Modern recipe books irritate me: too large, too heavy and too few recipes, the close-typed recipe books of yesteryear replaced by monuments to food styling and photographers.
By chance I stumbled on The Little Bookroom, a New York publisher of quality little books. My first purchases arrived this morning.
Produced by the American Academy in Rome Sustainable Food Project, Zuppe is a delight -- full of recipes for interesting soups made from basic local ingredients and only 6" x 7-1/4" (sorry, I don't know what the measurement is in metric.)
The dustjacket even has "food spots" and a coffee cup ring on the back to add to the homely appearance.
The Little Bookroom also produces travel guides: tiny hardback volumes that can be slipped into a suitcase. I'm looking forward to enjoying Literary Paris this evening - after trying one of the soup recipes from Zuppe.
For those interested in web design the Little Bookroom's website reflects the Bookroom's ethos of minimalism. Lovely.