I’m currently super into Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters and Mexican Today by Pati Jinich. Vegetables is just so useful, I use it as a reference all the time now. And there are so many great ideas! This is my first Pati book and I have to say her food is phenomenal. Everything I’ve made has been a 9 or 10/10. And she is just a total delight to top it off.
What about yall? Any books in heavy rotation right now?
I reread The French Laundry Cookbook frequently. It changed how I think about cooking.
Followed by the Good Eats cookbooks, Vol 1-4. Alton Brown NEEDS a Pulitzer, or the cooking equivalent.
The science of cooking has become more important to me than cookbooks/recipes.
A James Beard award is probably closest to what you have in mind.