Tasting the South was never so easy.

Bloomsbury (ENLARGE)

Jean Anderson (ENLARGE)

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Regional flavors led the way in several comprehensive food books this year, lending another shade of meaning to the foodie slogan du jour, "Eat Local."

Long-time Southern food experts compiled comprehensive, carefully tested cookbooks with a mix of classic and updated recipes. New Orleans chef Susan Spicer, owner of Bayonna and Herbsaint, published her first cookbook. An encyclopedia devoted just to Southern foodways arrived this fall.

Here are some of the notable cookbooks of 2007.

"The Glory of Southern Cooking" by James Villas (Wiley, $34.95)

Glorious, indeed. Imagine a Junior League cookbook that covers the whole South, with careful selections of classic, slightly uppercrust recipes. The nearly 400 recipes range from pimento cheese to Memphis-style barbecued baby back ribs, along with explanations of regional cooking basics such as frying, making a roux and baking tender biscuits.

Villas, who has explored similar territory before in "My Mother's Southern Kitchen" and "My Mother's Southern Desserts, " knows his home region well enough to include a chapter just on rice and grits. Recipes are clearly written and produce crowd-pleasing dishes.

"A Love Affair With Southern Cooking" by Jean Anderson (William Morrow, $32.50)

A rich resource for regional recipes and the culture of cooking from a longtime food writer and cookbook author. Everything we've tried from the book has turned out just right, from moist, sausage-stuffed mushrooms to a decadent pecan- and bacon-filled cornbread dressing.

Recipes are a mix of old and new, with chess pies, Bananas Foster cheesecake and a Vidalia onion gratin among the offerings. Directions are clearly written, recipes are tested and a source list for a few hard-to-find ingredients is included. Concise articles on Southern favorites like Krispy Kreme, Duncan Hines and Coca-Cola are engaging and educational, no easy task to pull off. Keep this one on the kitchen counter.

"Crescent City Cooking" by Susan Spicer (Knopf, $35).

The owner of New Orleans' Bayona and Herbsaint restaurants writes her first cookbook, an eclectic collection of Louisiana standards and her favorites from other cuisines, including French, Mediterranean and Indian. Recipes range from Creole cream cheese spaetzle to barbecued chicken salad with corn, avocado and creamy poblano dressing, and include menu perennials from both restaurants. Some are best left to a restaurant kitchen with a cold smoker to prepare; others are easily assembled at home, occasionally with convenience foods.

"Cooking" by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press, $40)

Cooking instructor James Peterson, already with a slew of cookbooks to his credit, produces a 540-page guide that covers the essentials and more. The comprehensive guide starts with basic cooking methods, explaining the key to deep-frying (serve it while it's hot, and don't worry about the fat: if done properly, it adds little); and providing insights into the simplest tasks, like selecting oils for vinaigrette. Where "Cooking" really shines, though, is in its step-by-step photographs of hundreds of tasks, from cutting up a whole raw chicken to filleting fish, peeling chestnuts and rolling flaky dough. It's an invaluable resource for new and experienced cooks.

"My Last Supper" by Melanie Dunea (Bloomsbury, $39.95) The cocktail table food book of the year, and a sure conversation starter. Photographer Dunea asked 50 well-known chefs what they'd choose for their last meal, snagged some of the recipes, and snapped them in telltale poses. Jacques Pepin, sublimely elegant as always, but with dreams of an extended going-away feast that includes hot dogs; Anthony Bourdain, bare and brazen; Lidia Bastianich, sporting pearls and a flamboyant hat made of dried pasta. Among the other famous names: Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Nobu, who admits to wanting Kenny G playing on CD during his final sushi meal.

"The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Foodways" edited by John T. Edge (University of North Carolina Press, $39.95)

Nearly two decades ago, "The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture" brought together scholarship and folkways in one immense, enlightening examination of forces shaping the South. For an update, the editors settled on a series of smaller volumes.

"Foodways" is a collection of essays, arranged alphabetically, from African-American foodways to wine. MoonPies and fish camps, lunch counters and Coca-Cola get their due, along with lengthier pieces on varying food traditions within the South. Contributors include a mix of academia and food writers.

"Fish Forever" by Paul Johnson (Wiley, $34.95)

Johnson is a fishmonger, owner of the Monterey Seafood Market in San Francisco and a supplier to such celebrated restaurants as Chez Panisse and the French Laundry. His extensive knowledge comes through in thoughtful discussions of choosing the healthiest, most sustainable seafood. You won't learn how to cook overfished species like Chilean sea bass here, but you will learn that sablefish is a sustainable alternative and you?ll get a detailed look at where it's harvested and how, what a fresh fish should look like and how to find it if your fishmonger doesn't stock it. Dozens of other varieties of sustainably harvested seafood gets similar treatment, including catfish, blue crab and wild salmon. Black and white photos; some color.

"Roast Chicken and Other Stories" by Simon Hopkinson (Hyperion, $24.95)

Few cookbooks capture so well the joy of cooking and eating as this slim volume from Hopkinson, a British chef and food columnist. "Food that tastes good lingers in the memory for all time," Hopkinson writes at the start of a list that includes his mother's meat and potato pie, homemade soup and a well-made Bloody Mary. Hopkinson being British, the list also includes a few foods not likely to whet the appetite of many Americans: black pudding and hot salted ox tongue with coleslaw among them.

Never mind the offal, though. Among the book's nearly 150 recipes are enough that will appeal to any hearty eater, from chicken sautéed in vinegar to petit pot au chocolat, described as "the richest little pot of chocolate you will ever eat." Irresistible.

"Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey" by Efisio Farris (Rizzoli, $39.95)

Farris was raised in Sardinia, and his love for his homeland and its food traditions shines through on every page. If you lived on this island in the Mediterranean, you served guests the best of what you had, and treasured hospitality, Farris writes. He shares that spirit here, while explaining the unique characteristics of Sardinian food (influences not only from Italian, but also Moorish, Catalan, Arabian and other cuisines).

There are ample color photos of the land and the food, with more than 100 clearly written recipes from Farris, now a Texas restaurant owner. Some call for ingredients like bottarga and bitter honey that can be tough to track down; a source list is included.