Book Bytes
by Lorin Gaudin

December 7, 2007

This year there is a larger than usual number of local cookbooks and cocktail collections for gifting and adding to your own stacks. 

At long last, Susan Spicer has gathered her recipes into Crescent City Cooking.  I’ve never thought of Susan as a girly-girl, but she is; so is her book and the recipes therein.  By no means a character or book indictment, Spicer’s tome is pretty, fluid, has nice photos and a pleasing whirly typeface with recipes that reflects her girl food too.  The recipes are comfortable and easy-going, don’t require a culinary diploma and as expected, her pop favorites are all there, including the sweetbreads with sherry mustard butter, the goat cheese crouton with mushrooms and Madeira cream sauce, Grilled Shrimp with Black bean Cakes and Coriander Sauce, and the Smoked Duck “PBJ” with Cashew Butter, and Pepper Jelly.  I particularly like the images of Susan and her family dotted throughout the book; they’re warm and charming, just like Susan and her special restaurant, Bayona.  17 years after opening the doors, Bayona continues to ooze effortlessness and beautiful food, now we can finally capture the flavor for ourselves at home.  

When John Folse’s Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine released in December of 2004, I was sure that he was done with writing books, that one being his grand finale.  I was wrong, way wrong.  Folse wows us again with his latest book, After the Hunt: Louisiana's Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery, an. 871-page, 10-plus pounds hernia inducer with than 500 recipes for deer, duck, wild boar, woodcock, squirrel, squab, teal and tuna, to name some.  It’s about hunting, the art and skill of the sport, cooking, has beautiful photography and damn-it-all, is another must-have for every cookbook collection.

Fun and frivolous is an apt description of this book that is not a cookbooks so much as a “my faves” of eateries and shops in New Orleans by a group of locals and wannabe locals.  eat.shop new orleans is a guide that captures a delicious slice of New Orleans with recommendations of dishes and drinks in featured establishments.  The photography is sharp and hunger-inducing.  This is a great stocking stuffer for local food and restaurant buffs, and friends from afar who want to be in-the-know.  Fare warning, there are no surprises or hidden gems inside, but it sure is cute and enjoyable.

I love, love, love, Michael Ledet and Richard Stewart’s cookbooks, Joe Simmer’s Creole Slow Cookin' and Joe Simmer's Healthy Slow Cookin'.  Clever and a wee-bit tongue-in-cheek in a nice way, these collections of crock-pot cooking recipes really rock. The gumbos are genius, the soups are stunning, the cassoulet is sex, and while my family is not fans of brown rice, the Arroz con Pollo from the healthy cookin’ book was so flavorful and tender it reminded us of a proper paella.  French Foreign Legion Lentils? Oui Messieurs et Mesdames.

Dominique Macquet explores his Creole roots as gathered from his home-island of Mauritius in Tropical Latitudes.  With photography by the brilliant Sara Essex and recipes that are truly do-able, there is a lot of spice and soul in this book.  Grilled chicken Lollipop Wings with the sharp heat of Peri-Peri, full-flavored, aromatic and crackly meat patties, and comforting South African Chicken are top picks from this book.  
 
I’m a fool for a good cocktail.  Toss in a bit of history with the drink, I’m a goner.  Mixing New Orleans by designer Phillip Collier, text by Jenny Adams, is a terrific resource for detailing the legendary barrooms and cocktails of our city, as well as offering historical context to it all.  The images and drinks photography by Michael Terranova are astounding and done with elegance typically found in much fancier and pricier works.

“Whimsical and silly.”  That’s how Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan describe their adorable, colorful cocktail book of recipes and stories called In the Land of Cocktails.  Make no mistake, the cocktail recipes are serious business – serious fun business and excellent to boot.  Shake up an authentic, old school lime daiquiri or tweak it Hemingway style.  Muddle a Mojito, close in on a Corpse Reviver, beguile with a Belladonna, and raise your glass to classic and contemporary cocktails with appeal to cocktail aficionados and those aiming to be.