Yes, with an "s." Meaning plural.
First, there's "Simon Says" by Aleksandra Crapanzano, which reviews Simon Hopkinson's 1994 general use cookbook, Roast Chicken and Other Stories, a book that, among other things, won the 2005 Glenfiddich Award for best food book and apparently was the first book to finally knock Harry Potter of Amazon UK's bestseller charts (the article doesn't specify which--whichever one came out in 2005, I guess). It's being released for the first time in the US this year. In any case, the article is two "pages" long, and goes into detail about what makes the cookbook not only a useful tool, but also a good piece of writing. At one point, Crapanzano even mentions an "unexpected pleasure of reading" Hopkinson (italics mine).
The review I'm really excited about, however, is Dwight Garner's Holiday Cookbooks rundown in the (gasp) Book Review. Aw, Sam! I didn't know you cared! The article is centered around an examination of why British cookbooks are "better" (quotations Garner's, not mine) than American ones; a conversation that, as someone interested mainly in American literature, I find incredibly dull and unfounded regardless of genre. I find his assertion that American cookbooks are loud and flashy and restaraunt-y compared to the quiet, reserved, home-cooked offerings from the UK a bit cliched. And also wrong. (Hello, Jamie Oliver!) Whatever, at least Garner is discussing trends in cookbook writing as opposed to trends in cookbook marketing.
And focus on the writing his does. His analysis is thoughtful and mostly spot on, even if I don't agree with his thesis. Then again, neither does the analysis itself--he doesn't dig Alice Waters' new book all that much, so, you know, I like him, but his reasons for disliking it is that's "it’s a Hillary Clinton of a cookbook, brilliant but unflappable and thus slightly unapproachable." So...it's not loud and flashy? But I thought that's what was wrong with American cookbooks?
It's a bit hard to tell where Garner draws the line on "American" cookbooks--some of his picks are published America by foreign authors and some are by authors born elsewhere who later move to America. This is why the whole American/British literature debate is dumb, and especially why it's useless in terms of cookbooks.
In any case, once again, it's good to see a major news outlet giving cookbooks the time of day as both tools and pieces of literature.
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