Continued: Gourmet Today 

On one page, you’ll find tips for using leftover ham, elsewhere a sidebar devoted to “Some Favorite Sea Vegetables.” That tension between the everyday and the exotic keeps the content fresh, interesting, and comprehensive—you have all the recipes you need to get supper on the table Tuesday night, as well as for the swanky engagement party you’re throwing for your best friend. A large section of suggested menus (some with humorously unceremonious titles like Winter #3) shows you how to pair recipes for all kinds of occasions.

There are no photos, lest the book get so large it need its own wheelbarrow, but the definitive voice of Gourmet magazine stands in, with stylish confidence.

GIVE THIS TO: The urbane completist, the recipe forager—the cook with some ambition. —Ann Taylor Pittman