Empanadas in Argentina. Tajine in Morocco. Chaat in India. Ramen in Japan.
Some years, your New Year's resolution might be to go eat one of these iconic dishes from far-off lands. But other years? Your resolution could be to tighten your wallet. Or eat out less. Or learn new recipes. And when that happens, it's cookbooks to the rescue.
A cookbook will never replace the thrill of travel, but it's certainly cheaper than an airline ticket. And if you pick the right cookbook, you'll find more than just recipes, but a solid grounding in a whole new way of cooking. Here are five of my favorite international deep dives to give you a fresh perspective for the New Year.





Made in India

By Meera Sodha
What cuisine is better suited for how people eat these days? Indian food is so versatile: it encompasses everything from meaty snacks to vegetarian feasts, from light salads the rich, vibrant curries. One thing it all has in common: it's packed with flavor.
Meera Sodha grew up in London, and Made In India is her approachable take on Indian home cooking. Indian food, she says, gets a bad rap for being overly complicated: "My family's home cooking is unrecognizable from a lot of the food that is served up in most curry houses...ours is all at once simple, delicious, and fresh."
Sodha's recipes are easy, often healthy, and, with a well-stocked Indian pantry (think: chickpeas, canned tomatoes, spices), a breeze to pull off without extra trips to specialty stores. You'll learn how to deploy spices to make everyday vegetable dishes sing, a ton of easy, a bunch of fantastic weeknight chicken dishes, and how to put lentils to work in dal.





The Food of Morocco

By Paula Wolfert
Despite its warm weather origins, Moroccan food is perfect for cold weather. A richly spiced meat stew with couscous: what more could you ask for on a chilly January weekend?
Renowned cookbook author Paula Wolfert made a career writing about the foods of the Mediterranean, and The Food of Morocco is her career capstone. It encapsulates a lifetime of traveling through Morocco, eating, cooking, and learning about its food.
The recipes run from intensive, all-day projects to simple snacks. You'll learn the Moroccan art of blending spices—similar and yet so, so different from Indian techniques—how to use a tagine, the lidded Moroccan cooking vessel made of clay, and how to make all kinds of Moroccan cookies and baked goods. It's enough cooking to last you all year.





Gran Cocina Latina

By Maricel Presilla
Think you understand the foods of Latin America because you make a mean taco? The cuisines that comprise the Caribbean and Central and South America are so much more intricate and varied than that. Why limit yourself to Mexican food when you can discover the ceviches of Peru, the pupusas of El Salvador, and the fresh corn tamales of Ecuador?
Maricel Presilla's immense tome documents all these and more: Gran Cocina Latina won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award when it came out, and for good reason.
It spends 900 detailed pages exploring the cuisines of this gigantic, vibrant, and delicious corner of the world. Standout lessons include the magic and art of the sofrito (the cooked-down base of garlic, onions, and peppers that is the foundation of so many Latin dishes), an entire world of braised meats, and thorough instructions on making all manner of tamales.





Japanese Soul Cooking

By Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat
Sushi is great, sure. But what do the Japanese eat when they want comfort food? When the wind's howling or the rain's pouring and they just want to curl up with a warm bowl of something? Think curries, tempura, dumplings, and lots and lots of noodles.
Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat's Japanese Soul Cooking take you into the kitchens of Japan, exploring home cooking, street food, and more. Whether you're looking for some healthy(ish) soba noodles or looking to sink into a deep bowl of sweet-spicy Japanese curry or want to try throwing a tempura party, they've got you covered.





Mamushka

By Olia Hercules
Eastern European means brown food, right? Wrong: Olia Hercules mines her Ukrainian background and the recipes of her extended family to show you how vibrant and bright the foods of this region can be in her cookbook Mamushka. Think vegetable soups—borscht!—roasts, and pickles.
And yes, okay, more dumplings and homemade noodles and cheesy breads and braised meats than you know what to do with, because come on. It's winter and it's cold out and you want some varenyky. Brown food is delicious, too.
Prepare to learn how to deploy sweet and sour flavors to savory dishes in ways you never dreamt possible, how to pickle all manner of produce, and how to fold enough dumplings to get you through the winter.

Souce : Epicurious