5 stellar new spring cookbooks by John Ash, Andrea Nguyen and more

Fall has always been the season for cookbooks, but spring is now gaining on it, so to speak.

Dozens of titles start hitting our desktops as early as February offering everything from glossy, chef-penned cookbooks to unofficial Dollywood Theme Park recipes and a volume on cat-themed baked goods.

This quintet quickly rose to the top with their mix of delicious dishes and Northern California appeal — three of these authors are from Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Cruz. We hope they inspire some great cooking this spring and beyond.

Flavor +Us

After taking second place on the first season of “Top Chef Junior,” Oakland’s Rahanna Bisseret Martinez began staging at more than a dozen restaurants around the world, from Berkeley’s Chez Panisse — Alice Waters is a big fan — to London’s Ikoyi and New Orleans’ Compère Lapin. Somehow, the ambitious teenager also found time to pen a deliciously colorful debut with 70+ recipes, which lands in bookstores on May 16.

In “Flavor + Us: Cooking for Everyone” (4 Color Books; $30), Bisseret Martinez, now 19 and attending Cornell, shares how her multicultural upbringing (she has Haitian and Mexican roots) and meticulous ingredient sourcing influenced her love of global foods. Her “quest for culinary inclusiveness” — not just shopping at specialty grocery stores but learning the traditional cooking techniques from these foodways — is at the heart of recipes like Dungeness Crab Tinola, Miser Wot and Jerk Eggplant Steaks.

Bisseret Martinez’s enthusiasm for everything from infusing to pickling is palpable, especially when the recipes have personal meaning or stories behind them, like Curry Cabbage Steaks with Thyme and Red Pepper, a Jamaican-inspired dish the author’s mom has made for as long as she can remember, or Jalapeño Shrimp with Chard and Grits, a staff meal the chef prodigy made at Curtis Stone’s Gwen Butcher Shop & Restaurant in Los Angeles. It was one of the last meals she got to cook for a large group before COVID-19 hit.

Yogurt & Whey

Raised in Tehran, whey whisperer Homa Dashtaki spent summers in the mud-and-straw villages of Yazd, a desert province that is home to a large population of Zoroastrian farming families. Time there was dictated by seasonal crops, roaming sheep and festivals where traditional stews, rice dishes and especially sublime, homemade yogurt took center stage.

The act of making it — boiling, cooling, straining — became a comfort to Dashtaki and her family after they immigrated to the United States, joined an enclave of Zoroastrians in Southern California and began selling their yogurt at the Huntington Beach farmer’s market. Her cookbook, “Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life” (W. W. Norton, $40), is about that journey, the creation of their artisanal yogurt company, The White Moustache, and Iranian dishes both ancient and new.

The recipes are fantastic, and not just for mastering yogurt and using whey, the nutrient-rich liquid  extracted during the process, in everything from cocktails to pancakes. “Yogurt & Whey” is that rare balance of the traditional (Fesenjan, Kabab Koobideh) and deliciously modern (Persian Cucumber Whey Pops, Yogurt Marinated Fried Chicken with Saffron Honey). And it’s in those vivid, beautifully-written memories — slumbering on thatched rooftops under the desert stars, the collective haul of the pomegranate harvest — that this gifted debut author leaves her mark.

Ever-Green Vietnamese

Folks, the titan of Vietnamese cooking has gone veg. Well, not completely. But when James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Andrea Nguyen hit 50 and started feeling crumbly, she adopted a plant-driven diet rooted in Viet culinary and Buddhist traditions and noticed a positive difference.

In “Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea” (Ten Speed Press, $35), Nguyen sets aside beef-laden bowls of pho and pork-stuffed banh mi to create “savory depth and fun experiences” with vegetables, herbs, tofu and fish.

Like her last cookbook, “Vietnamese Cooking Every Day,” this one features air-frying and pressure-cooking techniques to cut down on time for healthy weeknight meals, like Fast Vegetarian Pho, and snacks such as Smoky Tofu-Nori Wontons. There’s a recipe for vegan fish sauce made with pineapple juice and two kinds of seaweed; and for versatile Umami Tofu Crumbles, a natural and inexpensive substitute for Impossible and Beyond. And pescatarians get a shout-out with a salmon version of shaking beef where the fish’s skin is baked into crisp chips. The book debuts April 25.

The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood

Looking for a MasterClass in seafood? This is it. Whether you’re bonkers for bivalves or looking to up your finned fish game, “The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood: Culinary Treasures From Our Waters” (Abrams Books, $40), due out May 23, is just the collection you’d expect from the leader in sustainable aquaculture. And what timing: This year marks Hog Island Oyster Co.’s 40th anniversary in the Bay.

Written by John Ash, the James Beard Award-winning chef and longtime Hog Island collaborator — he was named Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sustainable Seafood Educator of the Year in 2014 — it features more than 250 recipes (yes, including San Francisco cioppino) from Hog Island’s beloved oyster bars and other pescatarian-centric restaurants.

This book covers it all: seafood safety and fresh versus frozen; roasting, grilling, pan-frying and curing; and why visual cues (color, texture) are better cooking measures than counting minutes. Organized by category — think Cephalopods, Crustaceans and the Salmon Family — you’ll find reliable classics (Crab and Corn Chowder) and discover unexpected gems (Seared Scallops with Savory Vanilla Butter Sauce) in what is sure to become a dog-eared staple on your shelf.

Everyday Grand

What is joyful, stylish and loaded with Southern comfort food? Jocelyn Delk Adams’ March release, “Everyday Grand: Soulful Recipes for Celebrating Life’s Big and Small Moments” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50). We haven’t read a more positive, colorful or gratitude-teaching book — for cooking or anything else — in a long time.

With wit, wisdom and warmth, the beloved Black food blogger and author of 2015’s “Grandbaby Cakes” shares more than 80 Southern-inspired recipes for celebrating just about anything: the first day of school (Georgia Peach Salad with Candied Pecans and Cornbread Crouton, perhaps?), a new hair cut (we’re thinking the Turkey and Mustard Greens Enchiladas) or doing your taxes (definitely The Ultimate Mac and Cheese).

Along the way, she drops knowledge about Black culture regarding food and community, yes, but also about what it means to be an ally, for instance. And since this is a book about celebrating, you better believe there are desserts involved. Delk Adams proclaims her Salted Butterscotch Apple Whiskey Snacking Cake perfect for the start of fall — or just because.