Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck

by Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway

Publisher: Rodale Books

Publication Date: October 2014

Buy on Amazon

12 Days of Christmas Cookbook Giveaways, 2014:

Day 11, Thug Kitchen

Here’s the thing: when I first saw the cookbook that was #1 on the Amazon list of bestsellers for 2014, the title rang a faint bell. I remember wondering if it was the latest release from Anthony Bourdain. The cookbook really wasn’t on my radar–which surprised me, since it’s at the top of the Amazon list. So I later went to the Thug Kitchen blog and Twitter and Facebook pages. My first impression was amazement that whoever was writing/posting for Thug Kitchen could find so many ways to work swearing, and especially the F-word, into every single post and comment. Really?? An interesting tactic for shock value, but doesn’t that wear off?

So I decided to find out more about Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck. Apparently, it’s a vegan cookbook. Not that you’d know it from the title (or the talk/hype surrounding it). That could account for some of its popularity. Maybe readers really like the vegan recipes. Here’s a sample. Women’s Health published “3 Swear-Worthy Recipes From the Thug Kitchen Cookbook”: Maple Berry Grits; Roasted Beer & Lime Cauliflower Tacos with Cilantro Coleslaw; and Pozole Rojo.

Or maybe the popularity is due to the controversy: according to Blanca Torres in The Seattle Times: “The authors, Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway, revealed during an interview with Epicurious that they are a pair of white 29-year-olds who live in Hollywood. They had cloaked themselves in anonymity since launching The Thug Kitchen as a blog in 2012. On the phone this week, Holloway and Davis told me they created the fake thug persona — vulgar, hyper-masculine, snarky and arrogant — to instill confidence in readers to act like a ‘badass in the kitchen’ and have a few laughs.”

It seems readers and cookbook buyers are laughing too. I admit that the cookbook trailer (see below) made me laugh out loud–and I shared it with several friends. Plus, that recipe for Roasted Beer & Lime Cauliflower Tacos has me intrigued. For whatever reasons, Thug Kitchen is #1 on the 2014 Amazon best-seller list as of the end of the year, and we’re giving away a copy to the winner of our giveaway below.

Beloved by Gwyneth Paltrow (“This might be my favorite thing ever”) and named Saveur’s Best New Food blog of 2013—with half a million Facebook fans and counting—Thug Kitchen wants to show everyone how to take charge of their plates and cook up some real f*cking food.

Yeah, plenty of blogs and cookbooks preach about how to eat more kale, why ginger fights inflammation, and how to cook with microgreens and nettles. But they are dull or pretentious as hell—and most people can’t afford the hype. Thug Kitchen lives in the real world. In their first cookbook, they’re throwing down more than 100 recipes for their best-loved meals, snacks, and sides for beginning cooks to home chefs. (Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos? Pumpkin Chili? Grilled Peach Salsa? Believe that sh*t.) Plus they’re going to arm you with all the info and techniques you need to shop on a budget and go and kick a bunch of ass on your own.

This book is an invitation to everyone who wants to do better to elevate their kitchen game. No more ketchup and pizza counting as vegetables. No more drive-thru lines. No more avoiding the produce corner of the supermarket. Sh*t is about to get real.

The Cookbook Basics:

Hardcover (7.7 x 9.4 inches)

240 pages, color photos, 100+ recipes

Watch the trailer (explicit):

Cookbook Giveaway:

We’re giving away a copy of Thug Kitchen to one lucky Cooks&Books&Recipes reader. Enter below.

{The other 12 Days of Christmas Cookbook Giveaways are listed here.}

Giveaway Notes:

There are six ways to enter the giveaway, but it’s not necessary to do all six entries. Choose whichever one(s) you like, and you’ll be entered in the giveaway. The winner, to be randomly selected and notified by e-mail, must claim the cookbook within 10 days. Giveaway ends on Monday, January 19.

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Disclosure: Cooks&Books&Recipes receives books for possible review, though we make no promise that all books received will be featured. We highlight only those cookbooks that we feel will interest our readers. We received no monetary compensation for our review or giveaway.

Thug Kitchen