Better clear some shelf space. These seven titles are our favorites from the flood of spring releases:
“We’ll always have Paris—and great books about eating there. My new favorites include approachable cookbooks from young chef Greg Marchand (Frenchie: New Bistro Cooking; $23) and opinionated expat David Lebovitz (My Paris Kitchen; $35), as well as Alexander Lobrano’s culinary tour and cookbook (Hungry for France; $45). I trust anywhere that man sends me!” —CHRISTINE MUHLKE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND WANNABE PARISIAN
30 Years at Ballymaloe ($35) pays tribute to the Emerald Isle’s most influential cooking teacher, Darina Allen. The tome serves as both a history of her prominent school and a collection of her recipes. If you worship Alice Waters and have considered a back-yard chicken coop, this is your book.
In Eating with the Chefs ($60), Fool magazine’s Per-Anders Jorgensen visits the best restaurants in the world and sits down for their staff meals. Jean-Pierre Gabriel’s beautiful and ambitious Thailand: The Cookbook ($50) extracts 500 recipes from the country’s most seasoned home cooks. Your coffee table will thank you.
Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s The Bar Book ($30) is the definitive guide to 21st-century cocktailing. The Portland, OR, barman deep-dives into the minutiae, including an entire chapter on simple syrup. Step one: Select the right sugar...
WHITE SUGAR: “The economy car of sweeteners. It doesn’t interfere with other ingredients in a cocktail by bringing its own flavors to the party, so I use it when making simple two- or three-ingredient cocktails.”
BROWN SUGAR: “It’s actually highly refined white sugar with molasses added…. I prefer a dark brown sugar syrup almost exclusively when making an Irish Coffee.”
RAW SUGAR: “Both [Demerara and Turbinado] have more flavor than white sugar, with just a hint of caramel and molasses…. Great in spirit-driven rum drinks.”