Ina Garten is the culinary equivalent of Madonna, a talent who redefines herself constantly to stay fresh and relevant.
She’s one of American’s most successful cooks and one of the world’s most prolific cookbook authors in the modern era with 11 cookbooks to her name!
I’d not really looked at any Ina Garten cookbooks until recently and now? I am so glad that I have, here’s why.
Who Is Ina Garten?
Ina Garten, started out working at the White House in the Office of Budget and Management but it was always good that inspired her.
Now, she’s the host of “Barefoot Contessa” on the Food Network, because she quit the White House after 4 years as it was no fun and, instead, bought a store called… Barefoot Contessa in New York.
She kept the name and remade the place in her own image and it was a smash hit, her home cooked products saw her swiftly move out of the original store and into much bigger premises,
In 1999, she launched her own cookbook range and each book has sold over 100,000 copies since!
The success of the cookbooks led to some appearances on the Martha Stewart Show before Ina was offered her own show and the rest is history.
Why Are Ina Garten’s Cookbooks So Amazing?
One of Ina’s cookbooks is on our list of “how to” cookbooks but that doesn’t do her enough justice.
Ina’s cookbooks are amazing because she breaks many rules associated with the traditional cookbook.
They’re all laid out in a coffee table format which is large and accessible, they’re full of images (critics say this is a waste of space but we disagree) that show you just how sumptuous the end products will be and they’re super easy to get into.
She’s been nominated for the James Beard Awards twice and has now sold a total of six million cookbooks.
Ina’s books changed my life when I found them because I was losing my enthusiasm for cooking and their big, bold and homey-style made me fall in love with food again.
Are Ina Garten’s Cookbooks Controversial?
Most people love Ina’s work but the “Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine” is not among her fans, instead, they launched an attack on Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?
They said these recipes were full of meat and dairy, high-fat, high in calories and high in cholesterol too.
The culinary world, mainly, shrugged their shoulders in the face of this criticism after all, as Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal suggested in response, not every cookbook needs to focus on lentils.
Of course, you shouldn’t eat high-fat, high-calorie recipes every day but Ina’s not responsible for balancing your diet and the recipes are super tasty.
I love Ina’s work and I am convinced that you will too, if you want a modern but traditional set of recipes that anyone can follow for great results?
Ina is the modern day master cook that everyone needs on their bookshelf.
If you’re looking for more inspiration in the kitchen, why not check out our top cookbooks of all time or our favorite Japanese cookbooks?