- View More Images from this story View and ORDER more photos.

'¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge,' 'Fish on a First-Name Basis' perfect summer cookbooks

Date published: 8/13/2006

By CHARLES BORST

Summer is by far my favorite season in the kitchen. Produce of all variety abounds at the market. Fresh-caught fish, crabs and shellfish tempt the eye, mouth and wallet.

Granted, food of this sort can make for great eating with little or no embellishment, but two recently published cookbooks, "Fish on a First Name Basis" and "¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge," emphasize seasonal cooking and expand culinary skills. That the two books' recipes for summer's bounty can be fearlessly mixed and matched only adds to their attraction.

If, like me, you've ever wondered what makes a "jumbo shrimp," or if it is really safe to eat an oyster in a month that doesn't end in the letter "R"--as well as how to properly prepare these and other seafood treats--then "Fish On A First-Name Basis" by Rob DeBorde will make a valued addition to the kitchen. At just under 200 pages, the well-illustrated paperback combines useful facts, secrets and great recipes for 18 different fish and shellfish ranging from salmon to squid to Patagonian toothfish, aka Chilean sea bass. The very readable chapters are broken down into the background, biology and history of the each species, followed by preparation and recipes. As the author explains, this education can be a good thing: "Will knowing that catfish have taste buds covering every inch of their bodies really make your dinner taste better? Yes. Yes, it will. (And if it doesn't, it'll at least make you more fun at parties.)"

This irreverent, yet instructive "cooking should be fun" tone found throughout the book will be very familiar to anyone who watches Alton Brown on television's Food Network, for DeBorde is a staff writer for Brown's shows. As a TV writer, DeBorde is also practiced at keeping his audience's attention: His light and informative touch with the science really does help the reader appreciate the accompanying recipes.

¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge By Deborah M. Schneider, Maren Caruso (Rodale Press, 274 pages, $27.95) Fish on a First-Name Basis Rob DeBorde (St. Martin's Press, 214 pages, $24.95)

Date published: 8/13/2006