Cookbooks can take you around globe in your kitchen

If you want to take a walk on the culinary wild side but don’t have the cash for a major vacation, you’re in luck. There are scores of cookbooks dedicated to flavors from around the world. Here are some recent favorites:

Mark Bittman, the guy who wrote “How to Cook Everything,” has penned another ambitious-sounding tome, “The Best Recipes in the World.” He has put together more than 1,000 international dishes in the books 750 pages, everything from Spanish Almond Soup to Romanian Breaded Lamb Cutlets to Chinese Sweet Rice Flour Dumplings. And the best part? Bittman simplified the recipes so they’re accessible to the average home cook, while still retaining their authenticity. This book could keep a daring cook busy for years on a globe-trotting feast.

If your focus is more narrow, check out “How to Cook Italian,” the latest cookbook by Giuliano Hazan (he’s the son of Marcella Hazan, the “godmother” of Italian cooking in America). Hazan takes readers through the basics of Italian food preparation, before listing some 200 recipes including classics like Lasagne with Bolognese Meat Sauce, Bucatini with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Milanese Veal Chops.

Take a culinary tour of Spain with Anya von Bremzen’s “The New Spanish Table.” Her photo-filled book, which begins with a brief lesson on the country’s regions, includes recipes for tapas, soups, salads, eggs, empanadas, meats, seafoods, vegetables and desserts. Each recipe is preceded by a little story or bit of history about the dish. You’ll learn how Marmitako, Basque Fisherman’s Stew, got its name. And all about the origins of gazpacho. And why tapas bars are such a perfect fit for a social country like Spain. The book’s conversational style is like having a tour guide in your kitchen.

Paula Wolfert’s “The Cooking of Southwest France” has been re-released more than 20 years after its first publication. The new book has been revised, with 60 new recipes. These are authentic recipes with involved preparations and some hard-to-find ingredients, so don’t look to this book for quick, weeknight meals. But if you want to learn about slow-cooked cassoulet or rabbit compote or foie gras cured in salt, this is the book to turn to.