes. This Janette is Madame Bertrand who has been enriching Quebec with her presence for ages with broadcasts, interventions and…books. This is the third edition, the first having been published in 1968 and the second, revised and expanded, in 2005. You will find there the recipes which constitute the Quebec prize list, plus dishes from elsewhere and adapted to Janette’s style. . Two important details: 1. Christian Bégin, himself quite fond of cooking, prefaced with affection. 2. In 2024, a 248-page recipe book without any photos is a bit like finding, with emotion, the notebook in which one of your ancestors had collected her personal recipes.
- Janette Bertrand
- Libre Expression
- 248 pages
- 25,95 $
Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
