45 books like Tyler's Ultimate

By Tyler Florence,

Here are 45 books that Tyler's Ultimate fans have personally recommended if you like Tyler's Ultimate. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Orexi!: Feasting at the Modern Greek Table

Pamela Ellgen Author Of The I Love Trader Joe's Snack Boards Cookbook: 50 Delicious Recipes for Charcuterie, Spreads, Platters, and More Using Ingredients from the World's Greatest Grocery Store

From my list on cookbooks for entertaining.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t always know I wanted to be a chef and food writer. But I have always known that I loved to prepare and enjoy beautiful food! In college, that meant throwing dinner parties for my friends. This was before Instagram, but I still wanted my food to look pretty and draw a crowd! Fast forward a couple decades. I have worked as a private chef, taught farm-to-table cooking classes, and written more than 27 published cookbooks. My favorite thing about my work is creating inspired meals that bring people together with those they love.

Pamela's book list on cookbooks for entertaining

Pamela Ellgen Why did Pamela love this book?

For starters, the photography in Orexi! is mouthwatering and the landscape and ocean shots make me want to hop on a plane to Greece.

Often in international cuisine cookbooks, you find predictable fare, but Michaels does a great job of putting his own spin on traditional dishes. I especially love his version of Kolifa, which he calls Salad for The Soul, and the Charred Chilli and Feta Dip for antipasto platters.

His homage to his grandmother in Yiayia’s Keftedes is touching and the meatballs are perfect for gatherings. 

By Theo A. Michaels,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Orexi! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A collection of over 80 classic and modern recipes from MasterChef semi-finalist Theo Michaels; paying homage to his heritage by championing new modern dishes inspired by the flavours of Greece and Cyprus.

Kali orexi is the Greek equivalent of bon appetit and this enticing book will certainly whet your appetite! Organized in chapters entitled Meze, Sea, Land, Sun and Fire, Theo's recipes evoke a sense of connection to nature, seasonality, abundance and sociable eating. Fresh ingredients sing from the plate, from juicy watermelon and glossy kalamata olives, to fragrant oregano-roasted lamb and delicate vine-leaf-baked sea bass. Meze features mouth-watering small…


Book cover of The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.'s Favorite Modern Cafeteria

Pamela Ellgen Author Of The I Love Trader Joe's Snack Boards Cookbook: 50 Delicious Recipes for Charcuterie, Spreads, Platters, and More Using Ingredients from the World's Greatest Grocery Store

From my list on cookbooks for entertaining.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t always know I wanted to be a chef and food writer. But I have always known that I loved to prepare and enjoy beautiful food! In college, that meant throwing dinner parties for my friends. This was before Instagram, but I still wanted my food to look pretty and draw a crowd! Fast forward a couple decades. I have worked as a private chef, taught farm-to-table cooking classes, and written more than 27 published cookbooks. My favorite thing about my work is creating inspired meals that bring people together with those they love.

Pamela's book list on cookbooks for entertaining

Pamela Ellgen Why did Pamela love this book?

I’ve dined at the restaurant Lemonade in Venice Beach several times and was thrilled when I discovered they had a cookbook.

LA is defined by exceptionally fresh produce year-round and a diverse culinary scene thanks to immigrants from all over the world. Lemonade reflects that beautifully! I used many of the recipes in this book when cooking for the Patagonia women’s surf team and was thrilled with how much people loved them and how easy they were to scale up to feed a crowd.

Narrowing it down to my favorites was tough, but I can’t get enough of the Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Pine Nut, and Lime Vinaigrette; the Black Kale, Shiitake, and Kumquat Vinaigrette; or the Red Miso Beef. And of course, they have a full lemonade chapter with interesting, virgin concoctions including my favorite, the Green Apple Jalapeno lemonade.

By Alan Jackson, Joann Cianciulli,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lemonade Cookbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Lemonade Cookbook takes the bold flavors, imaginative dishes, and southern California lifestyle that have made the brand an instant hit and captures them in a fresh, beautifully-designed, full-color book. Like Los Angeles, Lemonade's cuisine is carefully blended with variety. L.A. is agents and movie grips, surfers and yoga moms, students and celebrities, and a wide mix of different culinary traditions. At Lemonade the marketplace salads, unique sandwiches, and slow-simmered stews taste as though every culture stirred a bit into the pot―for example, the skirt steak with grilled onions and piquillo peppers with its smoky depth, pairs perfectly with the…


Book cover of Latin Flavors on the Grill

Pamela Ellgen Author Of The I Love Trader Joe's Snack Boards Cookbook: 50 Delicious Recipes for Charcuterie, Spreads, Platters, and More Using Ingredients from the World's Greatest Grocery Store

From my list on cookbooks for entertaining.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t always know I wanted to be a chef and food writer. But I have always known that I loved to prepare and enjoy beautiful food! In college, that meant throwing dinner parties for my friends. This was before Instagram, but I still wanted my food to look pretty and draw a crowd! Fast forward a couple decades. I have worked as a private chef, taught farm-to-table cooking classes, and written more than 27 published cookbooks. My favorite thing about my work is creating inspired meals that bring people together with those they love.

Pamela's book list on cookbooks for entertaining

Pamela Ellgen Why did Pamela love this book?

I found this book at a rummage sale for my children’s school, so I didn’t expect much. But I was thrilled to discover a wealth of unique recipes perfect for backyard barbecues.

I love that the flavor combinations are somewhat unpredictable and unique. It’s easy to fall into a rut when you’re entertaining around the grill (burgers, corn on the cob, and potato salad anyone?). Every recipe is prepared on the grill, even the sides, so that’s fun!

My favorite recipes include the Sticky Orange- and Chipotle-Glazed Sweet Potatoes (a perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and acidic), and the Grilled Porterhouse Steak with Venezuelan Guasaca Sauce served with Arepas that are to die for.

By Douglas Rodriguez, Andrew DiCataldo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Latin Flavors on the Grill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW IN PAPERBACK!Fire up the grill and get ready to mambo! Tired of the same ol' marinades and barbecue sauces? Well, Nuevo Latino king Douglas Rodriguez and sous chef Andrew DiCataldo have the recipes that grillmeisters need to spice things up and expand their repertoire. Drawing on spices, authentic dishes, and grilling techniques from over 20 Latin American countries, Rodriguez and DiCataldo share the secrets of these dynamic cuisines. True to Rodriguez's reputation for inventive Latin fusion food, these 100-plus recipes deliver exotic, seductive flavors, all married by the intense heat of the grill. Recipes range from seafood, meat, game,…


Book cover of Bites on a Board

Pamela Ellgen Author Of The I Love Trader Joe's Snack Boards Cookbook: 50 Delicious Recipes for Charcuterie, Spreads, Platters, and More Using Ingredients from the World's Greatest Grocery Store

From my list on cookbooks for entertaining.

Why am I passionate about this?

I didn’t always know I wanted to be a chef and food writer. But I have always known that I loved to prepare and enjoy beautiful food! In college, that meant throwing dinner parties for my friends. This was before Instagram, but I still wanted my food to look pretty and draw a crowd! Fast forward a couple decades. I have worked as a private chef, taught farm-to-table cooking classes, and written more than 27 published cookbooks. My favorite thing about my work is creating inspired meals that bring people together with those they love.

Pamela's book list on cookbooks for entertaining

Pamela Ellgen Why did Pamela love this book?

I stumbled on this book while on a long weekend holiday in San Francisco with my fiance. 

I love the unstudied air of the book. It feels like what a charcuterie board should be – just food casually arranged on a plate to share. I especially love her lush boards, which are luxurious, beautiful, and filled with color. Unexpected flavor combinations – grilled pineapple with poke avocado salad with edible flowers – make this a fun change of pace from traditional charcuterie board books.

Bonus, she recommends thrift shops for finding trays and boards, which makes entertaining even more accessible.

By Anni Daulter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bites on a Board as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Delicious recipes and creative presentations served up on a board.

Cutting boards aren’t just for prep anymore. From classic charcuterie boards with prosciutto, olives, and roasted figs to luscious dessert boards with mini cheesecakes and red-wine ice-cream bites, food stylist Anni Daulter shows creative hosts how to make the most of their boards and serving platters. With rustic, trendy, pickled, and even culturally-inspired boards and recipes, the last thing you’ll want to do when you’re finished cooking is put away the cutting board.


Book cover of Keep It Vegan

Veronika Sophia Robinson Author Of The Mystic Cookfire: The Sacred Art of Creating Food to Nurture Friends and Family

From my list on conscious plant-based cookery.

Why am I passionate about this?

Veronika Sophia Robinson has eaten a plant-based diet for forty-eight years and knows what healthy and delicious vegan and vegetarian food should taste like. She has had extensive experience in cooking for others whether around her kitchen table or in a yurt with no electricity feeding up to fifty families for five days (for many years). The Mystic Cookfire is a tome of over 400 pages. It is an expression of her deep love and respect for food, conscious cookery, and intentional eating. Her second recipe book Love From My Kitchen is a collection of vegan, gluten-free recipes based on the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. She’s delighted that her granddaughter is a fourth-generation vegetarian.

Veronika's book list on conscious plant-based cookery

Veronika Sophia Robinson Why did Veronika love this book?

True to the subtitle, these recipes are delicious, healthy and simple. The best recipe books have stories woven throughout and you read them like a novel. Keep It Vegan makes you want to slow down and savour each page, and it leaves you infused with passion and pride for creating dishes which nurture and satiate. Recipes include Rosemary and Pear-Stuffed French Toast to Sweet Potato and Kiwi Soup to Pea and Lemon Risotto with a mint oil drizzle to Smokey Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Saffron-infused Couscous to No-Bake Strawberry Vanilla Cheesecake. Every page is a delight!

By Aine Carlin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Keep It Vegan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Think you know vegan cooking? Lengthy, complicated recipe lists, expensive, hard-to-find ingredients, flavourless food? Think again! Let Aine Carlin, creator of popular vegan lifestyle blog Pea Soup Eats, enlighten you with her delicious recipes and straightforward tips. Keep it simple with easy-to-follow recipes, using a sensible number of ingredients that can be found in your local supermarket. Keep it tasty with chapters including Breakfast, Brunch & More, Light Lunches & Simple Suppers, Something Special, Sauces & Sides and Sweet Treats. Delight your senses and tantalise your tastebuds with Rosemary and Pear Stuffed French Toast, Santorini Spaghetti or Sweet Potato Sushi.…


Book cover of Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes

Lukas Volger Author Of Snacks for Dinner: Small Bites, Full Plates, Can't Lose

From my list on cookbooks for making plant-based cooking a habit.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing vegetarian cookbooks for almost 15 years, and have had many different jobs in the world of food – cooking in restaurants, running a small food business, working food photography shoots, and much more. While in my day-to-day eating, I go on and off following a strict plant-based diet, it’s long been my default style of eating because I find it to be so healthy, affordable, and fun! I’m never not excited and inspired by the abundance and diversity of vegetables and the incredible techniques and dishes that cuisines around the world have done with them. 

Lukas' book list on cookbooks for making plant-based cooking a habit

Lukas Volger Why did Lukas love this book?

Adopting a bean habit – i.e., always having a tub of cooked beans in the fridge, or several cans in the pantry – is one of the great pleasures of eating less meat and more veggies, and Cool Beans is such a useful treatise on the subject. Its scope shows off the humble bean’s incredible range: stews, soups, and veggie burgers, yes, but also salads, snacks, and desserts, too. It’s no wonder that beans are a staple of nearly every cuisine on the planet! While I personally have never tired of eating a simple pot of simmered beans, with all the fun recipes in here, this book guarantees that legumes will never be boring. 

By Joe Yonan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cool Beans as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Unlock the possibilities of beans, chickpeas, lentils, pulses, and more with 125 fresh, modern recipes for globally inspired vegetarian mains, snacks, soups, and desserts, from a James Beard Award-winning food writer

“This is the bean bible we need.”—Bon Appétit

JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Food Network, NPR, Forbes, Smithsonian Magazine, Wired

After being overlooked for too long in the culinary world, beans are emerging for what they truly are: a delicious, versatile, and environmentally friendly protein. In fact, with a little ingenuity, this nutritious and hearty staple is guaranteed to liven up…


Book cover of A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes

Laura Calder Author Of The Inviting Life: An Inspirational Guide to Homemaking, Hosting and Opening the Door to Happiness

From my list on making and running a welcoming home.

Why am I passionate about this?

Laura Calder is a recognized advocate for living well at home. She is the author of four cookbooks and received a James Beard Award for her long-running television series, French Food at Home.

Laura's book list on making and running a welcoming home

Laura Calder Why did Laura love this book?

Menu cookbooks can be tricky, but Tanis has produced this and another masterpiece (The Heart of the Artichoke 2010) both of which will up the game of any dinner-party host. The recipes are varied, imaginative, and infallible (Fish Tacos with Shredded Cabbage and Lime, Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas, Rum Baba with Cardamom) and the menus sheer poetry.

By David Tanis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In "A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes", David Tanis shows readers how to slow down, pay attention, and give ingredients their due. Worlds away from showy "Food Network" personalities and chefs who preach fussy techniques, Tanis serves up charming, unassuming meals for friends and family: couscous with rabbit and turnip for a special birthday fete, clam and chorizo paella to eat by the fireplace, and turkey with duck confit for Thanksgiving. Tanis has an elemental, unpretentious finesse with ingredients and a genuine gift with words."Dinner with Friends" is deliciously down-to-earth in covering such topics as 'Pretty vs. Beautiful Food,'…


Book cover of Space Invaders

Steven Arntson Author Of The Wikkeling

From my list on short contemporary novels in translation.

Why am I passionate about this?

My writing career has been in middle grade and YA, but as a reader I’m always trying to branch out. When I was a kid, literature opened the door to the whole world, and as an adult, I’m still exploring. When I read work in translation I can feel the literary connection to other writers and thinkers and simultaneously appreciate the differences that arise through geographic and cultural heritage. I hope my selections here might help readers like myself who enjoy reaching out to new voices and places.

Steven's book list on short contemporary novels in translation

Steven Arntson Why did Steven love this book?

Translated from Spanish and a mere 70 pages in length, you may be hungry for more (as I was) when you've finished this bracingly brief story. Fortunately, you can pick up this author's The Twilight Zone (as I did) to read a longer exploration by this author of the events and themes introduced here. Fernández writes from the perspective of a young person living during the Pinochet regime in Chile, evoking the time with an extended metaphor about the ‘80s video game Space Invaders. The concerns of the young are strangely pushed and pulled by the terrible realities of that regime, which, like an invader from another world, descends upon their lives.

By Nona Fernández, Natasha Wimmer (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Space Invaders as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature

A dreamlike evocation of a generation that grew up in the shadow of a dictatorship in 1980s Chile

Space Invaders is the story of a group of childhood friends who, in adulthood, are preoccupied by uneasy memories and visions of their classmate Estrella González Jepsen. In their dreams, they catch glimpses of Estrella’s braids, hear echoes of her voice, and read old letters that eventually, mysteriously, stopped arriving. They recall regimented school assemblies, nationalistic class performances, and a trip to the beach. Soon it becomes clear that Estrella’s father was a…


Book cover of My Tender Matador

Trebor Healey Author Of A Horse Named Sorrow

From my list on erotic themes that are imaginative and insightful.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing stories and poems with erotic themes since I first entered the spoken word scene in 1980s San Francisco. As a young queer boy, raised in the highly eroticized Catholic Church, I was actually comfortable talking about and writing about sex and eros as I’d been stigmatized by it, and it got me fascinated with what the big deal was and why writers were afraid to approach it or why they did so in a corny/predictable/idealized and/or often dishonest and clumsy way. Soon I was teaching erotic writing and have been integrating it into my writing in honest, fresh, and enlivening ways—and helping others do soever since.

Trebor's book list on erotic themes that are imaginative and insightful

Trebor Healey Why did Trebor love this book?

Lemebel was a courageous and flamboyant activist during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Having lived in Chile myself, I think this book captures the erotic Chilean soul in all its humor, grief, and idealism at an important historical moment. The hopelessly romantic and delightfully ironic seamstress/protagonist Queen of the Corner lives on a rooftop in one of Santiago’s poorest barrios and hosts discussion groups by local leftist students who keep leaving behind really heavy boxes, ostensibly full of books, as they prepare a vague plan that will have enormous implications. The group’s ringleader Carlos is a charmer ala Che Guevara, and the Queen is soon head over heels in love as a friendship and a tender unrequited love affair begins. A story of remarkable humanism that mixes the erotic with revolution.

By Pedro Lemebel, Katherine Silver (translator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked My Tender Matador as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Centered around the 1986 attempt on the life of Augusto Pinochet, an event that changed Chile forever, My Tender Matador is one of the most explosive, controversial, and popular novels to have been published in that country in decades. It is spring 1986 in the city of Santiago, and Augusto Pinochet is losing his grip on power. In one of the city's many poor neighborhoods works the Queen of the Corner, a hopeless and lonely romantic who embroiders linens for the wealthy and listens to boleros to drown out the gunshots and rioting in the streets. Along comes Carlos, a…


Book cover of Madwomen: The Locas Mujeres Poems of Gabriela Mistral

Chriselda Barretto Author Of The Creep: A First of Its Kind Narrative Poetry in a Thriller Genre!

From my list on poetry from the world's greatest female poets.

Why am I passionate about this?

Chriselda is a multi-genre, prolific author, and speaker, with a background in Business Administration and Chemistry/Microbiology. She speaks 5 languages & has published over 50 books. Her expansive writing covers poetry, horror, thriller, romance, children’s illustration, educational... but she enjoys telling a story in narrative poetry the most. Currently, she is working on her next dark poetry book Me and Him, where she will invoke one of the greatest poets – EA Poe. In her effort to promote more learning, she is also wrapping up the fourth book in her - Sigils, Symbols and Alchemy Series. Her passion for writing, lifelong learning, creativity, and her curiosity all help spark her innovative mindset.

Chriselda's book list on poetry from the world's greatest female poets

Chriselda Barretto Why did Chriselda love this book?

Gabriela was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, and humanist, who became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. Her poetry often focuses on dark, humane themes that undoubtedly reflect on traumatic episodes that she had personally endured. 

Gabriela has the knack of scratching the surface, which is potent enough to get all your senses actively experiencing the emotions and character she puts forth. The poems resonate on a deep level, offering a compelling clarity of life with its tragedy and complications. The women depicted here are anything but mad; some would say entirely strong-willed and intense, with a collected control and a modernistic sense of independence.

By Gabriela Mistral, Randall Couch (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Madwomen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) is one of the most important and enigmatic figures in twentieth-century Latin American literature. The Locas mujeres poems collected here are among Mistral's most complex and compelling, exploring facets of the self in extremis - poems marked by the wound of blazing catastrophe and its aftermath of mourning. Madwomen promises to reveal a profound poet to a new generation while reacquainting Spanish readers with a stranger, more complicated 'madwoman' than most have ever known.


Book cover of Orexi!: Feasting at the Modern Greek Table
Book cover of The Lemonade Cookbook: Southern California Comfort Food from L.A.'s Favorite Modern Cafeteria
Book cover of Latin Flavors on the Grill

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Interested in Chile, Latin America, and Augusto Pinochet?

Chile 38 books
Latin America 121 books