For basketball players, March means madness.
For chefs and cookbook enthusiasts, February is the month.
The New York City-based food blog, Food52, started the annual Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks in 2010 and it has the feel of the annual March Madness college basketball tournament — except these Cinderellas are cookbooks.
The blog takes 16 cookbooks from the previous year and has them square off in a mano-e-mano, bracket-style tournament. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges who hail from different corners of the food and media world. Each matchup has a judge cook from both books and then deliver a verdict. The winning book advances — the other is cooked — until there’s a winner.
Last year, Louisa Shafia’s “The New Persian Kitchen” edged out “Roberta’s Cookbook” for the crown.
This year the list of books includes “A Boat, A Whale, &A Walrus” by Seattle chef Renee Erickson. In the first round, Erickson’s book takes on Jody Williams’ “Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food,” which focuses on French recipes from her New York restaurant Buvette. Emily Gould, author of the novel “Friendship,” will be the judge.
Other cookbooks in this year’s tournament include Mimi Thorisson’s “A Kitchen in France,” Gabrielle Hamilton’s “Prune,” and Maria Elia’s “Smashing Plates.” For a full list of the books, visit food52.com/the-piglet/2015.
This year’s panel of judges include food critics, chefs and Food Network stars, including Iron Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli and The New Yorker columnist Bill Buford.
The tournament begins Feb. 18, but it’s not too late to print out a bracket and fill it out. My wife organizes a tournament with her friends each year with the winner receiving a copy of the winning book.
To print out a bracket, visit food52.com/the-piglet/2015/bracket.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
