If only our politicians were foodies, and not just folks who stuff themselves at county fairs in the name of photo-ops, our heated national debate about immigration might play out considerably differently. No longer would we hear dueling statistics as to whether immigrants drain or boost our tax coffers. Instead, the central question would be, what tasty and exotic snacks can these foreigners bring to our fair nation? Are they prepared to open restaurants, bakeries, and street kiosks? Will they share their ancestral kitchen techniques? And can they do it without using trans-fats?

RELATED: A Recipe, ‘Roman Chocolate Cookies’

When the foodie revolution comes, perhaps “A Baker’s Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes From America’s Rich Immigrant Heritage” will be the manifesto. This impressive, albeit challenging, cookbook details how to prepare pastries, breads, and other treats from more than 30 countries and regions. The recipes were compiled by an award-winning cookbook author, Greg Patent, who has a rich immigrant heritage all his own: His father was Russian, and he spent his early childhood, during World War II, in Japanese-occupied China. The book is a work of culinary anthropology. Mr. Patent gathered its more than 130 recipes by cooking alongside 60 women and five men — ranging from a professor of African culture to the mother of a Polish housekeeper — and many of them are immigrants or first-generation Americans. He includes a biography of each (and a list of the recipes they contributed) at the beginning of the book. Most recipes also include background information about the delicacy’s cultural significance, such as on which holiday or other occasion the food is traditionally eaten.

“A Baker’s Odyssey” is an exhaustive repository of information, whether one is desperately trying to replicate that cookie from the bakery in Chinatown, wants to try to make empanadas for the first time, or simply desires a general primer on which baking supplies and ingredients tend to yield the best results. From Mr. Patent’s ingredients guide, I learned the difference between Dutch-process cocoa and natural cocoa, was shamed into replacing the old baking powder in my cupboard with a fresh tin, and discovered that plastic bowls inhibit the beating of egg whites.

All that said, it is not the book to grab if one wants to throw together a quick dessert for company. Although some of the recipes are fairly simple, many are daylong, or at least afternoon-long, projects, requiring numerous steps — as well as a trip to a specialty or gourmet grocery.

Since I had been yearning to try my hand at jelly doughnuts for a few months, I to decided to try the book’s recipe for paczki (pronounced punch-key), which I figured was the Polish equivalent of, perhaps even the inspiration for, the Israeli sufganiyot I never got around to making for Chanukah. Glancing quickly at the instructions, I estimated that I could complete the project in two to three hours. It took more like six, however, because the recipe called for a whopping four one-hour risings. Were I a more careful reader, I would have realized this in advance; nonetheless, I was somewhat disgruntled that in the page-long recipe introduction, which elaborates on the customs of “Fat Thursday” (the Polish version of Mardi Gras) and extols the “heavenly” qualities of the dough, there was no warning about the enormous time commitment these doughnuts demand. Since the final product must be consumed immediately (as Mr. Patent correctly notes, they do not store well), the timing logistics are frustratingly tricky — and frankly, I didn’t think the extra steps were worth the trouble. While tasty, the paczki didn’t seem any better to me than the numerous doughnuts I’ve sampled that have been shaped and fried after just one overnight rising in the refrigerator.

Another frustrating aspect of “Baker’s Odyssey” is the arrangement of pictures. While almost 40 of the pastries are featured in the glossy color photo section in the center of the book, simple illustrations accompanying each recipe would have been more useful, especially since many of these delicacies will be unfamiliar to all but the most seasoned connoisseurs of specialty bakeries.

I will say, however, that my paczki travails were compensated by my pleasant experience with the sublime Roman Chocolate Cookies (a photo of which appears in the book). The recipe was quite easy, and the final product as satisfyingly chocolaty as a brownie, yet considerably more elegant and sophisticated. Although Mr. Patent didn’t mention this, one bonus of these cookies, especially in a book containing numerous lard-filled and otherwise heart-clogging dishes, was their relatively healthy nature; they are made with olive oil rather than butter. While the rich icing the recipe calls for is luscious, the weight- and health-conscious baker will find that these cookies can also be quite satisfying with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a light glaze. Replacing the chocolate chips with dried cherries — one of the book’s suggested variations — would be another painless way to trim the calorie and fat count.

The Roman Chocolate Cookies (recipe at nysun.com) are going to become a regular treat in my house. As for the other pastries, particularly the complex and intimidating ones, this book will help me figure out which pastries I want to try. Then, I’ll leave my kitchen behind and head, instead, for one of the many good international bakeries just a subway ride away.