THE L.L. BEAN BOOK OF NEW NEW ENGLAND COOKERY

Stylish, neatly judged recipes (about 800) from a pair of seasoned and graceful pros. Rightly acknowledging that the Yankee cooking of yesteryear butters few parsnips today, the Joneses search vigorously for what has replaced it--e.g., Greek adaptations like roast turkey with pinenut and rice stuffing, found in ""Daughters of Penelope"" club recipes in granite-ribbed corners of New Hampshire. They do abundant justice to both the traditional (Fourth of July salmon, creamed dried beef) and the new (dandelion tempura, nasturtium-radish goat-cheese spread). But like Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking (p. 1059), this whopping collection yields a somewhat troubling image of regionalism. Just because it is a far more intelligent book, it suggests how deeply the New England of today depends on restaurants, boutique ventures, and well-heeled, well-travelled weekenders for its culinary identity. Raspberry-tofu ice cream, ""Yankee Cheddar Enchilada Casserole,"" buckwheat pasta with crayfish, ham, and snow peas--well, as the Joneses say, ""It's a long time, indeed, since New Englanders have led provincial lives."" The recipes are clearly and concisely written, and interspersed with chatty sidebars on local specialties or miscellaneous historical gleanings. All in all: big, attractive, and very much of the contemporary gastronomic melting pot.