The Best Cookbooks of the Year

It’s easy to come down with a case of the cookbook blues. After all, hundreds of cookbooks are published every year, and it’s easy to assume all the good ideas have already been taken. When you see one too many slow-cooker cookbooks, it’s tempting to wonder: Is there anything new under the sun?I’m happy to report that there is. From a beautiful book issued by one of the best bakeries in the country to an important collection of Southern recipes written by a pair of spectacular writers, these 2006 titles are landmark books from formidable authors, all of them sure to make any food lover long for a hefty bookstore gift certificate.Tartine Bakery has garnered rapturous accolades ever since its husband-and-wife baking team, Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, opened their San Francisco shop four years ago. Fans dream about their gorgeous summer fruit Bavarians, chocolate croissants, and lemon cream tarts strewn with rose petals. Now, they can take home “Tartine” (Chronicle Books, $35), a book that comes pretty darn close to fulfilling a pastry lover’s every desire. “Tartine” boasts a foreword by Alice Waters and classic, meticulous recipes that range from easy (tea cakes and cookies) to sweat-inducing (almond croissants). But no matter what you choose, it’s a delight to flip through its thick pages, gaze at the vibrant photography, and ponder which recipe to try. It’s even better to get out the mixing bowls and cook through one of the crystal-clear recipes.Crystal-clear prose is just one of the pleasures of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (Penguin Press, $26.95). Mr. Pollan, who also wrote “The Botany of Desire,” traces the origins of four modern meals, from a McDonald’s Big Mac to an organic Whole Foods dinner to one he hunted and foraged for himself. In the process, he traces the drastic revolution in our food supply over the last 50 years, illuminating the stories behind cage-free eggs and corn-fed beef. You don’t have to be a vegan or an environmental crusader to enjoy Mr. Pollan’s narrative — anyone who loves good, honest food or a gripping story will devour this book.If Mr. Pollan’s book roves far and wide, so does “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook” (W.W. Norton, $35). It’s a big, and big-hearted, valentine to Southern cooking, covering everything from Lowcountry shrimp boil to Carolina pork hash, watermelon rind preserves to Lady Baltimore cake. Thanks to Matt and Ted Lee (founders of the Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue), this is no Ladies’ Home Auxiliary relic. The Lees bring the hybrid sensibility of their childhood Upper West Side/Charleston, South Carolina, childhood to their dishes, using heirloom tomatoes in their cornbread salad and folding sweet potatoes and orange zest into their dumplings. And since the Lees aren’t professional chefs or recipe developers, their recipes always have an eye toward the limited time and energy of the home cook. Especially fast recipes are marked “Quick Knockouts,” and they offer two versions of fried chicken: a simple “Tuesday night” recipe and a more elaborate one for Sunday. Throughout, their extensive knowledge and love of genuine Southern ingredients always shine through: They even tell you how to carry a leg of country ham unobtrusively through airport security. (Hint: It involves a Halliburton steel suitcase.)A ham in a suitcase is certainly the sort of idea that would appeal to Amy Sedaris, the famously wacky comedienne. Star of the cult television hit “Strangers with Candy,” she’s also acquired fame for her baking and hostess skills. So it’s no surprise that her first book,”I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence” (Warner Books, $27.99), is a two-headed beast: half cookbook, half absurd comedic scrapbook. Like the manic and goofy Swedish Chef on “The Muppet Show,” Ms. Sedaris gleefully mixes simple recipes (often Greek) with playful illustrations, hideous food photography, and entertaining advice that will curl your hair. This is one cookbook that’ll have your belly aching in a good way.Chef Marcus Samuelsson is also something of an iconoclast — born in Ethiopia but raised in Sweden by his adoptive parents, he grew up to become a renowned chef of modern Swedish cooking at Aquavit. In “The Soul of a New Cuisine” (Wiley, $40), he returns to his earliest roots as only a talented chef could, reinventing dishes from across Africa to suit his tastes and refined style. Africa plays host to an impressively large array of culinary influences, and Mr. Samuelsson skips lightly from one to another. The chicken chapter, for example, leaps from Egyptian-style salted squab to Ethiopian doro wett to Senegalese jollof rice. It’s so rare to see African cuisine get the coffeetable-book treatment that “The Soul of a New Cuisine” is doubly delightful. This is largely uncharted territory for most Americans, but with Mr. Samuelsson’s reassuring stamp of approval, there’s all the more reason to cook up shrimp piripiri and berbere-crusted rack of lamb.The best thing about buying cookbooks during the holidays is that you might actually have time to break out of your cooking habits and experiment with something new. Michel Richard’s “Happy in the Kitchen” (Artisan, $45) might not be as groundbreaking or highfalutin as books by Ferran Adria or Grant Achatz, but his playfully innovative techniques are just perfect for avid and ambitious home cooks. Mr. Richard (owner of a group of well-regarded restaurants in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., including Citronelle) has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He cooks pureed scallops like scrambled eggs, makes béchamel in the microwave, and poaches sausages using plastic wrap. Including recipes with names like “Figgy Piggy” and “Chicken=Faux Gras,” “Happy in the Kitchen” manages to have a sense of humor about French food. Talk about a landmark occasion.

The Best Cookbooks of the Year

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