
Many best books lists appear at year’s end. But they tend to repeat the same well-known titles that you bought months ago. On the other hand, specialty lists often bring to light titles that were not covered in the pre-pub sources. This month’s Saveur offers a list of the editors’ top ten 2007 favorites. The following titles on the list did not get advance reviews and are therefore under represented in many library catalogs.
Since the Saveur piece is not online, we’ve cribbed their comments below:
Ortega, Simone and Ines. 1080 Recipes, Phaidon Press, (October 26, 2007), Hdbk, $39.95.
ISBN-10: 0714848360
ISBN-13: 978-0714848365
“…Spain’s best-selling cookbook for more than 30 years. At long last, an English-language edition, updated with recipes that reflect that country’s recent avant-garde culinary renaissance.”
Parkes, Simon. The Calcutta Kitchen, Interlink, (March 30, 2007),Hdbk, $29.95.
ISBN-10: 1566566711
ISBN-13: 978-1566566711
“a compendium of masterly recipes, essays…serves up a vision of India’s third-largest city that stays with you long after you’ve left the kitchen.”
Riley, Gillian, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, Oxford University Press, (October 2, 2007), Hdbk, $39.95.
ISBN-10: 0198606176
ISBN-13: 978-0198606178
“an exhaustive, alphabetized encyclopedia on the foods and culinary traditions of Italy.”
Meanwhile, this month’s Gourmet looks ahead to a certain crowd pleaser from Karen Tack, “one of the most sought-after food stylists in publishing.” Her handiwork is on the cover of the issue as well as the feature article on homemade sweets (the photo of the cinnamon palmier defines “food porn” for me).
In her forthcoming Hello, Cupcake, Houghton Mifflin, (April 23, 2008), shows off her ability to play with food.


Trade Paperback, 15.95ISBN-10: 0618829253
ISBN-13: 978-0618829255
While we’re on the subject of food in the library, the Palm Desert Library has hit on a winning idea, using local chefs in their programming.