READING NOOK

Here are few titles from 2014 worth a second look.

My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz (Ten Speed, $35) Lebovitz is a chef and baker turned cookbook author who moved to Paris about 10 years ago. His adventures in France are recounted on his popular eponymous website. Lebovitz now shares his recipes and stories in a very handsome book. Don’t be turned off by the francocentric focus. Lebovitz’s easily understandable recipes, practical advice and keen sense of humor make this book universally appealing.

The Vegetarian Flavor Bible by Karen Page (Little, Brown and Co., $40) Don’t expect recipes. Dig, instead, into flavor inspirations for plant-based cooking (vegetables, fruits, legumes, etc.) offered by Page, her photographer-chef-husband Andrew Dornenburg and dozens of chefs. Page tackles some science (i.e. how we taste, smell) and culinary cravings (Miss bacon? Try smoked paprika. Need creaminess without the cow? Try coconut milk). For those who love to cook (and maybe only dabbled in vegetarian cooking), Page presents an encyclopedic approach to ingredients (acai to zucchini flowers), explaining how to use them and their “flavor affinities.”

What to Bake & How to Bake It by Jane Hornby (Phaidon, $35) Befuddled by baking jargon yet long to bake? Baking expert-cooking teacher Hornby’s book features 50 recipes buttressed by 500 overhead color photographs illustrating baking terms and techniques. She’s a patient coach for novices, stirring her love of baking into recipes from classic crusty bread to chocolate profiteroles. She goes easy on food science, instead offering some basics (i.e. what-to-look-for visuals of correctly beaten egg whites, whipped cream, etc.) and simplifies explanations of the whys of some techniques.