SpiceLines

American Masala: 125 Classics from My Home Kitchen, Suvir Saran. The noted cookbook author and chef-owner of Devi, a glam New York Indian restaurant—I lust for the brilliant glass lanterns hanging from the ceiling—“marries Indian flavors with American favorites to create dishes that are exotic, yet familiar.” For instance: Double-Basil Mussels with Pasta Shells, or Slaw with Mint, Lime Juice, Chiles and Peanuts.

Modern Indian Cooking, Hari Nayak and Vikas Khanna. Forward by Daniel Bouloud. The chefs take some of the complexity out of Indian cuisine with simple, flavorful recipes for Aromatic Butter Nut Squash and Coconut, and Roasted Red Snapper with Fresh Green Chili Cilantro Pesto.

Mantra: The Rules of Indulgence, Jehangir Mehta. “Enter a world of adventure and indulgence in this exotic cookbook by the chef Bon Appetit has called ‘an anarchic artist of the last course.’” Fusion dessert recipes—Tres Leches Cake with Coconut Curry Emulsion, Pears, and Almonds—by the chef-owner of Graffiti in New York’s East Village (and Iron Chef contestant).

The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices, Sara Engram and Katie Luber. The owners of tsp spices, a Baltimore-based spice company, want us to “spice up” our lives with recipes “for dishes with just the right touch of herbs and spices.” I.e. Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting.

The Outer Banks Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from North Carolina’s Barrier Islands, Elizabeth Wiegand. A bounty of recipes—mostly seafood, many by local cooks—from a veteran food writer, plus shipwreck lore and tips on throwing an oyster roast. Good advice on buying, storing and cleaning soft shell crabs.

Cocina Indigena y Popular, volumes 1, 11, 13 and 44, with recipes from Veracruz. Selections from an ambitious series, written in Spanish and native Indian dialects, that aims to create a cultural record of Mexico’s indigenous peoples through the foods they eat. The recipes are authentic but assume a certain familiarity with ingredients and cooking techniques. In Volume 1, for instance, Tamales Para Ceremonia—made for a curative ritual “when someone is sick”—sound delicious (chicken and green chile, wrapped in banana leaves) but there are no instructions for the long, complex process of preparing the masa or cornmeal. Still, a fascinating look at indigenous Mexican cookery—as long as you read Spanish. (Four volumes count as one giveaway.)

Alimentum, Issues Two, Four and Five. “The only literary review all about food.” Great bedtime reading: poetry, memoir, thought pieces. Aperitif by Anthony Di Renzo begins: “Roast peacock, Horace the Roman satirist assures, tastes exactly like chicken. So does crow; properly seasoned of course….” (Three issues count as one giveaway.)

The Last Chinese Chef, Nicole Mones. “But best of all was the second soup. It brought gasps from around the table….The live fish had been transformed into pale, fluffy fish balls, light and airy and ultra-fresh. These floated in the perfectly intense fish broth with shrimp, clouds of soft tofu, and tangy shreds of mustard greens…” Award winning novel, riveting insights into Chinese food culture.

Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, Jamie Oliver. Jamie plants a garden and hey, presto: over a hundred tantalizing recipes for dishes like Spicy Pork and Chilli-Pepper Goulash and Winter Crunch Salad with a Mind-Blowing Sauce. He owns up to kissing his prize vegetables.

The Sweet Spot, Pichet Ong. The chef-owner of the late P*ong and esteemed former dessert chef at Jean Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market rolls out 100 unusual recipes for Asian-inspired desserts, including Chocolate Kumquat Spring Rolls and Pistachio Rose Thumbprint Cookies.

Simply Delicious, Darina Allen. Recipes from the British TV series of the same name. The accent is on simple, fresh food inspired by the garden. Allen is a noted TV chef, cooking instructor and daughter-in law of Myrtle Allen, the late, much-lamented proprietress of Ballymaloe House at Shanagarry, County Cork. We became addicted to Myrtle's blackberry jam during a weeklong visit, and paid a small fortune to have a supply shipped to New York—worth every penny.

Teany Book, Moby and Kelly Tisdale. From the founders of Teany, a popular Lower Eastside vegan/tea parlour that burned last year, but appears to have reopened. A “fun, bizarre, functional book” with vegan recipes like teany “chicken” salad and my mom’s burrito recipe, plus chatty info on tea types, beauty tips, hangover cures, and Moby’s advice on “a simple, romantic July date in New York.”

Gourmet, November, 2009. I was traveling when Gourmet closed its doors and had to pick up the last issue even though I was a subscriber. So I now have two copies. This one, still in its plastic mailer and untouched (well, almost) by human hands, is pristine. Worth it alone for the extraordinary photographs of eccentric Southern décor in “Deep Roots.” As always, there’s a short story lurking in the deep blue shadows….