Cookbook Wish List

I love collecting cookbooks and I’m a sucker for the gorgeous photos. Here are a few that I really want to add to my collection.

• Food & Wine profiled Su-Mei Yu’s The Elements of Life in last month’s issue and I’m intrigued by the notion of combining Buddhist principles of cooking with the four components for a balanced life-Earth, Wind, Fire and Air.

• Roahl Dahl’s granddaughter can cook. And model, and be a television presenter, and be married to Jamie Cullum … not such a bad life there, Sophie.

• The highly anticipated book by Chef David Chang, published in the fall of 2009, is still on my wish list. While I’m a little late to the Momofuko party, I want this one.
• Thomas Keller’s newest cookbook on his Napa Valley Ad Hoc has a family-style focus that screams entertaining on the menu to me. Plus, I hear his fried chicken is last-meal worthy.

• Because you have to round out the meal with something sweet, I would love to try out some recipes in John Barricelli’s new release based on the delights from his Connecticut bakery.

• And last, but not least, Three Sheets cocktail book rounds out the list … loaded with drinking games, recipes and historical references sure to take you to from just plain annoying to know-it-all at status at your next get-together. The best part, a guy named Zane wrote it.