The San Francisco Chronicle recommends some "delicious" cookbooks published this fall:
Stocking stuffers
- The New American Cooking by Joan Nathan (Knopf, $35), "a multiethnic departure for the veteran author best known for Jewish Cooking in America" that focuses on "the foods that have migrated to our shores in the suitcases, backpacks and, most of all, the culinary memories of new Americans."
- Emeril's Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse (Morrow, $29.95), which "celebrates the 110-year history of this legendary New Orleans restaurant that was named after New York Delmonico's (founded in 1827), but evolved into a temple to Creole cuisine." The author took over the restaurant in 1997 and reopened it--after a Katrina-caused closing--December 8 for dinners.
- How to Cook Italian by Giuliano Hazan (Scribner, $35), from the son of "legendary Italian cooking teacher and author Marcella Hazan and wine honcho and teacher Victor Hazan." Hazan "starts with unfussy advice on utensils and techniques and proceeds to the kind of gutsy but rarely complicated recipes that are the hallmark of true and traditional Italian home cooking."
- La Bonne Cuisine by Madame E. Saint-Ange, translated by Paul Aratow (Ten Speed Press, $40). "The gift for the serious cookbook lover who has everything," this title was first published in 1927 and is "to French cooks what Joy of Cooking has been to generations of Americans."
- Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 40th Anniversary Edition by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Knopf, $40), "a faithful reproduction of the book that changed the way America cooks and eats."
Stocking stuffers
- Artisan Baking by Maggie Glezer (Artisan, $22.95), "a handsomely illustrated, less costly version of ArtisanBaking Across America [and] great for devoted bread lovers and bakers, but not for the bread machine crowd."
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby & Toddler by Elizabeth M. Ward (Alpha, $16.95), "chock-full of health and safety advice by this seasoned nutrition consultant/writer. . . . The recipes--some no more than improvements on store-bought foods such as frozen pizza--are for simple fare that in many instances lend themselves to meals for the whole family."