Cookbooks and books about food trucks make great gifts for the culinarily inclined. And while it’s easy to pick a blockbuster off Amazon’s best-seller list, speaking to someone’s specific passion let’s them know that you “get” them.
Here’s a brief list of tantalizing food truck books that we think would make wonderful gifts:
Food Truck Books: Stories and Cookbooks
L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food
(Roy Choi, Hardcover $18.96) Abounding with both the food and the stories that gave rise to Choi’s inspired cooking, L.A. Son takes us through the neighborhoods and streets most tourists never see, from the hidden casinos where gamblers slurp fragrant bowls of pho to Downtown’s Jewelry District, where a ten-year-old Choi wolfed down Jewish deli classics between diamond deliveries; from the kitchen of his parents’ Korean restaurant and his mother’s pungent kimchi to the boulevards of East L.A. and the best taquerias in the country, to, at last, the curbside view from one of his emblematic Kogi taco trucks, where people from all walks of life line up for a revolutionary meal.
The Truck Food Cookbook: 150 Recipes and Ramblings from America’s Best Restaurants on Wheels
(John T. Edge $15.05) John T. Edge shares the recipes, special tips, and techniques. And what a menu-board: Tamarind-Glazed Fried Chicken Drummettes. Kalbi Beef Sliders. Porchetta. The lily-gilding Grilled Cheese Cheeseburger. A whole chapter’s worth of tacos—Mexican, Korean, Chinese fusion. Plus sweets, from Sweet Potato Cupcakes to an easy-to-make Cheater Soft-Serve Ice Cream.
Hundreds of full-color photographs capture the lively street food gestalt and its hip and funky aesthetic, making this both an insider’s cookbook and a document of the hottest trend in American food.
Eat St.: Recipes from the Tastiest, Messiest, and Most Irresistible Food Trucks
(James Cunningham $15.67) Eat St. is a lip-smacking celebration of North America’s tastiest, messiest, and most irresistible street food. Join James Cunningham on the ultimate cross-country culinary road trip to find the most daring, delicious, and inventive street food across the country.
Thinking of Starting Your Own Truck? Check out these food truck books.
The Food Truck Handbook: Start, Grow, and Succeed in the Mobile Food Business
(David Weber $14.68) Author David Weber, a food truck advocate and entrepreneur himself, is here to offer his practical, step-by-step advice to achieving your mobile food mogul dreams in The Food Truck Handbook.
This book cuts through all of the hype to give both hopeful entrepreneurs and already established truck owners an accurate portrayal of life on the streets. From concept to gaining a loyal following to preventative maintenance on your equipment this book covers it all.
Running a Food Truck For Dummies
(Richard Myrick $22.99) A new generation of street food lovers are lining up at food trucks and food carts. Though the idea is a long-standing part of American and world culture, the street food industry has never enjoyed so much popularity or publicity.
With lower start-up costs than traditional “store front” restaurants, food trucks offer a unique opportunity to entrepreneurs in a business climate where credit is tight and capital is scarce. In Running a Food Truck For Dummies, you’ll get all the delicious details needed to start your own food truck business quickly, affordably, and successfully.
(Please note that this book was written by Mobile Cuisine, Editor-in-Chief; Richard Myrick)
