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These are the titles i'm waiting for: A Return to Cooking: The Chef, the Cook and the Artist by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman. Eric's take on Cook's Tour? Jeremiah Tower's Classics: 250 Recipes from an American Master; Made in Marseille: Food and Flavors from France's Mediterranean Seaport by Daniel Young; Feast and Folly: Cuisine, Intoxication, and the Poetics of the Sublime , edited by Allen Weiss; his previous book was "French Food: On the Table, On the Page, and in French Culture" Rustico; a wonderful review can be found on www.wineloverspage.com Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops by Dorie Greenspan Please, add to the list; what am i missing here?

One of the criticisms of your work has been that it's all about the drunken attitude, not enough about the food. Are you going to show your critics up by doing a cookbook aimed at the home cook?

In the "Chefs as Writers" thread a subtopic developed about classic cookbooks and I thought it deserved its own thread. Here are some books no cookbook collection should be without. Louise Bertholle - Secrets of the Great French Restaurants Richard Olnay - Simple Cooking Patricia Wells - Bistro Cooking Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby - The Thrill of the Grill Harold McGhee - Science of Cooking Robert Carrier - Great Dishes of the World There are loads more. Feel free to post your list.

From Russ Parsons' review of Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé in today's Philadelphia Inquirer: "Greenspan is one of the few recipe writers who actually convey a voice. Read her instructions, and you sense a real person there, someone who has prepared this recipe before and who is there to help you." Arthur Schwartz comes immediately to mind as a recipe writer with a similar "voice." When I make one of his recipes, I feel as if he's right there in the kitchen with me. I was lucky to find his cookbooks when I first began to cook, and I still return to them time and again. Partly because there are some simple, classic favorites of mine in the books, but also because reading the recipes is like a visit with an old friend. Which recipe writers have a "voice" you like, and what do you like about it? I'm making a distinction here between writers who can skillfully enumerate recipes for the novice and those who bring some other engaging or interesting quality to their writing. Nominations for either category, or both, are welcome. Note: This thread springboarded from here. (Thanks, Jinmyo!)

I don't know about trends, but I've noticed that there's a cookbook review section now (in Chicago). I'd like to see more of that, cuz right now it runs a little hot and cold. Sometimes they review a new cookbook, other times they just don't have anything on cookbooks. There's always new cookbooks coming out and reading reviews helps me decide whether or not to even bother getting it. This section could also review food writing, anthologies, new books about travel and food, etc. How do you handle this?

As a follow up to Steve Klc mentioning a potential 5 favorite food books list in an earlier question: I'm on the west coast & unfortunately don't get a chance to read your paper very often. You mentioned that you get a chance to see several cookbooks and food books. If you get a chance, I would be very intersted if you would be willing to share with us your personal 3-5 favorite food books, or personal favorite cookbooks, or cookbooks that you think the recipes turn out particularly well. Thanks.

Skortha advised me that, unexpectedly, the book "Gourmet Cooking for Dummies" is quite useful. It is co-authored by Charlie Trotter, and has some interesting recipes. (And, yes, it is one of those bright-yellow-colored books.) Note the book is not newly released. Do members have input on the book? Also, have members read the newer book applauding Trotter's employee management and restaurant running practices?

My local paper, the Asbury Park Press ran a feature on Sara Moulton Cooks at Home in today's food section.

Helena - I have cooked with tea to make a (reputed) Georgian recipe for braised and roasted phesant and a Japanese rice and salmon that contains green tea as a base, not stock.

After reading your piece (as reprinted in Best Food Writing 2002) "The Reviewer and the Recipe," I was struck that I view cookbooks in much the same way that you seem to; that is, I use them for inspiration rather than for the actual recipes. So I'm wondering if you have a suggestion for an Italian cookbook that someone (like me) with the same approach to cookbooks might enjoy. And more generally, aside from the books you mentioned in your "Annual Food Book Review" newsletter, what are some of your favorites (current or "classic")? And why? Thanks.

What can you tell me about this author or his books/restaurants? I am going to meet him on Wednesday for a book signing, and to be honest, have never heard of him. Thanks!

I am interested in your comments on cookbooks and books of food essays on fish & game that you have found helpful, interesting...or on the other hand, a waste of time. I like the work of Jim Harrison, A.D. Livingston, and Rebecca Gray, among others.

There have been a few cookbook/recipe threads happening recently. I simply want to know, as a strictly academic exercise, how many cookbooks the greater eGullet commumity owns. End to end, would they circle the world? C'mon, take a few minutes or half an hour. Post the totals here. And it ain't some friggin' contest! Many great cooks have few books, and many non-cooks own lots. Food magazines don't count. I'll keep a running total. Awbrig, don't forget to count the Nancy Silverton book we borrowed. It's relaxing. Glass of wine in hand, go out there and count.

I haven't seen a thread on this, and I'm curious, so here goes: What was your first cookbook? Was it a gift? Do you still use it? My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook, published in 1965. I don't remember ever making anything from it. My daughter will probably get it eventually. It's a relic. The first cookbook I remember using was my mother's edition of Fannie Farmer from 1965. I searched out my own copy and still use it.

I've been making do with Fannie Farmer and assorted other generic cookbooks for my baking recipes, but have decided that I need an actual baking book. Any good suggestions?

I'm interested in what cook books members like for photography and design - for instance, I just fell for the simple design of the Michel Bras book which has most items shot over semi-milk glass, without plates or distractions. Are there books that members prefer to just look at?

Thank you for participating in this Q&A Alexandra. I would like to buy a good vegetarian cookbook, as well as a tofu cookbook. What are your recommendations?

I was wondering what people think about Donna Hay, the Aussie who has produced beautiful, well-stylized cookbooks built on themes like: "New Food Fast"-cooking from your pantry, divided by how much time a recipe takes "Off the Shelf"-sort of a primer built around cuisines, i.e. Mediterranean, Asian "Flavors"-exactly that I have the first two, and I wish I hadn't bought "Off the Shelf." More style than substance. She doesn't inspire me, but for those desparation dinners when my brain is fried from a long day, I am glad to have her books around.

I had to get into the office early this morning, so I scarfed down a quick bowl of raisin bran. As I was eating, I started to wonder whether any breakfast cereals could be used in cooking high-end meals. Now I'm not talking about corn flake crusted fried chicken or rice krispie treats. I'm wondering, how Grant Achatz would used puffed rice or shredded wheat?? Could Steve Klc make something interesting with Cap'n Crunch or Apple Jacks? There's got to be tons of possibilities out there (perhaps none of them worthwhile), but if chefs can do something creative with the concept of caramel corn, why not with Honey Nut Cheerios??

I'm going to Mexico in a couple of months and I want to start doing some hardcore learning about the food. If you had to pick 2 Diana Kennedy cookbooks, what would they be?

Well, after three years of careful research, planning and preparation (errr ... procrastination) I am finally going to build my new barbecue tomorrow. Unless some major mental relapse takes place, this will be a brick BBQ with two-level grill trays, an enclosed "oven" below the charcoal tray, and a smoke hood. My past experience of BBQing has been limited to throwing unprepared lamb chops, sausages and home-made burgers onto the grill tray, and removing them when some instinct suggested they were properly cooked. I now would like to be more adventurous with marinaded chicken, steak, kebabs, fish, vegetables and whatever else proper cooks do. I'd also like to experiment with wood briquettes of different kinds. Who knows a really good BBQ cookbook, suitable for a novice ?

I want to buy a French cookbook but I am not sure where to start. Should I buy Julia Child, Jaque Pepin, or Robuchon. I am leaning towrads getting "Le Quisine De Robuchon" (sp??). Any recommendations would be appreciated and please specify the name of the book in addition to the author if possible. Thanks FM PS: I've never owned a French cookbook.

My little hop vine climbed up the side of our back porch and now has a nice crop. My home-brew days are long past, but I seem to have a vague memory of using the hop berries as a seasoning in other foods. Google searches come up with beer, beer, and more beer. Any other ideas out there? Jim

I am interested in getting some cookbooks that cover the basics of pastry and baking--not bread, necessarily, but dessert, cakes, cookies, etc. I searched a few other cookbook threads but did not have luck on finding books on pastry. My interest is in fairly classic French and European style baking, and I need a book that covers technique. Pictures would also be much appreciated--I like both the step by step pix or great pictures of the end product. Right now, I have Desserts and Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. (I love these and have had good results from the recipes, but feel I should start with a more classic approach.) La Varenne Pratique has provided some good starting points, but I would like to find a book with more focus on baking. I was thinking about the Payard book. Any comments? Suggestions would be much appreciated! In case it applies, I am a home cook and am slightly more skilled than a total beginner. Thanks!

So - I recently resigned as Scoutmaster due to health problems and assumed my new post as Assistant Scoutmaster in Charge of Eating. Boy Scouts are 11-17 years old and their tastes are um, different than adults. My statement to them is that they can cook anything they eat at home over a fire. This includes, but is not limited to, open fires, charcoal, backpack stoves and Dutch ovens. They'll also use, on occasion, solar cookers, cardboard-box ovens (ask me some time) and other various weird implements. My first lecture was "40 Ways to Die From Eating". I went over, basically, health and safety. "Though shalt not put chicken in your pack the Thursday before an outing" "Though shalt not eat anything unless it's clean" etc., etc. "If you eat this, you'll go to the hospital, then probably die." "If you eat this, you'll sit on the crapper until you die." "If you put this in a fire, it'll explode and you'll die before anyone can get to you." This is all basically tongue-in-cheek, but I was trying to impress on them the importance of cleanliness. I even made up a song: Salmonella, salmonella, can we all sing Salmonella? (sung to the melody of Cinderella) Anyway - I know that there's a zillion recipes out there on backpack sites, dutch oven sites, etc. But I feel it incumbent upon myself to at least check with the Gulleteers to see what ideas they can come up with. The idea here is that during the winter, we'll stay cold and can pack pretty-much any food we want. Weight is an issue as is water usage. The boys are told that their pack should weigh no more than 1/3 their body weight (which allows yours truly a 200-pound pack...just kidding). Water, at 8 pounds a gallon, is usually limited to 2 quarts. We don't allow water filters (to pull water from a stream) just because I don't want the boys to get into a 'gear race'. When you delve into this area of cooking, things change: We're talking ingredients like Parmalat (sterilized milk), powdered whole eggs, dehydrated fried ground beef, etc. Techniques also: I've got a widget called a Bakepacker that's basically a grid I put into my backpack pot. Using a (I'm lazy) prepackaged muffin/cake recipe, I add dried milk if milk is called for, pack along a couple of packets of olive oil that I swiped from the local sandwich shop, put it in an oven roasting bag (the plastic kind), add water, the oil, smoosh it until it's mixed, then put into the Bakepacker to steam for 25 minutes. Simply grand on a cold winter morning. Tamales can be steamed in an open fire by wrapping them in a wet paper towel and putting in the coals. Awesome onion recipe (though boys don't like onions): Carve out some of the onion, drop a beef bouillion cube and a large pat of butter into the resulting hole, wrap in foil and put in the coals. Did you know a Porterhouse looks great when stuck onto a stick and held over a bed of coals? Or that you can boil Poptarts (leave them in the foil pouch, please). If paid enough money, I'll share the recipe for omelet-in-a-Baggie. Clean-up is an issue - boys don't clean, and with limited water, they have the perfect excuse. So, Gulletanians: Any good ideas? What do boys like? What should I try myself? (hint, hint). Shameless plug: Boy Scouts sell Trail's End popcorn as a fundraiser. It's the best microwave popcorn on the market, but stay away from the bagged stuff. Thanks.......