CHECK IT OUT

Can’t get away to that terrific trattoria or fabulous foreign bistro?

Do the next best thing with multicultural culinary adventures in your own

kitchen, launched by cookbooks from Newport libraries.

If you’re tempted by “a repertoire of simple, delicious and feisty”

dishes, check out the flavors of Jamie Oliver, England’s newest culinary

wonder boy, in “The Naked Chef.” Along with 120 recipes based on the BBC

television cooking show host’s philosophy of stripping down recipes to

basics, there are mouthwatering photographs of traditional English

favorites and international comfort foods in this hip approach to healthy

home cooking.

Venture deeper into Europe with “Italy Anywhere,” Lori de Mori’s

collection of Tuscan recipes that have been tested in Locanda Veneta, Ca’

Brea and her three other award-winning Los Angeles restaurants. The

American expatriate includes charming stories about grape harvests, the

proper way to cook pasta and aspects of Italian food in her new treatise

to a way of life that eludes most Americans.

For cooks interested in a cuisine that borrows from multiple culinary

traditions, Gerald Hirgoyen’s “The Basque Kitchen” features tempting

recipes from the Pyrenees. Illustrated with photos of regions and dishes

from both sides of the French-Spanish border, this offering from a Basque

native named one of America’s best chefs by “Food & Wine” magazine

celebrates the unique cuisine of a food-loving region.

If your idea of gastronomy extends to the Far East, look for a fusion

of Asian, American and European tastes in “Blue Ginger,” by popular

restaurateur and Food Network cooking show host Ming Tsai. Named Chef of

the Year by Esquire magazine in 1998, the Emmy Award-winning star serves

up innovative cross-cultural dishes and tips for working with unfamiliar

ingredients in his introduction to East-West cooking.

Learn how to combine other intriguing flavors with Corinne Trang’s

“Authentic Vietnamese Cooking.” Along with instructions for such classic

dishes as spring rolls and lemongrass prawns, find mail-order sources and

Web sites for securing hard-to-find items and personal anecdotes from a

food writer raised by a French mother and a Chinese father in this new

volume.

If the contrasting tastes of Thai cuisine appeal, check out “Cracking

the Coconut” by Su-Mei Yu, owner of San Diego’s Saffron Restaurant. The

sumptuous feast for both serious and armchair cooks includes a

fascinating look at the history and philosophy of traditional Thai

cooking.

After all this exotic fare, you may be ready for dishes more familiar

to most Southern Californians. Learn to prepare excellent enchiladas, a

magnificent Mango Cooler and fabulous flan with “Mexico: One Plate at a

Time,” the newest offering from popular chef Rich Bayless, featuring

traditional and contemporary versions of many favorites from south of the

border.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams in collaboration with

June Pilsitz. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by

accessing the catalog at o7 www.newportbeachlibrary.org.f7