Across the country, cookbook clubs are emerging as one of the most compelling ways to gather around food. More structured than a potluck but more relaxed than a dinner party, cookbook clubs are bringing friends and strangers together — like traditional book clubs but with a food-focused twist.

Cookbook club members choose a cookbook, prepare different dishes from its pages, and come together to share the food and the stories, tricks, and occasional mishaps that happened along the way. But what makes cookbook clubs particularly special is how they blend learning with connection. When everyone cooks from the same book, you get to experience it fully — tasting how different cooks interpret the same instructions, discovering which recipes deserve staple status, and learning from each other’s techniques. It’s become such a phenomenon that cookbook authors are now writing with these clubs in mind, including tips for scaling recipes and notes about which dishes work well together for group meals.

We asked some of our favorite cookbook authors about which recipes they’d bring from their own cookbooks — and a friend’s cookbook — if they were invited to a cookbook club.

Food Network