cookbooks

A lot has been said about the joy of cooking, but what about the fury? A host of new cookbooks right now aim to help cooks pound, grate and shred their feelings about the state of the world.

Wes Avila is leading a new wave of LA chefs: children of immigrants, classically trained in French cuisine, who blur the lines between high and low. His acclaimed food truck now has a cookbook.

A visit to Ann Arbor wouldn't be complete without a trip to an eatery that bears the famous name. And the mouthwatering, no-nonsense recipes are designed to entice even novice bakers into the kitchen.

The Arizona chef, widely regarded as the father of the modern artisanal pizza movement, weaves threads of memory, tradition and family in a book that reflects his evolution as a chef and restaurateur.

At the turn of the 20th century, when access to professional care was spotty, many cookbooks served up recipes for the sick — some (brandy) more appealing than others (toast water).

Princess Barbare Jorjadze is renowned for her cookbook. But she spent most of her life writing letters, poems and essays, to fight for a greater public role for Georgian women.

Foxfire started as a class project at a Georgia high school in the '60s, but soon became a magazine, then a book, and even a way of teaching about the region's simple, self-sustaining way of life.

The cookbook Nothing Fancy, first published in 1984, has just been re-released — and is the closest thing to a memoir that the formidable "Julia Child of Mexico" has ever written.

Food and surrealism make bizarre bedfellows in Les Diners de Gala, first published in 1973. Now, you can get a reprint of those recipes and illustrations — and a peek into his legendary banquets.

Behind bars, it takes ingenuity, other prisoners and a little help from the commissary to approximate a proper diet. That's what rapper Prodigy of hip-hop's Mobb Deep learned after going to prison.

Ansel Adams' poached eggs. William Eggleston's cheese grits casserole. Four decades after being hidden away in a museum, a collection of images and recipes from famed artists finally sees the light.

The legendary Cosmo editor, subject of two new biographies, knew sex sells – and food brings in ad money. She cannily combined them with features like "After Bed, What? (a light snack for an encore)."