If you’re drawn to the kind of cooking that doesn’t just fill plates but also fills hearts, Everyone Hot Pot: Creating the Ultimate Meal for Gathering and Feasting by Natasha Pickowicz is this season’s must-own cookbook. Released January 27, this lovingly composed guide dives deep into the art of hot pot — not merely as a meal, but as a joyful, collective experience that brings people to the table in spirited feasting and conversation.
From the moment you crack open the pages, you sense that Pickowicz — a four-time James Beard Award nominee and author of More Than Cake — is inviting you into something far more convivial than your average recipe book. Hot pot is an East Asian centerpiece, where bubbling broths meet fresh vegetables, thinly-sliced meats, tofu, seafood, dumplings, and sauces, and the cooking is done communally right at the table. Pickowicz doesn’t just offer more than fifty recipes for broths, sides, and drinks — she gives you the tools to orchestrate a vibrant, immersive meal that becomes the event itself.
One of the things I love most about Everyone Hot Pot is how it re-frames the act of cooking as a celebration of community. While the book is rich in practical guidance — from assembling essential tools and ingredients to crafting broths like Charred Tomato and Lemongrass or sauces like Toasted Cumin and White Sesame — Pickowicz’s greater achievement lies in her embrace of hot pot as a ritual of connection and play. It’s a reminder that the best meals are those you share, with laughter, participation, and plenty of seconds.
That spirit resonates in a delicious way with the cultural celebrations unfolding this year. As Lunar New Year is happening from February 17–27 this year and ushers in the Year of the Horse — families across the globe will be gathering around food in homes and community halls. Lunar New Year is all about renewal, luck, fortune, and shared experiences, and there’s a particularly evocative tradition that complements Pickowicz’s ethos beautifully: the Tray of Togetherness in our Recipe section. In many households, this festive tray is filled with symbolic sweets and snacks — from persimmons for wealth to peanuts for long life — and passed around family and friends as both a literal and metaphorical offering of good wishes for the coming year.
Pairing Everyone Hot Pot (火鍋, huǒguō) with Lunar New Year celebrations feels almost poetic. Just as a Tray of Togetherness distributes flavors, hopes, and stories from person to person, hot pot encourages every guest at the table to participate in the collective creation of a feast. Both traditions honor food as more than sustenance — as culture, tradition, and connection. And like the best holiday meals, every broth skimmed, every dumpling dropped, and every dipping sauce stirred in Pickowicz’s book is an opportunity to savor something bigger than the sum of its ingredients.
To purchase a copy of the book go to EVERYONE HOT POT — Natasha Pickowicz or win a copy in our Giveaway section. Natasha lived in Montreal and will be back there to promote her book in early March…check out the dates and locations at Instagram and have your book signed by this delightful author.
In a world that sometimes turns eating into a hurried convenience, Everyone Hot Pot invites us to slow down, engage our senses, and share the kitchen with the people we love. Whether you’re celebrating Lunar New Year, hosting a dinner party, or simply craving something that tastes like home, this cookbook is a joyful reminder that food — truly — is a reason to come together.