Borrowing a Page (and Recipes) From Cooks in Hot Climates
THE cookbook publishers certainly got it right this time.  Food from steamy southern India, the sun-baked American Southwest, the torrid Arabian deserts and the entire Mediterranean basin from the Costa del Sol to North Africa might just whet the appetite when temperatures soar into the 90's.
Five new books explore some or all of the Mediterranean region; all were started two to five years ago as the health benefits of a diet based on olive oil began making headlines.
THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET COOKBOOK by Nancy Harmon Jenkins (Bantam, $27.95) roves the region, presenting flavorful dishes with lively introductions that add the romance of place. Cooks unfamiliar with the food of Lebanon, say, or Turkey, need not worry about arcane ingredients. Sumac, available in Middle Eastern stores and from spice emporiums, is about as esoteric as it get. Preparation is rarely complicated.
Vegetables and grains dominate the recipes: a potato gratin made with olive oil and broth, cauliflower baked with a "veil" of cheese, a Tunisian chickpea and vegetable stew and lentil and green olive salad.
A nutritional breakdown follows each recipe, revealing fat levels of more than 30 percent in some. Ms. Jenkins says that level is typical of the region and supposedly does not diminish the cholesterol-lowering effectiveness of the diet.
The book contains much of the information about olive oil and Mediterranean eating habits that was presented at a conference at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1993. The conference was co-sponsored by Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust, a nonprofit educational group.  Ms. Jenkins helped found it, and it receives considerable financing from the International Olive Oil Council, a trade group. Ms. Jenkins's enthusiasm for olive oil is such that she insists "butter is NEVER on the Mediterranean table."
THE COOKING OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN by Paula Wolfert (HarperCollins, $30) is a result of five years of travel, testing and tasting, but it has no dietary agenda. Many of its 215 recipes are based on grains, vegetables and olive oil, so they fit the Mediterranean diet prescription. They are enhanced by Ms. Wolfert's alluring stories of the people responsible for the dishes she describes. On her odyssey, she pried culinary secrets from good cooks and then set about adapting them with as little compromise as possible.
The meticulous recipes bear careful reading and tending. Do not plan to whip up a Syrian dinner or a tasty Greek repast on short notice. This is food made mostly by women whose responsiblity is to care for the home and table. Muhammara, a Syrian red pepper spread with walnuts and pomegranates, starts with this advisory: "For best results, make the recipe at least one day in advance."
The ingredients in a number of recipes require careful trimming, soaking, marinating and such, but the results are worth it. Vegetarian kibbe is a relatively simple dish. Turkish mixed vegetables or kofte and eggplant with two sauces are irresistible and relatively uncomplicated. A superb Lebanese rice pilaf is cooked with a potato crust.
THE ARABIAN DELIGHTS by Anne Marie Weiss-Armush (Lowell House Global Gourmet, $25) covers some of the same territory. The author, an American who lived in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, describes the highly perfumed food of the Arab world, the affinities that link the countries and the tastes that distinguish them. Where appropriate, she tells of variations that can change the personality of a dish like the savory "Grandmother's potatoes" from Syrian to Kuwaiti, Lebanese or Andalusian. She also offers linguistic asides to explain the names of dishes and ingredients.
Fish fillets with honey and raisins, some marinated grilled shrimp dishes and steamed zucchini with chermoula sauce are fine for summer.
FROM TAPAS TO MEZE by Joanne Weir (Crown, $27.50), takes a look at the little savory appetizers that are so popular throughout the Mediterranean world. It also offers soups, salads, risottos and enough vegetable dishes to make a meal.
The book is divided by country.  Though the recipes could be more precise, the author has a good palate and produces dishes that are well-seasoned. Spanish wilted greens with raisins, pine nuts and fried bread were excellent. But the shrimp and green onion pancakes were not as crispy as they should have been, and the recipe also made twice as many as the yield stated.
Moving to a narrower Mediterranean area is LULU'S PROVENCAL TABLE by Richard Olney (HarperCollins, $30) the loving story of Lulu Peyraud, an inspired cook who, with her husband, Lucien, owns Domaine Tempier in the French town of Bandol, near Marseilles. It is part biography, recorded by Mr. Olney, a neighbor and friend of the Peyrauds; part celebration of Provence, and part recipes that were caught in the market, in the kitchen as Lulu cooked and at the table as the appetite-whetting colors, aromas and flavors were laid out.
The sumptuously custardy apricot clafoutis, the sauteed artichokes and potatoes and the eggplant and tomato confit are invitingly straightforward. But the bouillabaisse goes on for more than a dozen pages, and some rabbit recipes are only for determined cooks. Adding to this book's appeal is its elegantly spare design.
Other fine books this season include ISMAIL MERCHANT'S PASSIONATE MEALS (Hyperion, $27.50). Years of living and working in Italy, England and America have tempered the tastes of Ismail Merchant, the Indian-born movie producer and director, who is indeed a passionate and inventive cook. He infuses Western dishes like spaghetti or turkey stuffing with Indian spices, sometimes only a touch of chili or extra pepper.
But when Mr. Merchant goes Indian, as in the fish curry, the braised eggplant or the sauteed okra, he does so with both spice barrels blazing. His Indian food is mighty hot, though it mellows as it simmers. And he never mentions the Mediterranean diet.
DAKSHIN: VEGETARIAN CUISINE OF SOUTH INDIA by Chandra Padmanabhan (Thorsons, $26) is more exotic by far, with lavish photography. It covers sambars (thick soups), rasams (thin soups), poriyals (dry curries), snacks like idli and dosai, plus salads, seasonings, chutneys and other dishes from a vibrant cuisine rarely experienced outside India.
But once the pantry is stocked with spices and grains, the rest is not very complicated. Many of the dishes take on a bit of crunch from the sizzled spices and lentils that are added in typical Indian fashion just before serving. And it is certainly worth including the fragrant tomato rasam in the summer repertory.
BOBBY FLAY'S BOLD AMERICAN FOOD by Bobby Flay with Jean Schwartz (Warner Books, $34.95) offers snappy Southwestern food from Mesa Grill, the Manhattan restaurant where Mr. Flay is chef. The recipes vary from delicious (chorizo and goat cheese quesadillas) to disastrous (soupy peach and blueberry cobbler with leaden topping that seems to lack leavening). The spicy mango glaze that does wonders for grilled tuna steaks can be prepared only with difficulty because the caramel hardens once it cools.
Mr. Flay's food often depends on salsas and relishes for its boldness. But frequently the yields for the condiment recipes do not match the amounts needed. The blue corn-fried chicken salad calls for three-quarters of a cup of cayenne buttermilk dressing, but the recipe for the dressing makes only half a cup.
Every now and again, a cookbook comes along that is certain to find a permanent place in the kitchen. Such is MARK PEEL AND NANCY SILVERTON AT HOME: TWO CHEFS COOK FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS , in collaboration with Edon Waycott (Warner Books, $24.94). It is a collection of relatively uncomplicated recipes for mostly hearty, straightforward food. But experienced cooks should not dismiss this book out of hand.
Savvy touches elevate the home cook's technique. Like whipping the egg whites for a chocolate souffle cake with enough sugar to give them a meringue-like consistency, guaranteeing the success of a delectable cake. Or soaking a tenderloin of pork overnight in lightly salted water and spices before roasting to produce the most succulent results imaginable (although the roasting time, 30 minutes, could be a tad longer).
THE ART OF QUICK BREADS by Beth Hensperger (Chronicle Books, $29.95) is more than just a pretty book. Tender, buttery pecan coffee cake, lemon-poppy seed bread and chocolate shortcakes that beg for berries and cream are just a few of the fine recipes in a book filled with sun-drenched photographs. Most recipes are for sweets, but there are some savories, like cornbreads.
FISH: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUYING AND COOKING by Mark Bittman (Macmillan, $27.50) mirrors the encyclopedic, authoritative approach the author takes as executive editor of the magazine Cook's Illustrated.  The book has some 50 pages of sound and up-to-date basics on purchase and preparation, and it is organized fish by fish, with chapters and recipes on 72 varieties.
One recipe is for tuna steaks stuffed with arugula, ginger and mustard before grilling.
Still, "complete" is in the eye of the beholder. People in the Midwest who like whitefish and walleye will be disappointed. These fish are not included.
KITCHEN BOOKSHELF