A Cookbook Primer -- A Dozen Publications Worth Giving And Getting This Season

The number of cookbooks published in the United States each year is growing. In 1995 my stack of review copies stood at 6 feet, 4 inches - up a good foot from last year.

But in terms of utility, inspiration and sheer culinary aesthetics, how did they otherwise measure up? Pretty well. Among the scores of volumes that will wither unread or get donated to charity (where they will also go unread), there were at least a dozen or so that the average cook would find some use for - and a few more that dedicated foodies will cherish.

And, as always, a good cookbook is still the fail-safe holiday gift - sometimes the more arcane the better. After all, there's no law that says you actually have to COOK from the thing. It's the thought that counts.

My method of selecting winners from a year-long pile is both random and a little dangerous. (Lock up the cat.)

I start by attempting to slide out promising volumes from the top (December, November, October, September) of the pile, extract more carefully from publication dates between August and May, and resign myself to the inevitability of the tower of bright covers crashing down before I have safely excavated down to April.

At that point, I scatter them all out over the family-room floor (let out the cat) and begin reminding myself of what fascinated, bored or engaged me during the year.

What did I like best?

Tastes vary, of course, but the cookbook I spent the most time with was "Mark Miller's Indian Market Cookbook," by Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin (executive chef for the various Coyote Cafes), and Suzy Dayton with John Harrison. (Ten Speed Press; $27.95).

It's an upscale Santa Fe cookbook (Northern New Mexico-Southwestern) themed around recipes Miller develops for Santa Fe's annual Indian Market and Native American art festival held in late August. (If you can still book a room, go.)

Possibly too sophisticated (and labor-intensive) for the casual cook, the book shows in detail how the Coyote Cafe manages to put together brilliant displays of food on the plate that make the typical diner wonder what genius-combinations went into it. But if you want to wow your jaded friends at the next obligatory dinner party, try opening up with Tamales de Venado (Texas Venison Tamales) served with Mole Sauce made with prickly pear or blackberry masa. I counted 36 ingredients.

Even if you're too lazy (or prudent) to jump in with a wooden spoon and a wreath of chiles, the art work is gorgeous and the anecdotal introductions to the recipes are highly readable.

More pedestrian, probably more generally useful, is "The Woman's Day Cookbook," by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley and the editors of Woman's Day Magazine (Viking: $24.95).

Attractive, utilitarian and with a washable cover (the mark of a cookbook intended for hard use) this new work is an all-purpose cookbook (like "The Joy of Cooking," but less comprehensive) that has some worthwhile modern twists - calories, grams and percentages of fat, microwave adaptations, etc., are listed - and with an eye to timesaving techniques.

Purists may scoff at the number of prepared ingredients (canned beans, tuna, clams, even canned potatoes), but the recipes work, and for a busy parent, or busier single parent, it will get supper on the table without two hours of preparatory panic.

An updated reprise of an old classic, "Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies" (Random House; $25) will gladden the calorie-blithe hearts of those who savored her first "Great Cookies" book in 1977, a James Beard award-winner.

Included are 80 new recipes - and one for Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cookies that ought to be a controlled substance. As Heatter writes: "I suggest that you do not store them in a location that can be seen - or reached. They will disappear too quickly. And frankly, if you don't have strong willpower, maybe you should just not make them."

Less artery-threatening are Skinny Peanut Wafers, Walnut Jumbles and Gingerful Biscotti. This is a fun book by a woman who has been inducted into just about every cooking and baking hall of fame.

More existential desserts - and more beautifully illustrated - are Marcel Desaulniers' "Desserts to Die For" (Simon & Shuster: $30).

Desaulniers (a k a the Guru of Ganache) is the author of the hugely successful "Death by Chocolate." He begins his book with a certified deathbed quote by the failing aunt of the French food philosopher, Brillat-Savarin:

"I feel the end approaching. Quick, bring me my dessert, coffee and liqueur."

He proceeds to such indulgences as Fallen Angel Cake with Golden Halos and Sinful Cream, Chocolate Madonna (with raspberry-tipped chocolate bustiers), and Chocolate Exquisite Pain.

In case any of the above actually does you in, don't despair. On Page 120 you'll find Chocolate Resurrection.

For all of the author's sardonic wit, "Desserts to Die For" is a terrific working cookbook. The recipes are precise, the instructions (many illustrated) detailed and the photography gorgeous.

You can actually make this stuff without feeling you are dying in the process.

It's not quite a cookbook, but it may have its applications. "The Martini" by Barnaby Conrad III (Chronicle Books: $24.95): "An illustrated history of an American Classic."

Conrad was invited to Seattle this autumn as a guest judge in the annual Great Martini Classic competition among several downtown hotels and restaurants (won by Oliver's at the Mayflower; best cocktail food by the Metropolitan Grill). He's a delightful man, and he wrote a delightful, comprehensive book, with literary touches from Ian Fleming ("Shaken, not stirred.") to martini-drinker Humphrey Bogart's alleged dying words: "I never should have switched from scotch."

The illustrated art work, from Mondrian to Oldenburg, is expert and well-chosen. In addition to a great deal of well-documented history, there are dozens of less-documented anecdotes. Like this observation from James Carville: "The only Clintonian who likes martinis: To me a vodka martini is like saying a Bourbon Margarita. It doesn't exist. It has to be gin."

Oddly enough, Carville was wandering around the lobby of the Four Seasons Olympic the night the Martini Classic judges party came whooping through. We should have taken him along.

A perfect gift for, possibly, an imperfect person.

"Nuevo Latino" by Douglas Rodriguez (Ten Speed Press: $27.95) could be the surprise publishers sweepstakes winner for '95.

Rodriguez, 30, is the hot young chef at Patria in New York City. (He was voted chef of the year in Miami when he was 24.) Of Cuban descent, he schooled himself in classic French techniques (allegedly having memorized Escoffier at age 14) and began experimenting in various Caribbean, Central and South American dishes. His "new Latin" cookbook is both grounded in native-ethnic fundamentals and innovative in his colorful manipulations of them.

Creations like Pulled Pork and Gouda Baguette with Papaya-Mustard Salsa, or Grilled Flanksteak Salad over Mushroom Cerviche, or Conch Tamals with Jalapeno-cheese Pesto.

The book is richly illustrated to support detailed, clear directions. Be the first on your block to serve Chipotl Mashed Potatoes with corn, ham and pork-shoulder stew.

"From the Tables of Tuscan Women" by Anne Bianchi (Ecco Press: $26) is one of those books that you sit down with for five minutes of information and end up taking to bed with a glass of milk (or Chianti). It's a gem of rural Italian anthropology, laced with amusing neighborly banter, cross-generational kitchen lore and loads of just plain workable country recipes.

Bianchi is a New York-based writer with relatives solidly based in Tuscany. She visits every year. Her book is compiled from conversations with nine aging (and opinionated) Italian women for whom cooking is a sometimes stubborn, sometimes combative way of life.

Included are arcane (but valid) recipes like Fagioli nel Fiasco (beans cooked in a flask), the "one and only" Tuscan recipe for Pasta e Fagioli (it calls for both pancetta and prosciutto), and flattened chicken, Pollastrino al Mattone, with roasted potatoes.

The kind of book you will loan out - and not get back.

Jack Czarnecki's "A Cook's Book of Mushrooms" (Artisan: $30) is a pretty, lavishly illustrated work that is part field guide and part kitchen inspiration.

Shiitake, portobello, cremini (which are really small portobellos), enoki and oyster mushrooms all find expression here, alongside a dozen different things to do with plain old cultivated mushrooms.

Tips on gathering, buying, storing and cooking - along with mail-order sources for what you can't find, buy or gather elsewhere.

A good reference and a useful tool.

The "harmony of Hawaiian flavors" are the creatively reworked subjects of "Roy's Feasts from Hawaii" (Ten Speed Press: $27.95) by Honolulu chef Roy Yamaguchi. (He now has six Roy's restaurants, from Pebble Beach to Maui to Guam to Tokyo.)

Yamaguchi is, surprisingly, mostly an American culinary phenomenon. Born in Japan, reared in New York, he received his first formal professional training at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y.

His career took off in Los Angeles. He was nominated California chef of the year in '87 and left for Hawaii in '88.

Some of his dishes are simple and potent, like Thai-Style Pasta Aglio e Olio, the classic Italian dish zipped up with toasted crushed peanuts, fresh mint, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice, Hawaiian chiles and cilantro.

Others are more involved, like Mahi Mahi with Szechwan-Style Clams and Bell Peppers (18 ingredients, from Rayu sesame oil to Indonesian chile paste).

It's a highly personal, very genuine book - the work of a true believer.

I had to include Lynn Alley's "Lost Arts," almost a stocking stuffer at $7.95. This little paperback is "a cook's guide to making vinegar, curing olives, crafting fresh goat cheese and simple mustards, baking bread and growing herbs."

In short, all of the things our grandmothers knew how to do - or, at least, their grandmothers. The book is a charmer. Alley tells you the differences between black, brown, white and yellow mustard seeds, how to get them and how to use them.

How to make simple, fresh cheeses and green olive tapenade; how to make gourmet vinegars from ordinary table wines, and how to buy and mill grain for REAL homemade bread.

Of local and regional interest are: "Pacific Northwest Flavors" by Michael Skott with Lori McKean and "The What to Fix For Dinner Cookbook" by Heidi Rabel. Both well-written, both worth having.

(Copyright 1995, John Hinterberger. All rights reserved.)

John Hinterberger's restaurant and food columns appear in The Seattle Times in Sunday's Pacific Magazine and Thursday's Tempo.