2014 was a year for far-away cuisines to take up residence in U.S. kitchens — cookbook authors cast their nets for flavors from Paris, the Middle East and Southeast Asia; from the ancient spice routes and every point in between.
Meanwhile, the food world’s leaders struck out in unconventional directions, and some of the year’s most interesting books stray far from the glossy, aspirational approach we’ve come to expect from the big names.