With the holidays at hand, publishers around the country have released a wide range of new cookbooks they hope will make ideal gifts for friends and family members on yuletide shopping lists. Three of the new cookbooks feature Bay Area culinary talent. Chef and author Aaron French, in “The Bay Area Cookbook” (Voyageur Press, $30), tells the stories of farmers who rise before the roosters to bring fresh produce, meats and cheeses to area farmers markets. He also profiles chefs who kick off the day with an early trip to the market and wrap it up late at night after feeding hundreds of appreciative diners.
The stories of these farmers and chefs are sure to foster an appreciation for the hard work that goes into creating local, seasonal food. This new cookbook from French celebrates some of the best homegrown food in the Bay Area, profiling 26 chefs who work together with local farms to incorporate the freshest sustainably grown ingredients into their menus. Chefs profiled include the Bay Area’s Michael Tusk (Quince), Amaryll Schwertner (Boulette’s Larder), Laurence Jossel (Nopa), Phil West (Range) and Craig Stoll (Delfina).
In “Eat Good Food” (Ten Speed Press, $32.50), Sam Mogannam, owner of San Francisco’s popular Bi-Rite Market, and food columnist Dabney Gough guide the home cook through the grocery store one department at a time, and explain how to identify incredible ingredients, decipher labels and terms, build a great pantry and reconnect with the people and places that feed us.
The Bay Area authors offer new ways to look at food, not only through the ingredients to buy but also how to prepare them. Featuring 90 of Mogannam’s favorite recipes — including many of the dishes that have made Bi-Rite Market’s in-house kitchen a destination for food lovers — you’ll discover exactly how to get the best flavor from each ingredient. Dishes such as Farro Salad with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash, Spaghetti with Tuna, Capers and Chile Flakes, Sumac-Roasted Chicken, Moroccan Lamb Meatloaf and Citrus Olive Oil Cake reflect an honest and uncomplicated cooking style that home cooks of all levels will find accessible.
Napa author Janet Fletcher collaborated with Erik Cosselman to write “Kokkari, Contemporary Greek Flavors” (Chronicle Books, $40). Cosselman, chef/owner of Kokkari restaurant in San Francisco, shares recipes from the restaurant (and from Greece) for home cooks. Beautifully illustrated, it includes entrees like Fish Roasted with Tomato, Potato, Fennel and Olives (Psari Plaki) as well as mezze and sides like Oranges with Rose Water, Cinnamon, Dates and Spiced Walnuts. Check out a recipe from the book: Oranges with Rose Water, Cinnamon, Dates and Spiced Walnuts