Get Cooking with AtoZ Food America and AtoZ World Food

Have you ever noticed how, when you find a recipe online, you often have to scroll…

and scroll…

just to get to the actual recipe?

There’s the blogger’s travel diary, photos of the completed dish from every possible angle, plus all the many pop-up ads before you can find out how to make that apple tart.

With library databases AtoZ Food America and AtoZ World Food, you can go straight to the recipe you need without having to scroll past all the stuff you don’t.

AtoZ Food America is the largest database of American recipes, food, and culture, covering 6 regions and all 50 states as well as 33 ethnic cuisines.

With over 7,000 recipes, AtoZ World Food is the largest and most comprehensive database of food and food culture for 174 countries.

Search for a specific dish or search by ingredient

Search for your favorite dish or search by ingredient to find new recipes for the holidays, such as Candied Sweet Potatoes from Bermuda.

Screen shot of Candied Sweet Potatoes recipe overview from AtoZ World Food. Includes a photo of the dish and a brief description.

Use advanced search to narrow your results

In addition to searching for specific recipes or ingredients, you can narrow your search by region, country, meal course, ethnic group, and dietary options, including vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, gluten free, kosher, and halal.

Screen shot of advanced search in AtoZ Food America. The search is for dairy free squash. Three out of eight results are shown, including Mirliton Dressing, Pumpkin Soup, and Shorabit Jarjir (Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup).

Print or email the recipes

Email recipes to yourself or a friend, or print them out to keep with your other recipes.

Improve your kitchen skills

Under the How Food is Made menu, you can watch brief videos that demonstrate:

Cooking techniques such as blanching, braising, and deglazing
Food preparation techniques like breaking down a whole chicken and cutting a pineapple
How to make sauces, including aioli, caramel, and pesto
Food hacks for peeling hard-boiled eggs, slicing cherry tomatoes, etc.
How to make your own spice blends

Learn about food history

If you’re interested in food history, you can browse historical cookbooks, menus, food advertisements, fruit crate labels, and even dining photographs like this one of a picnic in Mammoth Cave, circa 1892.

A group of people eat a picnic inside Mammoth Cave, circa 1892. Their meal is spread out on a cloth on top of a rock.

Get Started

Visit AtoZ Food America or AtoZ World Food to start searching. If you are using the databases from home, login with your library card number.