This article takes a close, unapologetically serious look at the cookbooks Vice President Kamala Harris keeps in her kitchen, unpacking what the selection reveals about her values, her influences, and her approach to both food and leadership. We’ll explore her passion for cooking, the range and meaning behind her favorite titles, and why this matters for anyone curious about the woman likely to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
A Cook’s Library as Personal Archive
Kamala Harris’s love of cooking isn’t just public relations—it’s a central part of her identity. From her well-known Sunday dinners (bolognese is her signature) to her YouTube series “Cooking with Kamala,” the vice president’s culinary interests are a matter of record. But a recent candid photo of her actual cookbook shelf adds a rare layer of authenticity and curiosity. The titles she owns are less a set of showpieces and more a working cook’s archive, reflecting a broad and deeply pragmatic approach to food.
What’s immediately clear from her choices is a sense of community. For Harris, food is about connection—family, heritage, and healing. These are not books chosen for display but for use, and for meaning. Each one helps piece together a story of migration, resilience, and shared tables.
Tracing Identity Through Recipes: Diaspora and Beyond
The cookbooks Harris favors serve as a map of the African diaspora, the American South, and immigrant stories across the world. Among them are Michael Twitty’s acclaimed memoir, The Cooking Gene, which follows the movement of West African food traditions through the Caribbean and into Louisiana; Kwame Onwuachi’s My America, and the classic Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. Each work traces the culinary and personal journeys that have shaped “American food” as we know it today.
These books are not distant for Harris—they echo her own Jamaican and Indian heritage. Her choices show a desire to understand context, to connect recipes with real histories and lived experiences. This commitment stretches outward as well, to community cookbooks like Together (created by West London women after the Grenfell Tower tragedy) and We Are La Cocina, which features recipes from immigrant women in San Francisco. Compassion and empathy are baked in at every level.
Evidence of a Real Cook, Not Just a Collector
Unlike a bookshelf curated for Instagram, Harris’s collection has the dog-eared, sauce-stained look of constant use. There are books here for every level of effort and every kind of night. Practicality comes through with Tom Colicchio’s Craft of Cooking (he once joined her on “Cooking with Kamala”), Diana Henry’s From the Oven to the Table for weeknight meals, and Nik Sharma’s Season, which reimagines Indian flavors for modern kitchens. There’s also a nod to the art of regional Italian cooking with Marcella Hazan’s Marcella Cucina. This is a cook’s shelf, not a collector’s.
- Colicchio’s book highlights technical mastery for home cooks.
- Henry’s latest focuses on simplicity and flavor for busy schedules.
- Sharma’s recipes bring big flavor and Indian traditions with approachable ease.
- Hazan’s classic celebrates Italy’s regional diversity—an echo of Harris’s own curiosity about world cuisines.
History, Politics, and the Flavor of Home
Harris’s collection also nods to her years in California, her time in Washington D.C., and her awareness of the political symbolism of food. The Los Angeles culinary scene appears with Bavel, one of the city’s most celebrated recent restaurants. D.C. is represented by Rasika, a modern Indian favorite where Harris herself has dined. White House culinary legacies pop up in Sam Kass’s Eat a Little Better (from the Obama years) and Brian Noyes’s Red Truck Bakery, a pie favorite of the former president.
This range shows both her grounding in place and her knowledge of food as a form of diplomacy and connection. These books are bridges—to the past, to her communities, and to the flavors that make up her own American experience.
The Soul of a Candidate—And a Cook
That we’re analyzing a real candidate’s cookbook shelf—and finding genuine diversity, curiosity, and a passion for cooking—feels significant. As Diana Henry put it, Harris is “thoroughly engaged in what food is about.” This isn’t just a matter of making dinner; it’s about understanding history, geography, and what brings people together. Her collection is global and granular, serious and joyful, rooted in both tradition and innovation.
These are the cookbooks of a world leader who knows how to sauté, stew, and season with both purpose and joy. All that’s left is to let her cook.
