FOOD AND DRINK
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South,
by Michael W. Twitty (Amistad; 464 pages; $28.99). Written with elegance, this book continues Twitty’s online exploration of African food ways, his genealogy and the South’s complicated food history.
The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook: Indian Spice, Oakland Soul,
by Preeti Mistry with Sarah Henry (Running Press; 288 pages; $30). For her first cookbook, named after her Oakland restaurant, Mistry bares her soul as she chronicles the journey of Juhu Beach Club from pop-up to beloved “mom-and-mom” neighborhood spot.
On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen,
by Jeremy Fox (Phaidon; 320 pages; $49.95). The marvelous first cookbook from Fox — who earned accolades for his cooking at Napa’s now-closed Ubuntu — serves up fine dining-caliber vegetable-focused recipes. Dishes like potato beignets, romesco and charred scallion are exciting and tempting.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, by Samin Nosrat (Simon & Schuster; 480 pages; $28). By mastering these four “notes” of the culinary scale, Nosrat guarantees that “you can become not only a good cook, but a great one.” With its instructive recipes and playful illustrations by Wendy McNaughton, the Berkeley writer’s cookbook is an enjoyable culinary master class.
The Sioux Chef ’s Indigenous Kitchen,
by Sean Sherman, with Beth Dooley (University of Minnesota Press; 256 pages; $34.95). Realizing how underrepresented American Indian foods are, Sherman began hosting pop-up dinners in 2014 to shine a light on indigenous food systems. The business has since grown to include catering, a food truck and a forthcoming restaurant.
State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook,
by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski (Ten Speed Press; 368 pages; $40). Much like the highly popular Fillmore Street restaurant it’s named after, this cookbook features recipes that are inventive and unexpected. Though not necessarily for the casual home cook, it offers a breakdown of the cooking behind one of our most popular restaurants.