The Joy of Seafood: The All-Purpose Seafood Cookbook with More Than 900 Recipes

Chef Seaver (For Cod and Country) distills his vast knowledge of seafood in this encyclopedic work. Noting that today’s technology allows for frozen fish to be just as good as, if not better than, the fresh seafood in stores, Seaver shares the best preparations for over 100 species. Each entry opens with an overview of a species and its aliases (Acadian redfish is sometimes sold as rosefish or ocean perch), along with preparations —grilling, roasting, poaching, and others—and acceptable substitutes for when you can’t find a specific fish (e.g., jack and tilapia can be substituted for meaty grouper). There are 15 recipes for shrimp, 19 for oysters, 25 recipes that call for canned anchovies, and more than 30 for salmon. His selections are smart: fried haddock en adobo, halibut gravlax with dill, and sauteed sablefish with rosemary and Madeira wine. For down-to-earth comfort food, there’s also pasta with imitation crabmeat and fennel cream sauce, as well as a tuna melt and tuna casserole. This superb collection conveys Seaver’s experience, enthusiasm, and creativity. (Oct.)