9 HOT TITLES
New cookbooks will fan the flame of barbecue’s evolution, writes Jim Shahin.
COWBOY BARBECUE: FIRE & SMOKE FROM THE ORIGINAL TEXAS VAQUEROS Adrian Davila, with Ann Volkwein (The Countryman Press)
Third-generation pitmaster Davila assembled engaging recipes that pay tribute to his Latin American heritage, such as smoked beef tongue and the ever-popular beef fajitas. Unconventional items (goat tacos, peanut butter mole and shrimp in chili broth) expand our culinary repertoire.
HARDCORE CARNIVORE: COOK MEAT LIKE YOU MEAN IT Jess Pryles (Surrey Books)
This informative and wellwritten book is only partly about barbecue. The self-taught, Australian-born, Texan meat expert has an adventurous palate: Sumac-dusted roast chicken, dukkah-crusted backstrap, peanut-butter-and-jelly wings.
HOW TO GRILL EVERYTHING: SIMPLE RECIPES FOR GREAT FLAME-COOKED FOOD Mark Bittman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
This whopping 576-page book covers the basics of appetizers, sides, entrees and desserts in clear, well-reasoned prose. The recipes are unfussy. For each primary recipe, the former New York Times columnist provides variants. The book is more for those learning their way around live-fire cooking than those already adept at it.
COOL SMOKE: THE ART OF GREAT BARBECUE Tuffy Stone
(St. Martin’s Griffin)
Stone’s approach is laudably down-home. Pork loin is stuffed with kale and bacon. Chicken leg quarters are dressed with tarragon and Aleppo pepper. Advice, such as “saving over- and undercooked meat,” is informed and valuable.
Whether you’re cooking the basics or seeking dishes that are a bit more elevated, this is the one essential barbecue book this year.
PROJECT FIRE Steven Raichlen (Workman)
This book is like a live album. It doesn’t provide much new stuff, but it can satisfy nonetheless. By now, some 30 books and a couple of TV shows into his career, Raichlen perhaps needed a breather. Whatever, the classics here (caveman porterhouse, chicken breasts grilled under a salt brick, grilled sangria) are classics for a reason.
KOREAN BBQ: MASTER YOUR GRILL IN SEVEN SAUCES Bill Kim, with Chandra Ram (Ten Speed Press)
Kim goes far beyond the tabletop full of grilled meat commonly associated with Korean barbecue.
He combines a chef ’s creativity with a larder from his heritage to create such dishes as kimchee salsa and gochujang salmon. Kim dazzles with unfamiliar sauces and spice rubs. ■ ■ ■ ■
FIRE FOOD: THE ULTIMATE BBQ COOKBOOK DJ BBQ, a.k.a. Christian Stevenson (Quadrille)
This outlandish YouTube barbecue sensation brings his flair to globe-trotting recipes (Korean Philly cheesesteak). Chapters include breakfasts and “dirt” cooking (on embers). The book is grounded in a commendable and surprising sensibleness.
THE SECRETS TO GREAT CHARCOAL GRILLING ON THE WEBER Bill Gillespie with Tim O’Keefe (Page Street)
Gillespie brings his considerable knowledge to the basic backyard Weber. His recipes are generally beginner’s level (pork loin, beer can chicken), but his descriptions of different charcoal configurations are useful even to live-fire veterans.
FRENCH GRILL: 125 REFINED & RUSTIC RECIPES Susan Herrmann Loomis (The Countryman Press)
Incorporating Syrian (spiced lamb chops) and North African (cod with chermoula) cooking with more traditional French recipes (tomatoes Provençale), French Grill transports you to a cookout in the south of France.