The New York Times Cookbook

The original New York Times Cookbook was authored by Craig Claiborne and published in 1961, and it remains a classic reference. A revised and updated edition was later published, and there is also a more recent 'The New Essentials Cookbook' from the NYT Cooking team. The Claiborne editions are best for those interested in foundational 20th-century American cooking, while the newer editions reflect contemporary tastes.

Craig Claiborne was the food editor and restaurant critic for The New York Times from the 1950s through the 1980s, and is widely credited with elevating American food journalism. He was one of the first to treat restaurant criticism and home cooking with serious literary rigor. His New York Times Cookbook, first published in 1961, became one of the best-selling cookbooks in American history.

While some techniques and ingredients in the original Claiborne edition reflect mid-20th-century conventions, the core recipes—breads, roasts, sauces, and classic dishes—remain reliable and well-tested. The recipes tend to be thorough and assume a competent home cook. Many readers value the book precisely for its timeless approach to fundamentals rather than trend-driven cooking.

The original 1961 edition of The New York Times Cookbook contains over 1,000 recipes collected from Claiborne's columns and the newspaper's food staff. The recipes span American and international cuisines and are organized by category. Later editions revised and expanded the collection to reflect evolving culinary trends.