Bright Cooking: Recipes for the Modern Palate

The aim of restaurateur Becerra’s ambitious debut is to teach readers new ways of flavoring nourishing foods, but while the recipes are certainly creative, for many they will be out of reach. The first section, titled “Elements,” includes sauces, pickles, stocks, pastes, and other pantry staples to be used in dishes featured in the following section. Her citronette (a citrus-based vinaigrette), for example, dresses both the collard green and peach summer salad and the shaved mushroom, dandelion, and petal salad. Becerra also lists uses for the pantry recipes that go beyond the book, noting, for example, that miso butter is tasty as a glaze for sauteed mushrooms. Salted cod puffs with green olive aioli are “a special apéro dish,” while salt-baked vegetables with cacao seed mix promise to be the “pièce de resistance” at any dinner party. Becerra writes with an experienced home chef in mind, asserting that readers should rely on their own intuition and not necessarily follow her recipes to the letter. It’s encouraging advice, but when so many of the recipes feel fussy and rely on difficult-to-source ingredients such as lion’s mane powder and uni, it’s hard to take it on board. Still, adventurous home cooks will want to try this out. (June)