D.O.M. Rediscovering Brazilian Ingredients

It’s not every cookbook that includes a meditation on death, but Phaidon strikes again in its continuing effort to reimagine the genre. This time it calls upon Atala, a magic realist of a chef whose D.O.M. restaurant in São Paulo is one of the most important culinary outposts in South America, if not the world. He explores 45 Brazilian foodstuffs, and one universal state of nonexistence, in this captivating volume. For each ingredient, such as lamb, sea fish, or cocoa, there is a page of exploratory text, followed by a beautiful and brooding full-page photo, shot against a black background, followed by one or more recipes. Some offerings are absurdist. The instructions, in full, for ants and pineapple are, “Place a piece of pineapple on top of a serving dish and top with an ant. Serve immediately.” Others are significantly more involved, reflecting the chef’s classical training and obsession with Brazilian flavors and textures. There is sea snail with wakame and tangerine foam, lime, and banana ravioli, and heart of palm brandade with anchovies. Death makes its entrance between chapters on game meat and shellfish, three pages of text and 15 pages of photos that are as dark a paean to sustainable eating as one is likely to find, pointing out that, “We are, indeed, omnivores, murderers and selfish. We are human.” (Oct.)