The Year’s Cookbooks: What’s Old Is New

Newest and neatest may count in cars and computers, but not in cookbooks. Three of this year’s most valuable books are new versions of earlier, classic works.

Diana Kennedy has always been one of our leading voices for Mexican cooking. This year, she reprises three of her best books in “The Essential Cuisines of Mexico” (Clarkson Potter, $35). A heavily abridged combination of text and recipes from “The Cuisines of Mexico” (1972), “The Tortilla Book” (1975) and “Mexican Regional Cooking” (1978), it was put together because all three are now out of print.

If you’ve read the originals, you know what to expect--uncompromisingly authentic food. What might surprise you in this collection, though, is the way many of the esoteric ingredients and preparations have been made more accessible. This, apparently, is a book that is intended to be enjoyed rather than taken as a challenge.

Claudia Roden’s 1972 book on Middle Eastern food was many Americans’ first introduction to the cuisines of that region. The sad fact is: Much the same thing could be said for this year’s much-expanded, -revised and even -improved “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” (Alfred Knopf, $35).

The intervening 30 years have not done much for our appreciation of this rich and varied food culture, but we can only hope once again that this book can make a difference. Embracing the Islamic world from Morocco to Iran, it is the model for regional cookbooks, full of delicious, sometimes surprising recipes and, equally important, a deep affection for the people who cook them.

While it covers much of the same ground as its predecessor, it has been substantially rewritten, with a completely new introduction. In addition, many of the recipes have been nipped and tucked to fit contemporary tastes. “I love traditions and respect cuisines that have a past,” she notes. “But I do not wish to embalm them.”

The rewrite in Bruce Cost’s “Asian Ingredients” (Quill, $18.50) isn’t nearly so extensive. In fact, you have to look hard to notice it at all (mainly it seems to be confined to recipe titles: “Steamed Fish With Ginger-Coconut Sauce and Fried Shallots” rather than the previous “Steamed Fish With Coconut Sauce and Fried Shallots” is typical).

That’s hardly a fatal flaw, since Cost’s original book, published in 1988, was way ahead of its time as a comprehensive guide to the ingredients found in American Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian markets. Still, a real update including more information on Korean and Filipino ingredients is due from someone, sometime.