"cookbookoftheday" news and stories

'Salumi: Savory Recipes and Serving Ideas for Salame, Prosciutto and More'
John Piccetti and Francois Vecchio with Joyce Goldstein
Chronicle Books -- 2009
Buy it at Amazon

A couple years ago Slashfood sat before a monstrous plate of strange Italian salumi in Milan, blindly eating items that we only knew by the name "delicious." In hindsight, we wish we had had this book to learn the actual names.

"Salumi," co-written by the owner of San Francisco's cured-meat giant Columbus Foods, is one part history, one part encyclopedia and three parts cookbook with recipes for antipasti, snacks, first and main courses, and salads and vegetables.

Can't tell your cotechino from your sopressata? Consult the book. Not sure if you should eat that moldy casing? Consult the book. Need a way to dress up a lonely cucumber and carrot with salame? You guessed it ... the book.

'Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Appetizers'
Edited by Chuck Williams
Recipes by Amy Sherman
Photos by Tucker + Hossler
Oxmoor House -- 2009 (hardback)
Buy it at Amazon

Ready to move beyond dips and carrot sticks for your soirees, but not ready to face the Full Martha? This is the guide for you. The book is divvied into sections highlighting each season's freshest ingredients and simple, elegant ways to show 'em off. Bonus -- a goodly bit of space is devoted to party planning tips, basic recipes (mayo, risotto, pizza dough), a glossary, techniques for handling veggies and a guide to what is freshest when.

Takeaway tips: Freshness is your best ingredient. Using seasonal ingredients means you'll need to do little to adorn them -- just make sure to use cooking methods, seasonings and pairings that show them off to their best advantage, and add flavor in layers. Specific methodologies are generously shared throughout the book.

Quality of pictures: Appetizing -- if a little washed out by the matte paper. Not step-by-step instructive, but oriented toward the finished product.

We tested: Pan-Seared Spring Lamb Chops with Mint-Pistachio Pesto and Olives and Feta Marinated with Lemon and Ouzo
Recipes were incredibly easy to follow, accessible, thorough and aided by sidebars offering further explanations of ingredients' flavor profiles and best methods for use. Lovely balance of veggie-friendly dishes and slightly heartier fare.

Worth the investment: Would make a great hostess or shower gift, or smart inspiration for anyone who's ready to bump their parties' sophistication level up a notch or two.

'Pie'
Angela Boggiano
Mitchell Beazley -- 2009 (paperback)
Buy it at Amazon

Fans of savory pies need no longer fear getting hung up at Heathrow security due to the suspicious scent of smuggled Stargazy pie and Cornish pasties emanating from their person. Angela Boggiano's pastry-centric paen to traditional British fare allows the rest of the globe to tuck into cold Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and hand-held Grimbsy Town Soccer Pies in the comfort of their very own homes.

There's a serviceable nod to the dessert end of the spectrum, but the meat and fish based recipes are the sweet spot.

Takeaway tips: Pastry crust isn't difficult to make, so long as you follow the author's three golden rules:

1. Handle it lightly.

2. Keep it cool.

3. Bake it in a hot oven.

Quality of pictures: Seductive and instructive

We tested: Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Eccles Cakes
Recipes were thorough, easy to follow and quite approachable for home cooks and fledgling pie makers. The U.S. edition translates all measurements into non-metric quantities. Our one quibble was a single digit omitted from the Eccles Cakes baking temperature (50F? Really?) but we took our best guess, and both pies turned out as pictured and previously sampled while we were in their native land.

Worth the investment: Yes, for Anglophiles, ex-pats, lovers of lard and the gluten averse -- she includes recipes for wheat-free pastry.

As I've mentioned before, the fastest way for a cookbook to leap over the stacks of cookery writing in my apartment and take root in my heart, is for the author to tuck lots of personal stories in between the recipes. As soon as I opened Urban Italian by Andrew Carmelini (chef at and Gwen Hyman, I knew that this was going to be one of those beloved cookbooks. The first 30 pages of the book comprise a section entitled True Stories. In that initial chapter, Carmelini (I'm guessing with lots of help from Hyman, as the writing is gorgeous) offers up the stories of how he came to food, starting with his grandparents and moving forward from there.

However, as good as the stories are, if the recipes don't work, a beautiful, storytelling cookbook won't stand a chance. Luckily, this one seems to be solid on all accounts and includes many gorgeous, inspiring and instruction photos (check out pages 94-99 if you have an yen to make homemade gnocchi).

I realize that the holidays are over and with the economy in the shape it's in, $35 cookbooks aren't on many necessity lists these days. However, if you're the type who eats Italian food out in a restaurant a couple of times a month, this might be just the sort of cookery investment you should be making (and it's a mere $23.10 on Amazon).

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At first glance, this book doesn't look like much. The front cover is an unadorned green, with just a small box to house the title and author. However, as soon as you open the front cover, it feels like you've stepped into a different world, full of lovely and interesting pictures of salads, citrus, noodles and exotic vegetables.

Written by Benjamin Lewis, New Food is written around the premise that there's a world of foods available to the average grocery shopper these days that would have been unknown to our grandparents. There are sections devoted to microgreens, cauliflower, exotic fruits and squash and each make those potentially unfamiliar ingredients accessible and appealing.

This is the type of book that would make a great gift for a friend or family member who doesn't have a whole lot of experience with some of the newer, fresher foods in the farmers markets and wants to understand exactly what to pea shoots or quince.

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