Publishers Weekly chooses Best Food Books of 2009

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When Publishers Weekly, the international news magazine of book publishing and bookselling, released its editors' picks for best US-published books of 2009 in October, five food books made the list. On November 9, the publication revealed an additional ten favorite food books of the year, plus honorable mentions, covering a wide variety of cuisines and cooking styles.

Amidst PW's original picks for best books of the year were the following food titles:

Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller (Artisan)
Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater by Frank Bruni (Penguin Press) Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, edited by Ruth Reichl (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes by Lidia Matticchio Bastianichand Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Knopf)
Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan (Clarkson Potter)

And, out November 9, a list of ten additional titles, plus ten honorable mentions:

Best "meat isn't everything" cookbook
Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and the Planet by Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond (Ten Speed)
Honorable mention: Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook by Laura Pensiero (Morrow)

Best "what do you mean, less meat?" book
Lobel's Meat Bible: All You Need to Know about Meat and Poultry from America's Master Butchers by Stanley Lobel, Evan Lobel, Mark Lobel and David Lobel (Chronicle)
Honorable mention: Morton's The Cookbook: 100 Steakhouse Recipes for Every Kitchen by Klaus Fritsch with Tylor Field III and Mary Goodbody (Clarkson Potter)

Best book for cooks who don't already own a Greek cookbook
How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis and Barbara Kafka (Little, Brown)
Honorable mention: Vefa's Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou (Phaidon)

Best virtual trip to the Big Easy
My New Orleans: The Cookbook by John Besh (Andrews McMeel)
Honorable mention: DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel (Taunton)

Best book about a not-so-obvious cuisine
The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast by David Leite and Nuno Correia (Clarkson Potter)
Honorable mention: Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen by David Sax (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Best "quick, homemade bread!" book
Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed)
Honorable mention: My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste (Norton)

Best handy reference
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman (Scribner)
Honorable mention: Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft by Lauren Braun Costello and Russell Reich (RCR Creative Press)

Best reason to get flour all over the kitchen
Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Wiley)
Honorable mention: All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted, and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered by Melissa Gray (Chronicle)

Best very useful cookbook
Salt to Taste: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking by Marco Canora with Catherine Young (Rodale)
Honorable mention: New Classic Family Dinners by Mark Peel (Wiley)

Best elevation of a classic cuisine
Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition by Barbara Lynch (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Honorable mention: Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition by Gerald Hirigoyen with Lisa Weiss (Ten Speed)

A complete list of PW's top books of 2009, along with reviews, is available at the Publishers Weekly website.

http://www.publishersweekly.com