9 HOT TITLES
New cookbooks will fan the flame of barbecue’s evolution, writes
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.