What is it about new summer cookbooks? Maybe it's the way they come out in such feverish, lush abundance — like mushrooms after a rain — at a time when the world and all its folly are slowly grinding to a halt.
Summer cookbooks tend to fall into four categories: outside dining, fresh seafood, exotic dishes from warm-weather climates such as Mexico or South Asia, and icy treats. Taken together, they paint a picture of the good life, snatched from between the jaws of the workweek and the winter.
To me, the pleasures of summer eating have everything to do with what's going on outside. What's more romantic than an icy cocktail during the humid hour before the thunderstorm? What's more refreshing than the evening breeze off the water at sunset, fanning the flames on the grill?
This year's crop of cookbooks brims with sizzling charcoal, clinking ice, and the briny snap of the sea. All you need to do is add company.
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