★Latin-ish: More Than 100 Recipes Celebrating American Latino Cuisines. Marisel Salazar. Countryman. Aug. 2024. 264p. ISBN 9781682688267. $35. COOKING

James Beard Award judge, Michelin Guide contributor, restaurant critic, and food writer Salazar draws upon her family’s Cuban, Panamanian, and Peruvian heritage for her debut cookbook surveying the history and evolution of Latine cuisine in the U.S. Dividing Latine-infused offerings in the United States into seven different geographic sections—Tex-Mex, Southwest, Cal-Mex, Floribbean, Latino-Southern, NYC Latino, and Midwest Latino—the book serves up more than 100 recipes. Readers get recipes for everything from New Mexico breakfast burritos and Texas chili con carne to pan cubano and tres leches cake with cream-cheese frosting, not to mention culinary mashups such as Philly cheesesteak quesadillas. Need something to wash down the book’s nachos? Salazar includes recipes for drinks such as Texas Ranch Water and margaritas. Laid out in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format, each recipe includes a lively and informative introductory note that provides historical context and fascinating details about the dish itself. VERDICT A superb, marvelously informative introduction to Latine cooking and cuisine in the U.S., enriched with intriguing snippets of Salazar’s heritage and culinary journeys.