A Holiday Library for Cooks

Our selection of the most interesting new cookbooks

“The Curry Book” by Nancie McDermott (Houghton Mifflin, $15).

Nancie McDermott made her name with her “Real Thai” cookbooks, but she’s far from uncompromising in this book. There are authentic Thai and Sri Lankan curries here, but also spicy dishes with far less ancient pedigrees from the Caribbean, West Africa, Japan and . . . San Diego.

She emphasizes the convenience and plain fun of complex spice mixtures (and always suggests ready-made alternatives to mixing your own). Though she suggests a number of menus, from Vegan Feast to Bridge Party Luncheon, this is a book most people will probably dip into for one novel dish at a time, like Pork Chops With Curried Chutney Sauce.

“The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine” by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher (Broadway Books, $25).

A guide to wine--rather than to wine futures--from the Wall Street Journal? Sure. As anybody who’s checked out the Journal’s Weekend section knows, it does cover wine, and does so classily.

The writers (husband and wife) have in mind readers with an interest in wine and some knowledge who haven’t the time to be aficionados. Their selections are sharp and unhackneyed, and even when they’re discussing basic stuff, they never talk down to the reader. In fact, the Journal’s high standard of writing makes this unusually pleasant reading.

“The Art of the Cake: Modern French Baking and Decorating” by Bruce Healey and Paul Bugat (William Morrow & Co., $35).

The authors of “Mastering the Art of French Pastry” are back to tell us how we could actually reproduce the spectacular ga^teaux of a French pastry shop.

Of course, few French housewives ever attempt any such thing--they just buy a cake from their favorite pa^tisserie, but you and I might not have a pa^tisserie handy. And if you want to show off as a cook, not much beats a homemade Ga^teau Succes Kirsch: two layers of hazelnut-almond meringue with kirsch buttercream for both frosting and filling, kirsch-soaked glace fruits in the middle and a fondant glaze over the entire thing.

As in a French professional kitchen, everything is broken down and organized in rational fashion, which makes the cooking easier than anybody might guess. But if you cook one of these jewel-like masterworks, you’ll deserve every bit of the praise you’ll get.