Kamala Harris’s Cookbooks – What her cookbooks say about her – Esquire & Diana Henry

You can tell a lot about a person by the cookbooks they own.  Our co-founder Mex Ibrahim discovered through Bee Wilson, that Esquire magazine had published in-depth look at Vice President Kamala Harris’s cookbooks. Bee noted that British food writer Diana Henry‘s book From The Oven to the Table was not only included amongst the pile of cookbooks, but that Diana Henry had also given her thoughts on the books. Mex took a look at the women food writers who feature in Kamala’s kitchen.

Firstly let it be said that I’m a big fan of Diana Henry and last saw her at a supper club at Fortnum & Mason’s in November 2023 for the re-issue of her classic book – Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to warm the soul. She was being mobbed for cookbook signatures at the end, and so my friend and I didn’t get a chance to get a signed copy, but will be sure to whenever we next see her.

Diana starts her review of Kamala’s books by saying “Some have suggested that an interest in food isn’t important for someone seeking such high office. She clearly takes cooking seriously but this pile of books reveals much more than a cook who wants dependable recipes, it shows a huge interest in food from different cultures, where dishes come from and how they have evolved.”

We are La Cocina : Recipes in Pursuit of the American Dream is one such book and one that I refer to often as it is a brilliant collection of recipes from immigrant women from a San Francisco kitchen incubator. At the time of writing there is only one hardback left on Amazon’s UK site. But as the book was first published in 2019, you should be able to find copies elsewhere online.

The recipes from We are La Cocina span the globe and cover dishes from women from the United States, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Senegal, Vietnam, and many more. La Cocina is an amazing incubator kitchen which provides affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance, and access to market opportunities to women of colour and immigrant communities. We love Kamala for having this  amongst her pile of books. 

I also love the photography by award-winning photographer Eric Wolfinger which truly capture the spirit of the women, their amazing food, and the diversity of the immigrant experience.

Continuing with cookbooks written by women – “Marcella Hazan is simply a no-brainer, she is the queen of Italian cookery.” said Diana.

Marcella Hazan was one of the most respected and best-known Italian cookery writers in the world.  She was the acknowledged godmother of Italian cooking in America.  Marcella Cucina, first published in 1997 shows her remarkable knowledge of Italian cuisine. All of her recipes in this book come from her everyday life and a desire to put “good food, properly cooked” onto the table. Marcella wrote: When I am developing recipes for a book I cook a meal with my husband and I eat. The dishes must be tested in the intimate circumstances of a true family meal and they must satisfy the lively taste expectations that those circumstances arouse. If they do not, they are never served again, and they do not go into the book”.

I was delighted that Marcella’s book – Marcella Cucina – is firmly nestled in my classic women cooks section – along with a host of books by Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith, plus my favourites from Mary Berry and the late Two Fat Ladies.

Diana continued on Kamala’s books: “This is an inspiring pile of books. Harris understands how important it is to gather round a table, but she is also interested in the complexity of what is offered at that table.”

Joshua David Stein in the piece for Esquire wrote: “Obviously for Harris, whose own family hails from Jamaica and India, two brutally colonized countries, these histories aren’t abstract. They are her own stories. Harris seems to want to understand as much as possible the context of what she’s cooking, because she is not just making recipes but making sense of her own stories too. That connection between food and healing extends beyond her own biography. The presence of Together, a little-known cookbook published by a group of West London women from recipes they developed in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire and We are La Cocina (covered earlier) points to a broader sense of compassion.”

Joshua notes that the stack of cookbooks from a presidential candidate “feels like a win”. He continued “That the authors, recipes, traditions, and stories represented in Harris’s collection comprise an international, diverse, underrepresented, community-minded cast who make delicious food is certainly a hopeful portent. At least one of the authors, Diana Henry, agrees: “Harris is obviously thoroughly engaged in what food is about,” she wrote in an email to me. “It isn’t just about donning an apron and making a quick dish on a Wednesday night, it’s about geography, history, farming, politics and what connects us.”

Inspired? Love cookery books as much as we do?

Take a look at some of our cookbook reviews

You may like to read Antonia Lloyd’s cookbook reviews of A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen by Sally Abe, Elly Wentworth at The Angel of Dartmouth, Cooking with Anna by Anna Haugh,  Easy Wins by Anna Jones, The Taste of Belgium by Ruth Van Waerebeek and her review of Plant Feasts by Frankie Paz, Plus Mex Ibrahim’s cookbook reviews of Shu Han Lee’s ‘Agak Agak – Everyday Recipes from Singapore’  and The Asian Pantry by Dominique Woolf,   our review of Recipes for a Better Menopause by Jane Baxter & Dr Federica Amati and our book review of Modern South Asian Kitchen by Sabrina Gidda.