MOM'S SECRET RECIPE FILE: More Than 125 Great Recipes by the Women Who Taught Our Great Chefs Everything They Know

This Mother's Day book is a marketing coup: what chef doesn't have a mother or grandmother who inspired him or her as a child? And who wouldn't want to hear those stories? That said, this collection transcends its own gimmickry. The chefs' anecdotes are truly engaging, telling of wise and clever female relations ("mother" is loosely defined) who fling wide the doors of their kitchens for their charges like fairy godmothers. These are simple recipes, for the most part—true comfort foods, as remembered by a chef's inner child. (The one predictable exception is Jeremiah Tower, whose idea of a user-friendly recipe is idiosyncratic: "Put a whole small and trimmed codfish that has been boned through the back à la Colbert into the pan.") Most of the recipes—especially Jasper White's Shrimp with Thyme Butter, Sylvia Woods's Biscuits, and Anthony Bourdain's Baked Macaroni—are can't-miss formulas. If there's a prevailing theme, it's belly-filling foods with big flavors, like Grandma Sarah's Lamb and Prune Stew from Rose Levy Beranbaum, or Rocco DiSpirito's Pasta for Breath Only a Mother Could Love. Styler presents the recipes one chef at a time, but a helpful index lists the recipes by course, which is more practical for a browsing cook. The best guarantee that this restaurateur's cookbook will actually be usable at home may be summed up in Joan Nathan's kind advice on making jelly roll cookies: "If you only have only 1 baking sheet, roll, fill, and bake the cookies in 2 batches." Agent, Kim Yorio. (Apr. 14)

Forecast: With national publicity with some of the contributors, print ads, and online marketing and publicity on cooking Web sites, this book has a good shot at being one of this year's top Mother's Day sellers.