Staff Picks Updates: Food

This lovely comic walks the reader through 64 Korean recipes that help teach some of the basics of Korean cooking in an engaging and welcoming way. The art is so vibrant and charming that it feels encouraging throughout, along with the text, really diminishing the intimidation factor of trying a cuisine someone may not be familiar with.

Cooks curious about how to get started with Korean cuisine and comics readers that enjoy the idea of reading a cookbook that's also a story.

Shannan Prukop

While the food and recipes in this series are made using fantasy ingredients, they are based on real-world recipes. Also, the plot of Delicious in Dungeon really invites the reader to consider their place in the food chain, what it means to eat and be eaten, and the nature of desire or hunger in its many forms. So, while this manga may not teach someone how to make omelets, it does encourage thoughtful eating and existence.

This series is a great pick for readers who also play Dungeons & Dragons. Much of the comic takes place in a dungeon, deals with a dragon, and even echoes some of the ideas used in tabletop role-playing games. It's also great for fans of food-based series like Food Wars, where the food may not be quite real, but the passion is undeniable.

Blood, character death, butchering of dead monsters for consumption.

Shannan Prukop

Pham uses food, both Vietnamese and American, to take the reader through his family's journey from Vietnam to America as refugees. It begins with their boat ride out of the country and continues with the author's finally becoming a citizen in his middle age. In between is the families' struggle to learn English, get steady work, and achieve the American Dream. Along the way, the author struggles with not feeling American enough to fit in when he first arrives here and not feeling connected enough to his Vietnamese heritage as he matures into an adult completely in America. This graphic memoir is a moving depiction of what it's like to be an immigrant in America.

Fans of American Born Chinese and The Best We Could Do will enjoy this food-focused take on the immigrant experience.

Racism and Xenophobia

Tayla Cardillo

When was the last time you read a cookbook cover to cover? Probably never, right? Well, with "Let's Make Dumplings," you won't want to miss any of the colorful illustrations or interesting tidbits about dumplings across Asia. This cookbook meets graphic novel not only depicts the food but all the steps along the way, making things like intricate folding techniques easy to understand. Ten Speed Press has put out two other Let's Make titles: "Let's Make Ramen" and Let's Make Bread, as well as "Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes".

Aspiring chefs and food lovers of all kinds!

Tayla Cardillo

Cici is adjusting to her new life in the United States, but she misses cooking with her A-má. When she discovers a kids’ cooking contest with enough prize money for a plane ticket, she is determined to win and bring her beloved grandmother from Taiwan. The catch is that Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food. With support, practice, and her own ingenuity, can Cici win the day?

Fans of relatable stories that incorporate family and coming-of-age themes, such as Gene Luen Yang and Jerry Craft’s work

Megan Rupe

Can’t get enough of Thai food? Dive into this comic cookbook! In Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice, Mallika Kauppinen and Christina De Witte combine cute illustrations, helpful step-by-step instructions for main dishes, desserts, and sides, and tips on supplies and substitutions. Pair with an introduction to Thai regional cuisine, and you’ve got a welcoming foray into Thai cuisine that will have you wanting to try a recipe or two!

Readers interested in Thai cuisine and culture will want to check out Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice.

Megan Rupe

Cartoonist Lucy Kinsley shares her key memories as a member of a food-loving family and community. From sautéed mushrooms to croissants, this is a heartwarming collection of food and love. Readers will also enjoy the recipes scattered throughout the narrative!

Home cooks and foodies will savor this love letter to food.

Tayla Cardillo

Nekoya is a restaurant that looks normal at first, but every seven days, doors open from the restaurant into many other worlds and all manners of fantasy beings such as elves, demons, and dragons come to eat the delicious food the chef makes. The illustrations of each visitor eating and enjoying their food will make your stomach rumble and your mouth water.

Manga fans will love this delicious take on the Isekai genre.

Some implied nudity and fan service.

Tayla Cardillo

Nomoto loves to cook lots of food, but she can’t eat all of it. When she discovers her neighbor, Kasuga, has a voracious appetite, Nomoto offers to cook for her. As they grow closer, could their relationship become something more?

With its slow-burn romance, delicious-looking foods, and thoughtful handling of sensitive subjects, readers who crave more queer romances--especially more food-related stories such as Blue Delliquanti’s Meal--will not want to miss this series.

Abusive family; anti-LGBT experiences; one of the secondary characters struggles to eat

Megan Rupe