THE AMERICAN REGIONAL COOKBOOK: A Treasury of Our Living Culinary Heritage

The Hawkins' big survey is far from flawless: the ""regionality"" of many recipes is pretty arbitrary, and there is a smattering of unhappy makeshifts (stuffed cabbage with a can of condensed tomato soup). But the collection as a whole is a real delight--from obvious but welcome standbys (vichyssoise, refried beans, hot potato salad, oyster chowder) to intriguing novelties (olive soup, a baked pork pancake, goose with hickory-nut stuffing and hominy), with a handful of historical curiosities for good measure.