Twenty-five essential cookbooks

The editors at Vogue came up with a list of twenty-five cookbooks that everyone should own, including:

Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

The best cookbook for… super precise but simple American recipes.

This is one of those cookbooks that will teach you the basics—with an eye toward perfecting them. Ad Hoc is one of the more casual outposts from Thomas Keller, the famed chef behind Per Se and French Laundry, and here he’s operating in a more relaxed register—appropriate (and approachable) for a home cook. But there’s no lack of precision. I remember one recipe for sautéed carrots that offers instruction on the precise angle of the cut, the way to roll the peeled carrot in order to obtain it, and how to tie the bouquet garnish so that a rogue spice wouldn’t escape. I have to say, it was worth it. (Also look here for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever encountered; I am never disloyal to it.) — C.S.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue