• Fried Butter: A Food Memoir, by Abe Opincar (Soho, $18).

The landmarks and sites seen during the author's nomadic life in California, Kyoto, Istanbul, Tijuana and Paris are all edible, whether it's fresh garlic, tacos or fried eggs.

Opening line: "I baked a chicken the night I left my wife."

• Dining at the Lineman's Shack, by John Weston (University of Arizona Press, $17.95).

If this memoir is a little less food- packed than some, consider the impov- erished setting. The author lovingly re- calls his mother's genius at making din- ner out of nothing during his Depres- sion-era childhood in Skull Valley, Ariz. Opening line: "When the Palace reopened on Montezuma Street, the new owner served mountain lion barbacoa."

• Monsoon Diary: Reveries and Recipes From India, by Shoba Narayan (Villard, $24.95).

This volume reads like My Big Fat South Indian Wedding with a series of highly spiced family vignettes that always end with a tempting vegetarian recipe.

Opening line: "The first foods I ate were rice and ghee. I know this because my mother told me so."

John Lehndorff