Chef Writes

Although written for home cooks, chefs' cookbooks stil have something to offer their peers. Jim Poris speed-reads this year's releases.

Posted: January 15, 2008

In pop music it's called a hook, a catchy melodic line or thumping rhythm that embeds itself inside a listener's head. In pop chefs cookbook publishing—and yes, that's what it's become, the famous imparting foodisms to a mass audience rather than crafty practitioners speaking to lodge mates—it's essential to have a personality-defining point of view. This year's chefs cookbooks display that in spades. These books define distinct culinary points-of-view, and the self-confidence and directedness of their authors—with braggadocio in check, thankfully—should be lesson number one for anyone venturing into the uncertain restaurant world.

Here's what some of them reveal: Jasper White as sage old salt and master of East Coast shore food; Jean-Georges Vongerichten as conjurer of Asian sensations; Laurent Tourondel as Franco-American diplomat, sans attitude; Elizabeth Falkner as pastry merry prankster; Fergus Henderson as droll neighborhood butcher sneaking a swig; Sherry Yard as Brooklyn girl walking the pastry red carpet; Masaharu Morimoto as precision mechanic; Pichet Ong as cultural synthesizer; and Ann Amernick as stylish curator of time-honored pastry techniques and flavors. There's something to be said for getting to know these characters. Each, taken in total, may make even the most grizzled pro see food anew.

Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake by Elizabeth Falkner (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA) Crisp chocolate chip Florentine cookies • Tiramisushi: cocoa roulade sponge cake, Marsala mascarpone filling, mocha/rum dipping sauce, fruit ribbons, biscotti chopsticks • Suddenly Last Summer: peaches sautéed in wine and honey, walnut/thyme streusel, sweet cream reduction, olive oil phyllo crisps • Citizen Shortcake: shortcake biscuits, berries, black pepper/tarragon syrup, whipped crème fraîche • Concord Express: Concord grape tapioca, buttermilk panna cotta, peanut butter ice cream, caramel corn • Rosebud: rose custard, caramel crisps, saffron/pistachio cookies • Lemania Cupcakes: buttermilk cupcakes, eggless lemon curd filling, vanilla meringue frosting, lemon zest.

The Art of the Dessert by Ann Amernick with Margie Litman (Wiley, Hoboken, NJ) Apricot/orange torte • Banana/ chocolate fudge split (cake) • Pain de Gênes with gingered watermelon rind • Macaroon meringue torte • Prune turnovers with frozen Armagnac sabayon • Cheese danish sucrée • Homemade honey grahams • Cranberry bars with cranberry sorbet • Caramel trifle • Red and white rice parfaits with cranberry leather • Fried mocha custard squares • Nectarine and orange filled steamed buns • Potato puffs with apricot puree • Cashew dacquoise with kumquat confit and chocolate sorbet • Cream filled Dutch raisin rolls • Brittany cake with blackberry fool filling.

Beyond Nose to Tail: More Omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook by Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly (Bloomsbury U.S.A., New York City) Salted back fat and wet walnuts • Nettle/snail soup • Bacon, egg, and bean salad • White cabbage and brown shrimp • Confit pig's cheek and dandelion • Recipe for healthy jar of Trotter Gear • Guinea fowl, red cabbage, trotter, and prune • Deep-fried tripe • Mince and tatties • Chicken/ox tongue pie • Baked goat's curd cheesecake • Sticky date pudding • Prune/suet pudding • Steamed lemon and vanilla syrup sponge • Treacle toffee ice cream • Brown bread/ Armagnac ice cream.

Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Broadway Books, New York City) Chicken/shrimp egg rolls • Black pepper crab dumplings • Shrimp cakes with cucumber/peanut relish • Thai fried chicken wings with hot-and-sour sauce and salted mango • Mango salad, cherry tomato, long bean and tamarind • Spiced cod with curried artichoke • Black sea bass with fragrant coconut juice • Salmon in tofu skin with green curry lentils • Grilled chicken with kumquat/lemongrass dressing • Chicken curry with fat noodles and spring vegetables • Squab "à l'orange" with crystallized tamarind • Steamed lamb shanks • Steamed spicy eggplant • Lime noodles with vegetables, basil, and sesame • Shanghai noodles with garlic and soft tofu • Thai sundae • Ovaltine kulfi with caramelized banana and spiced milk chocolate.

Desserts by the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills, Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever by Sherry Yard (Houghton Mifflin, New York City) Rainbow cookies • Biscuit tortoni • Deep fried apple dumplings • Chocolate velvet • Orange "butter" cake • Gingersnap toaster-oven tarts with peach filling • Triple silken pumpkin pie • Gingered cream tartlets with poached figs and Persian mulberries • Tender farmer's cheese dumplings with apricot sauce • Twelve layer flourless chocolate Dobos torte • Chocolate macaroons with black currant tea ice cream and raspberries • Passion fruit sorbet and coconut gelato float with gingered soda • Lime scented floating islands with yuzu curd ice cream.

Bistro Laurent Tourondel: New American Bistro Cooking by Laurent Tourondel and Michele Scicolone (Wiley, Hoboken, NJ) Poached artichokes, goat cheese, tapenade • Fish Shack "buffalo-style" rock shrimp • Grilled sardine crostini, red onion, tomatoes • Chinese chicken salad • Camembert beignets, smoked duck salad • Anise duck tortellini • Potato/watercress soup, blue cheese, and bacon • Corn/bean/sausage chili • Steak/foie gras sandwich • Papillote of halibut, creamy tomato/sorrel sauce • Porterhouse, white and dark soubise • Tapenade stuffed leg of lamb • Smoky honey veal porterhouse • Leek/potato hash browns • Creamy home fries • Sea salted crusted sunchokes • "Barbie" raspberry layer cake.

The Summer Shack Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Shore Food by Jasper White (W.W. Norton, New York City) Conch salad Bahamian-style • Key West shrimp boil • Mussels in spicy red sauce • Coney Island red clam chowder • Crab/tomato/vegetable soup • Pork stew with clams and garlic • Chilled Maine shrimp with cabbage and peanuts, Vietnamese-style • Grilled clams with garlic butter • Pan-seared tuna with Japanese flavors • Broiled butterfish with mirin glaze • Slow-roasted whole fish with onion and fennel stuffing • Fried Ipswich whole clam bellies • Spicy and greasy Rhode Island calamari • Jersey Shore tuna sub • Beer battered fish and chips • Jersey Shore Italian hot dogs • Skillet corn bread • Whoopie pies • Watermelon Margarita.

Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto (DK Publishing, New York City) Japanese egg castella • Za jan noodles • Squid ink/salmon gnocchi • Fried fish cake noodles • Oyster foie gras • Crispy duck with Port wine reduction and red miso sauce • Rice stuffed baby chickens with ginseng root • Miso braised short ribs tempura • Gammo tofu steak • Tofu and spicy pork sauce • Baby white shrimp and sea urchin (sashimi) • Caviar tempura • Bamboo shoots with fresh mint • Tofu cheesecake • Sugared salmon with beet sorbet and yuzu foam.

The Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts by Pichet Ong and Genevieve Ko (William Morrow, New York City) Steamed pandan layer cake • Ginger/date pudding cakes with rum/walnut toffee sauce • Coconut "Twinkie" cupcakes with lemon filling • Chocolate/mango cheesecake parfait with chocolate/macadamia cookie crumbs • Sweet potato doughnuts with roasted apple filling • Thai tea/white chocolate tart • Chocolate/Vietnamese coffee tart • Spiced chocolate pudding with crisped rice cereal • Rasmalai with rose water and pistachios • Sesame balls with drunken fig filling • Ovaltine/milk chocolate kulfi with caramelized banana • Shaved ice with summer corn, avocado, and red beans • Thai jewels and fruits on crushed coconut ice.

Books à la carte American Masala: 125 New Classics from My Home Kitchen by Suvir Saran with Raquel Pelzel (Clarkson Potter, New York City) The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution by Alice Waters (Clarkson Potter, New York City) The Berghoff Family Cookbook: From Our Table to Yours, Celebrating a Century of Entertaining by Carlyn Berghoff and Jan Berghoff with Nancy Ross Ryan (Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, MO) Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson (Clarkson Potter, New York City) Bocuse in Your Kitchen: Simple French Recipes for the Home Chef by Paul Bocuse (Flammarion, Paris) Bold Italian by Scott Conant with Joanne McAllister Smart (Broadway Books, New York City) Bubby's Homemade Pies by Ron Silver and Jen Bervin (Wiley, Hoboken, NJ) Charleston Grill at Charleston Place: French-Influenced Low-country Cuisine by Bob Waggoner (Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City) Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook by Jacques Pépin (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York City) Classic Stars Desserts by Emily Luchetti (Chronicle Books, San Francisco) Cook the Perfect… by Marcus Wareing (DK Publishing, New York City) Cooking with Shelburne Farms by Melissa Pasanen with Rick Gencarelli (Viking Studio, New York City) Crab: Buying, Cooking, Cracking by Andrea Froncillo and Jennifer Jeffrey (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA) Creole by Babette de Rozi&egrav;res (Phaidon, New York City) Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer and Paula Disbrowe (Alfred A. Knopf, New York City) Dominique's Tropical Latitudes by Dominique Macquet and John DeMers (Bright Sky Press, Albany, TX) Dolci Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma (W.W. Norton, New York City) Fantastico! by Rick Tramonto with Mary Goodbody (Broadway Books, New York City) The Flexitarian Table: Inspired, Flexible Meals for Vegetarians, Meat Lovers, and Everyone in Between by Peter Berley with Zoe Singer (Houghton Mifflin, New York City) Forklore: Tales and Recipes from an American Bistro by Ellen Yin (Temple University Press, Philadelphia) A Great American Cook: Recipes from the Home Kitchen of One of Our Most Influential Chefs by Jonathan Waxman with Tom Steele (Houghton Mifflin, New York City) The Hog Island Oyster Lover's Cookbook by Jairemarie Pomo (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA) I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas by Marcel Desaulniers (Wiley, Hoboken, NJ) Indulge:100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark (Whitecap Books, Vancouver, BC) The Kitchens of Biró: Simple SpanAsian Cuisine by Marcel Biró and Shannon Kring Biró (Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City) Lidia's Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Alfred A. Knopf, New York) Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader with Lauren Chattman (W.W. Norton, New York City) Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli (HarperCollins, New York City) Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home by Scott Linquist and Joanna Pruess (Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, MO) New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein (Thomas Nelson, Nashville) Nobu West by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and Mark Edwards (Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, MO) The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA) Pierre Gagnaire: Reinventing French Cuisine by Jean-François Abert (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York City) Rosa's New Mexican Table by Roberto Santiba&ntilda;ez (Artisan, New York City) The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco by Cecilia Chiang with Lisa Weiss (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA) Small Bites Big Nights by Govind Armstrong (Clarkson Potter, New York City) Sotheby's Cafe Cookbook: A Celebration of Food and Art by Laura Greenfield (Sotheby's Preview, London) Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey: The Mediterranean Flavors of Sardinia by Efisio Farris with Jim Eber (Rizzoli International, New York City) Talk with Your Mouth Full: The Hearty Boys Cookbook by Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York City) Temptation at the White House by Bruno Serato (Bruno Serato, Anaheim, CA) The Texas Hill Country Cookbook: A Taste of Provence by Scott Cohen and Marian Betancourt (The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT) A Twist of the Wrist by Nancy Silverton with Carolynn Carreno (Alfred A. Knopf, New York City) Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen by Pino Luongo and Mark Strausman (Artisan, New York City) The Wagamama Cookbook by Hugo Arnold (Kyle Books, London) White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen by Walter Scheib and Andrew Friedman (Wiley, Hoboken, NJ) Wild Sweets Chocolate by Dominique and Cindy Duby (Whitecap Books, Vancouver, BC) The Young Man & the Sea: Recipes and Crispy Fish Tales from Esca by Dave Pasternack and Ed Levine (Artisan, New York City)