Kendra Vaculinīookshop Mother Grains by Roxana Jullapat I can't wait until I can make this special occasion dish (often served at weddings) for friends, cutting everyone big, golden, nut-and-raisin-studded slices. Best of all, though, was the perde pilavi, a Turkish rice pilaf wrapped in a blanket of yogurt-based pastry dough. I've loved everything I've made from the book so far, including some herb-studded and cheesy zucchini fritters and what she calls a 'sunshine salad'-a Cypriot potato, avocado, and tomato medley with halloumi. In particular, she takes care to tell migrant and refugee stories, which bolster and enrich the vibrant culinary tradition of the region. Centered around the Mediterranean, the book zooms in on Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey specifically, highlighting lessons from the home cooks and food lovers she met while researching the area. Ripe Figs is Khan's third cookbook, and in my mind it's destined for the same much-lauded-and-awarded status as Saffron Tales and Zaitoun. I know that sounds like a tall order-and even a little bit cliche-but somehow Khan manages to pull it off again and again, with depth, generosity, and a palpable love of listening and learning. Here is what Yasmin Khan does better than almost anyone: dive deep into the cuisine of a specific region of the world to create a compendium of recipes, stories, interviews, and stunning photos that transport you (with all five senses engaged) to that place. To Asia, With Love is out April 6 and available for preorder now.

Luckily, I doubt I’ll be far from To Asia, With Love for some time. It’s the kind of food I aspire to cook at home year round, but sometimes lack the know-how and motivation for. Lots of recipes are accompanied by plenty of options for toppings or fillings, key for anyone trying to feed a slew of demanding palates: for example, her jook has three optional vegetable garnishes with varying levels of spice, crunch, and savoriness, and McKinnon lays out a rainbow of dumpling fillings, which include combos like asparagus, mint, and feta, and lentil and cauliflower curry. The Buttery Miso Vegemite Noodles, all glossy and salty, get a sharp tang from a pile of grated cheddar cheese and come together in a minute. McKinnon has a special knack for food that’s excellent for families, but isn’t anywhere near dull. McKinnon, who grew up in Australia to Chinese parents and now calls Brooklyn home, calls the food third-culture cooking: “a cross-pollination of ideas and techniques that are grounded in my Chinese heritage, yet greatly influenced by growing up in the Western world.” In To Asia, With Love, I found a nearly greedy amount of those sure hits. Just make her miso-laced squash ramen or deliciously charred cabbage steaks and you’ll understand why that is. We cannot publish a Hetty McKinnon recipe without it winding up as the most popular recipe of the week. Crisp, turmeric-stained skin, juicy, yogurt-marinated meat, and a smear of garlicky toum, its bite softened by orange blossom water: this chicken somehow has it all. It’s hard to improve upon a simple roast chicken, but the Turmeric Chicken With Toum, conceived for an easy dinner party, might just edge out your fallback recipe. Bavel is based loosely around the chefs’ Middle Eastern Los Angeles restaurant by the same name-a place where our senior editor Maggie Hoffman says she “had one of the best meals of all time.” I say loosely because Bavel the cookbook gets much of its strength from the family recipes dotted throughout, the ones that sustain the chefs in their busy day-to-day life. Not so with Bavel, the latest cookbook by pastry chef and chef duo Genevieve Gergis and Ori Menashe, alongside writer Lesley Suter. Often chef’s cookbooks, while gorgeous, prove tricky and fussy for the home cook. Bavel by Ori Menashe, Genevieve Gergis, and Lesley Suter This list is the best of the season we're sure there's a book here that will help every cook find fresh ideas to cook their way through this spring. There are superlative baked goods, flavorful dumplings, and a crème caramel for one. These 11 books have no-nonsense weeknight stuff and the decadent stuff of future meals with friends. Below you’ll find the books that proved themselves in our kitchens-and got us excited to make dinner again. Right now even the most ardent cooks feel weary of their kitchens, so as we waded through this spring’s hundred or so new cookbooks, we were searching for inspiration.

My favorite recipes cookbook