5 of the best cookbooks for spring

ByNational Geographic Traveller (UK)

1. Monsoon by Asma Khan

The third cookbook from Asma Khan — chef and owner of London restaurant Darjeeling Express — is split into six sections, one for each of the Bengali seasons: the familiar four, plus monsoon and dry season. Cooking this way is intuitive for Khan, who grew up eating seasonally in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state. Starting with grishsho (summer), light dishes like courgette paratha give way to beef isthu (a mild beef stew) and pumpkin dal, before readers progress into the bôrsha (monsoon) and shôrot (autumn) sections. Monsoon also explores the six ayurvedic flavours — sweet, sour, bitter, tangy (astringent), spicy (pungent) and salty (umami) — and how to combine them during each of the seasons. Suggested menus incorporate an array of dishes: the ‘Winter Fuel’ selection, for instance, matches spicy, twice-marinated dahi murgh (chicken) kebabs with sour karonda aur khajur ki (cranberry and date) chutney and salty tawa (griddled) naans. Khan encourages readers to create their own seasonal menus, too, and covers techniques such as how to roast spices before grinding them and making ghee from scratch. £26, DK Red

2. Lugma by Noor Murad

Its title meaning ‘a bite’ in Arabic, this book combines anecdotes from Murad’s Bahraini upbringing and her stint in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen with a variety of Middle Eastern recipes. Vermicelli chicken soup is inspired by Bahraini cuisine, while charred courgettes with saffron, kefir and onions is a play on a classic Iranian dip. £28, Quadrille

3. La Cocina Vasca by María José Sevilla

Sevilla’s new cookbook offers insights into Basque culinary traditions and features well-known pintxos, including olive-anchovy-pepper gildas. Dishes like pastelón de morcilla — black pudding pie with pine nuts, sultanas and pears — offer a fresh perspective on the cuisine. £22, Ryland Peters & Small

4. Cook Korea! by Billy Law

In the former MasterChef Australia contestant’s new cookbook, Korean cuisine’s big hitters, such as bulgogi and bibimbap, rub shoulders with his takes on street-food staples, including pan-fried tteokbokki (rice cakes). Law also includes sections on kimchi and anju (food eaten with alcohol). £27, Smith Street Books

5. Caribe by Keshia Sakarah

In Caribe, British chef Sakarah draws on her heritage, sharing family recipes such as Uncle Jerry’s fish tea: her Montserratian relative’s soup with snapper, scotch bonnet and yam. She also explores the stories behind dishes such as Jamaican ackee and saltfish, and Guyanese-Chinese chow mein. £30, Hardie Grant