Playing into the collector instinct of cookbook nerds, Quadrille created Alphabet Cooking. The encyclopedic series debuted last month with K is for Korean and S is for Sri Lankan and will continue releasing books not alphabetically, but by trending cuisines. M is for Mexican and C is for Caribbean will publish this fall.
The books are small (less than 9 inches tall) but with a distinct style: neon accents, sparse instructions and full-page, saturated photos on thick, matte paper. The 50 recipes cover classic and modern dishes, but with no headnotes (there is a small glossary of key ingredients), it’s hard to grasp the meaning and cultural connections from each country’s cuisine. But if food is the entry point to wanting to learn more about the world, this series is a good start.
(May 2017)
