cooks love books.

ellen rose, owner of the cook's library here in los angeles, recently gave us her recommendations on "good food" for the best cookbooks of 2006. if you're like me, i can't wait to give (or receive!) any of her choices. i've listed my top five wishes to start us off.

• soul of a new cuisine:a discovery of the foods and flavors of africa by marcus samuelson (interview here)
• what to drink with what you eat: the definitive guide to pairing food with wine, beer, spirits, coffee, tea - even wate by andrew dornenberg and karen page
• how i learned to cook: culinary educations from the world's greatest chefs by kimberly witherspoon and peter meeham
• arabesque: a taste of morocco, turkey, and lebanon by claudia roden
• crazy water pickled lemons: enchanting dishes from the middle east, mediterranean and north africa by diane henry

the rest:

• culinary artistry by andrew dornenberg and karen pag
• falling cloudberries; apples for jam and twelve: a tuscan cook book by tessa kiros
• sous-vide by joan rocca
• the improvisational cook by sally schneider
• the 150 best american recipes: indispensable dishes from legendary chefs and undiscovered cooks by fran mccullough & molly stevens
• harlem really cooks: the nouvelle soul food of harlem by sandra lawrence
• in search of perfection: reinventing kitchen classics by heston blumenthal
• cook with jamie: my guide to making you a better cook by jamie oliver
• michael mina: the cookbook by michael mina
• happy in the kitchen: the craft of cooking, the art of eating by michel richard
• life is meals: food lovers book of days by james and kay salter
• essence of chocolate: recipes for baking and cooking with fine chocolate by john scharffenberger and robert steinberg
• baking: from my home to yours by dorrie greenspan
• tartine by elisabeth prueitt
• at home with magnolia: classic american recipes from the owner of magnolia bakery by allysa torey
• buttercup bakes at home: more than 75 new recipes from manhattan's premier bake shop for tempting homemade sweets by jennifer appel
• the new york times dessert cookbook by florence fabricant
• the sweet life: desserts from chanterelle by kate zuckerman and tina rupp

the cook's library
8373 west third street
los angeles
323.655.3141

listen to the episode here.

photo credit: cohdra.