A great book should take you somewhere, and a great cookbook is no exception.

It was a tough job, but I whittled down my 2015 cookbook collection (OK, hoarder’s pile) to five favorites. If you’ve got a foodie on your Christmas list, or you’re looking for your own escape from the festivities, this list may come in handy.

Nilsson suggests up front that a lot of people will think the 767-page book is incomplete “simply because that very recipe or piece of information with which they identify themselves, the one that they feel is absolutely key for telling the story of their specific food culture, is not in there.” But the important thing, he says, is exposure to “a food culture that you