The Salvisoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserving Them is a cookbook by Carla Tatiana Vazquez that combines Salvadoran recipes with stories of women in the Salvadoran diaspora. (Courtesy of Ten Speed Press)
Sunshine and spring weather are finally upon us, and this year’s spate of glossy cookbooks for spring are filled with satisfying, healthy meal ideas that will bring brightness and joy to your daily routine. It’s full.
Introducing five new cookbooks that will help you turn fresh ingredients into delicious dishes. Each offers a different approach to creating kitchen magic.
Cook simply, live to the fullest: Flexible, flavorful recipes for every mood by Yasmin Farr
Have you ever flipped through a cookbook and wished the author understood that you were on the verge of ordering takeout and just wanted something easy and delicious? From The New York Times Recipe contributor and author Yasmin Farr explains. In her new cookbook (Harper Press, $36), she divides recipes into three categories. Coffee table dinner (for weeknights, but when you want to go a little further). Dinner table meals (when you have a little more energy to make something exciting).
You’ll find recipes for dishes like Charred Feta and Corn and Broccolini, Coconut Braised Salmon and Vegetables, Sheet Pan Citrus Ginger Chicken and Stone Fruit, Crispy Lemon Yogurt Chicken for a Crowd, and Lime Ginger Roasted Radish.
“SalviSoul Cookbook: El Salvador’s Recipes and the Women Who Preserve them” by Carla Tatiana Vázquez
This bright and vivid cookbook is the result of author Carla Vasquez’s efforts to learn about Salvadoran cuisine and record the stories behind it. She was born in El Salvador, but when war broke out when she was three months old, her family fled and landed in Los Angeles. In her adult life, she tried to learn more about the history of Salvadoran cuisine at the Los Angeles Public Library, but when her efforts failed, she traveled to her hometown to continue learning. did. In 2015, she started SalviSoul, a cookbook and storytelling project aimed at documenting the stories of women across the Salvadoran diaspora.
The Salvisoul Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, $35, on sale April 30) features soups from curtidos and pupusas to spinach and egg soup and sopa de espinaca con huevos. It features recipes for a wide range of dishes, as well as heartwarming stories. Contributors include gallo en chicha and rooster cooked in a fermented pineapple drink similar to coq au vin.
Kismet by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson
Inspired by the cuisine of Los Angeles’ Kismet Restaurant and Kismet Rotisserie Restaurant, this cookbook by chefs and owners Sarah Kramer and Sarah Hymanson (Clarkson Potter, $35, on sale May 7) includes California and Packed with recipes for home cooking that emphasize Mediterranean flavors. Kismet opened in his 2017 and was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and Restaurant Design. His jewel-like crispy rice was named LA Magazine’s “Dish of the Year” in 2017.
Among the innovative recipes are Little Gem Salad with grape leaf vinaigrette, marinated feta with dates and rosewater onions, tahini with honeyed kumquats and cardamom, flavored with rose and sage There are skewers of lamb with blistered shishito peppers and shrimp, and carob molasses.
Meet the authors for a free book talk on June 10th at 6:30pm at Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco.
California Farm Table Cookbook: 100 Recipes from the Golden State (by Laurie Rice)
Farms in the Bay Area, Central Coast, and Central Valley take center stage in the book, which food writer Laurie Rice calls a “dream project.” The cookbook (Countryman Press, $25, on sale June 4) is divided into ingredients that come from the soil and from the tree, for example. and local food sources, including Ron Silverstein of Admiral Maltings in Alameda, artichoke grower Sean Pezzini of Pezzini Farms in Castroville, and pear cider maker Sarah Hemley of Hemley Cider in Cortland. Profiles of the system’s leaders are scattered throughout.
This cookbook features a wide range of mouth-watering dishes inspired by California produce. Examples include tangerine chicken lettuce wraps, tamari-pickled eggs with hibiscus sea salt, Dungeness crab sandwiches, and goat cheese ice cream sandwiches with brown butter cookies.
Meet the author at Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco on June 8th at 3pm for a free talk and book signing.
Greek Style by Georgina Hayden
London food writer Georgina Hayden worked for Jamie Oliver’s food team for 12 years, but grew up in her grandparents’ Greek Cypriot tavern and learned to cook and tell stories from family recipes. I fell in love with it. Hayden’s new cookbook (Bloomsbury, $35, on sale June 11) pays homage to that delicious tradition and teaches you how to feed your loved ones with minimal stress, with little effort and big reward. Contains 120 Greek-style recipes aimed at.
You’ll find recipes for both savory and sweet breakfasts, such as meatballs in chili tomato and baklava French toast, and for dishes ranging from feta wrapped in phyllo with spiced honey to mussels with saffron yogurt. There is a section of grilled foods named “Things on Sticks.” Think spicy chilli and coriander chicken or lamb and halloumi koftas. For dessert, look for ways to make Greek coffee and walnut layer cake, golden phyllo custard pie, and baklava buns.
