THIS YEAR'S list of my top cookbooks is dominated by new volumes written by and for bakers, but any one of the following books for cooks would make a thoughtful holiday gift. Pick your favourite out of this baker's dozen, listed alphabetically.
The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Norton) is the award-winning author's hefty 'bread biography'. More than 300 illustrations accompany the 150 carefully crafted recipes that teach, entertain and reward baker and consumer alike. A beautiful education from a baker at the top of her game.
Celebration Breads by Betsy Oppenneer (Simon & Schuster) offers 75 recipes, plus tales and traditions, to create a bridge between the old-world ways and the modern methods and equipment we use in baking today. The author provides as many as four ways to prepare each of these festive recipes. A delightful, celebratory journey.
East of Paris by David Bouley, Mario Lohninger and Melissa Clark (Ecco) explores the 'new', lighter cuisines of Austria and the Danube. The 75 recipes are somewhat demanding, but they will suit the experienced cook seeking to savour this region's cosmopolitan culinary offerings.
From Emeril's Kitchens by Emeril Lagasse (Morrow) may well be his best effort since his first cookbook in 1993. The talented chefs from eight of Lagasse's nine restaurants are the stars here, creating 150 imaginative recipes that range beyond what he has produced in the past.
From My Mexican Kitchen by Diana Kennedy (Potter), the author's eighth cookbook on Mexico's cuisine, is truly a learning experience alongside one of the very best teachers. You'll be in good hands with Kennedy and the step-by-step colour photographs of how a particular dish is prepared. Duplicating the ingredients could be the greatest challenge, though, unless you live along the border with Mexico.
The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle (Wiley) offers a yummy collection of 250 cookies children of all ages will eagerly devour. The author's explicit step-by-step instructions are sure to add to the joy one feels in creating these sweets and then sharing them with others. Perfect for the holidays.
Great Cookies by Carole Walter (Potter) features the work of a master baker and teacher in a very attractive package. Walter marks the degree of difficulty for each of her 200 scrumptious recipes - the majority are easy - and includes an extensive chapter that reveals the 'teacher's secrets'. You can't go wrong.
Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan). This Canadian duo has created another winning cookbook, filling it with traditional tales, adventure, superb photographs and recipes featuring the baking favourites from six continents. What a glorious and rewarding trip this is.
Kitchen of Light by Andreas Viestad (Artisan) joyfully illuminates an exciting, modern cuisine from Scandinavia, the land of the midnight sun. It is a lovely, revealing cookbook that is the companion piece to Viestad's PBS-TV cooking series, New Scandinavian Cooking.
Little Foods of the Mediterranean by Clifford A. Wright (Harvard Common Press). With threads of history woven into all 500 recipes, Wright serves up an infinite variety of bite-sized foods that range from canapés, dips and spreads to pizzas, pastries and salads. A fascinating culinary chronicle well worth exploring.
The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard (Houghton Mifflin) highlights baked desserts, such as Creme Brulee, lemon pound cake and a deep, dark chocolate tart. The author, one of the nation's top pastry chefs, presents each luscious recipe with such precision that novice and expert alike will find this easy going.
The Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears with June Naylor (Ten Speed Press) provides plenty of good vittles for a cowpoke, his family and his horse. The 100 beyond-chuck-wagon recipes are enhanced by Naylor's historical text of the Chisholm Trail and the Erwin E. Smith Collection of cowboy photographs. A great cookbook for Western fans.
The Way We Cook by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven (Houghton Mifflin) is a delightful and sensible cookbook that provides the busy home cook with more than 250 down-to-earth, delectable choices to delight family and friends alike. This is the way home cooking was meant to be - fun.
Also deserving of mention in any 2003 cookbook compilation are: The All American Cheese and Wine Book by Laura Werlin (Stewart, Tabori & Chang); BBQ USA by Steven Raichlen (Workman); Crazy for Casseroles by James Villas (Harvard Common Press; The Essential Mediterranean by Nancy Harmon Jenkins (HarperCollins); I Am Almost Always Hungry by Lora Zarubin (Stewart, Tabori & Chang); and Winning Styles Cookbook by 21 top chefs who have won James Beard Foundation awards (Feeding Frenzy).
Check your local bookstores for titles or log on to www.amazon.com to order.
- Universal Press Syndicate
