The Blue Food Cookbook

NPR'S HERE & NOW RESIDENT CHEF'S FAVORITE COOKBOOKS OF 2025

Featuring a foreword from Shailene Woodley.

In connection with the James Beard Award- and Emmy-nominated PBS docuseries Hope in the Water by Andrew Zimmern (food equity and climate activist, Emmy and four-time James Beard award winner) and Barton Seaver (an expert on seafood cookery and sustainability), a sustainable seafood bible, including a guide to environmentally friendly practices for buying and cooking food from oceans, lakes, and rivers, with over 145 recipes.

Is farmed or wild-caught salmon better? Is tuna being overfished? Do I have to worry about mercury poisoning? Is seafood high in protein? Is industrial aquaculture sustainable? How can I do anything to address the climate change and food security crises? Is it okay to eat raw fish? How do you shuck an oyster? Is frozen seafood good? How do you cook mackerel without it stinking up the kitchen?

The answers are clear in The Blue Food Cookbook. In celebration of the fish, shellfish, and plants we eat from our oceans, lakes, and rivers (in other words, blue food) and in collaboration with the PBS docuseries Hope in the Water, award-winning chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern and leading sustainable seafood expert and educator Barton Seaver present a seafood bible looking at blue food from water to plate: a tangible, delicious cookbook for how to best buy, prepare, and cook from our oceans and waterways sustainably.

With a comprehensive guide to culinary categories of fish, how to best set up your kitchen, what you should have in your pantry, different cooking techniques, and more than 145 delicious recipes, this first-of-its-kind cookbook is all you need to cook seafood confidently and responsibly. Recipes span from humble meals to impressive fare for entertaining, from traditional dishes to creative takes—even desserts (trust!)—inspired by flavors from Zimmern’s and Barton’s travel around the world, restaurant experience, and their home kitchens, for blue food of all kinds, including tinned fish, shellfish, fillet fish, seaweed, and beyond:
Butternut Squash and Mussel SoupFish and Chips, but Make It SaladSeafood Pot PieHalibut with Green Goddess DressingTuna Noodle CasseroleNashville Hot-Inspired CatfishMiso Broiled CarpSockeye Salmon EnchiladasVietnamese Caramelized ShrimpChocolate Chip Kelp Brownies
A lusciously photographed and beautifully illustrated tome, The Blue Food Cookbook is a definitive must-have for every home cook looking to enjoy delicious, nutritious seafood more sustainably.