We asked each Field Guide Chef and Farmer to share the top three books that have inspired their journey with food! The quick responses told us everything – we are ALL excited to talk about our favorite books.
As a bonus, First Light Books will be curating a pop-up bookstore at the festival, where 30 of the below titles will be available for purchase! Don’t forget to purchase your tickets to the Field Guide Symposium and Festival here.
Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game by Jesse Griffiths – recommended by Chelsea Fadda of Pecan Square Cafe
Bianco: Bianco: Pizza, Pasta, and Other Food I Like by Chris Bianco – recommended by Tony Curet of Side Eye Pie
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton – recommended by Fiore Tedesco of L’Oca d’Oro, Nick Ford of Favorite Pizza, and Sarah Heard of Foreign & Domestic
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan – recommended by Joe & Kasey Diffie of Joe’s Microgreens
Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook by Alice Waters – recommended by Kelsey Small of Smalls Pizza
Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl – recommended by Amanda Rockman of Rockman Coffee and Bakeshop
Cooking By Hand: A Cookbook by Paul Bertolli – recommended by Chef Jo Chan
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner – recommended by Sonya Cote of Store House Market & Eatery
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow – recommended by Amalia Staggs of Farmshare Austin
Dirt by Bill Buford – recommended by Fiore Tedesco of L’Oca d’Oro
Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown – recommended by Cody Brown of Growtopia
Farming While Black by Leah Penniman – recommended by Anamaria Gutierrez of Este Garden
Fish by Jesse Griffiths – recommended by Chelsea Fadda of Pecan Square Cafe
Heritage by Sean Brock – recommended by James Robert of Fixe + Hissy Fit
Letters to a Young Farmer by Gene Logsdo – recommended by Trisha Bates of Urban American Farmer & Field Guide Fest
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel – Recommended by Chelsea Fadda of Pecan Square Cafe
On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox and Noah Galuten – recommended by Fiore Tedesco of L’Oca d’Oro
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake – recommended by Hannah Beall of Central Texas Food Bank Garden
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain – recommended by Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria
The New Organic Grocer by Eliot Coleman – recommended by David Barrow of Eden East Farm
Notes From a Young Black Chef: A Memoir by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein – recommended by Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Nicosi Dessert Bar
Parables of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler – recommended by Casey Frank of Farmshare Austin
The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber – recommended by Casey Frank of Farmshare Austin
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry by Wendell Berry – recommended by Casey Frank of Farmshare Austin
The Seed Underground by Janisse Ray – recommended by Trisha Bates of Urban American Farmer + Field Guide Fest
Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community by Wendell Berry – recommended by Trisha Bates of Urban American Farmer + Field Guide Fest
The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka – recommended by Phil Green of River Field Farm
What Your Food Ate by David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé – recommended by Cody & Natalie Scott of Green Bexar Farm
Que vivan los tamales!: Food and the Making of Mexican Identity by Jeffrey M. Pilcher – recommended by Joseph Gomez of Sana Sana Taqueria
.
Looking for a way to purchase these books now? Our friends at First Light Books will have a curated selection of these Field Guide Recommends titles for the month of April. You can find them in-store or in their online shop.