Paper Palate

Is it me, or does it seem a little early for “best of ‘07″ lists to be coming out?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly a fan of them, but they usually start trickling out in the beginning of December, which makes sense, not in June, which is when Food & Wine magazine listed their round-up of the 25 best cookbooks of the year.  Moreover, none of these cookbooks were published this year.  Most were published last year, with at least one from 2005, further adding to the curiosity to their timing.  In any event, here’s what they liked:

TV Stars

Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten
Giada’s Family Dinners by Giada De Laurentiis
How to Boil Water by Food Network Kitchens
Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver
The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

Chef Showcases

Big Small Plates by Cindy Pawlcyn
Braise by Daniel Boulud
The New Greek Cuisine by Jim Botsacos
The Red Cat Cookbook by Jimmy Bradley and Andrew Friedman
Sparks in the Kitchen by Katy Sparks
Spice by Ana Sortun

The Global Perspective

Baja! Cooking on the Edge by Deborah M. Schneider
The Food of France by Sarah Woodward
The Food of Northern Spain by Jenny Chandler

All-American

The Good Home Cookbook edited by Richard J. Perry
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt and Ted Lee
Lobel’s Meat and Wine by Stanley, Leon, Evan, Mark and David Lobel
Stonewall Kitchen Favorites by Jonathan King, Jim Stott and Kathy Gunst

Italian

A Ligurian Kitchen by Laura Giannatempo
Biba’s Italy by Biba Caggiano
Cucina of Le Marche by Fabio Trabocchi
On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen and George Germon

Dessert

The Cake Book by Tish Boyle
The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and John Steinberg
Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters by Marilyn and Sheila Brass