Gift Guide 2019: We All Need Another Cookbook.

Sea Urchin Lumpias. Takoyaki Hush Puppies. Coffee-Braised Brisket. Shrimp and Okra Pancakes. Cilantro Rice Chicken Congee.

What do these recipe have in common? They're all featured in a wonderful new cookbook put out by the Vilcek Foundation, A Place at the Table.

If you don't know about the Vilcek Foundation, you should. Their mission is to honor the contributions made by immigrants in all fields. In 2010 they gave their first culinary award to Jose Andres. (Full disclosure: I was on the jury.) Jose wrote the foreword to this book; Padma Lakshmi wrote the introduction.

"The forty immigrant chefs profiled in this cookbook," writes Jose, "and the hundreds of thousand of immigrants who work in the restaurant industry around the country are key to making America - and American food - great."

The chefs hail from everywhere; you'll meet Corey Lee, Alon Shaya, Pichet Ong, Daniela Soto-Innes, Dominque Crenn and Emma Bengtsson. And many others. As for the recipes- they all sound really wonderful.

And did I mention that the book is beautiful?