Food from Northern Laos, the Boat Landing Cookbook , by Dorothy Culloty, Galingal Press. Since Phia Sing’s Luang Prabang royal recipes first hit print some 30 years ago prospectbooks.co.uk we’ve been anticipating a new book to cover the refined fare of Laos. While the ingredients pages here are helpful, albeit esoteric, the photos look more like an unappetizing anthropological text shot by an amateur, instead of an enticing cookbook. This also has to do with the authors focusing on minority ethnic cuisines of the area, rather than royal fare, let alone Lao.

Chilli and Cheese, Food and Society in Bhutan. Byt Kunzang Choden, White Lotus. There is scant published on Bhutanese cooking, but after hearing from a friend who recently travelled to this illusive country, little wonder. “It’s all chillies and fat” she decried. Nothing really wrong there, except a truly great cuisine needs infinite variety. So outside of feasting in landlocked Bhutan yourself – nestled between India and Tibet, near Nepal – this book is your armchair traveller experience.

Stories and Recipes from Vietnam. We have so many Vietnamese books (including one written by us!) and too often they are both impractical and less than enticing. Au contraire! This book, from Red Lantern’s chef in Sydney – and successful TV travelogue host as well -- has great recipes, a superb layout, and beautiful photography by Alan Benson and Suzanna Boyd. We’re cooking from it regularly.

Mosh Food. Be the first on your block to buy this tome of musicians’ favorite recipes. When we first proffered the book to adoring fans, they all screamed like groupies. With recipes from microwave popcorn with chocolate coated raisins (ex Ryan Roxie of Alice Cooper), to delightfully named “Motorheadbanger’s Hangover Pie” accompanied with humble Yorkshire pudding (ex Jackie Chambers, /Girlschool), and Satanic Burritos (ex Joel Grind, Toxic Holocaust), recipes range from facile to complex. Hot Rod Penis Loaf (Gen, Genitorturers) is actually spicy meatloaf New Mexican style, but Gen cautions against reshaping phallus to pudenda: “while it was equally tasty, the end result proved a bit disturbing and is not recommended, as the inner recesses tend to fill up with questionable-looking “juices” in a way that resembles a venereal disease.” Much more than one would expect from a cookbook! So is this the start of a fad? Country Western next? Send me the fry pan you score on. www.moshpotatoescookbook.com

What makes a non-cookbook enticing: good research. And what makes it even more tempting? Practicable recipes. Author Joe David has managed to incorporate both, in this cheery road book on travels across the US. We look forward to his future international editions

Put your money where your mouth is, goes the old refrain. So bravo to Thailand’s celebrity – and royal – Chef McDang for investing some 4 million baht/$135,000 to publish his book. Beautifully photographed, concise Thai cooking, this is the book for both professional foodie and home cook. Minor quibbles: stronger editing would help; it richly deserves an index to easily source recipes; and the excellent chapter on marinades and pastes would have been more manageable with ingredients run comparatively in same sequencing, to compare quantities. This is an excellent tome, richly deserving space on every kitchen shelf. But be aware: its more on technique, and less an anthology of Thai recipes. But after cooking from here, you’ll understand the basis of Thai flavors, plus why and how. chefmcdang.com