What To Give That Special Epicurean This Holiday Season. By Rebecca Cook IF YOU'RE BUYING a present for someone who loves the world of food, your task may be slightly easier this year, thanks to a bumper crop of new cookbooks. Here's a list: Unplugged Kitchen, by Viana La Place (William Morrow & Co., Inc., $25). Cookbook seems like too mundane a term for this publication--even the so-called recipes seem more like works of sculpted art than a cataloging of ingredients and methods. La Place celebrates food in all its sensuousness. Full of anecdotal reminiscences and social history as well as a few recipes that startle with a bright simplicity, this is a thoroughly readable volume. You'll probably find this book with the vegetarian offerings, but that's far too restrictive a category. This is for everyone who's ever appreciated the magic in a red, ripe tomato or a fragrant, velvet-fuzzed peach. Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, by Rick Bayless (Scribner, $35). Okay, I must admit to a certain dubiousness about any book professing to show the in and outs of Mexican cooking as practiced by a white guy based out of Chicago. It turns out, however, the praise coming Bayless' way is well deserved. For those who weren't born into this cuisine, it provides a thorough and helpful overview of everything you'll need to create authentic Mexican food in your own kitchen. Part of Bayless' charm is that he never presumes to be anything more than what he is--a passionate fan of Mexican cooking who, like many of us, is learning along the way. Lorenza's Pasta, by Lorenza De'Medici (Clarkston Potter/Publishers, $40). I'm always a little put off by cookbooks featuring only one kind of food. It's just too limiting. In this case, however, I had to make an exception. This is a gorgeous book offering many new ideas about pasta. Suggestions on foods that would best complement a particular pasta dish are very helpful. Superchefs, by Karen Gantz Zahler (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., $37.50). In doing the research for her book, Zahler made the rounds to some of America's top restaurants and observed first-hand the genius of the acclaimed chefs who worked there. Taking careful note, Zahler then adapted the recipes for the home cook and put together this beguiling book. There's something kind of thrilling about attempting to prepare a dish like Duck Confit Empanadas with wild mushrooms, golden raisins and kalamata olives. Following in the footsteps of the great ones is great fun. The World's Healthiest Foods, by Anne Marshall (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $45). This one is suitable for your coffee table. To assume, however, that the larger size and eye-catching photographs denote a book of aesthetic appeal only would be a mistake. Contained in these pages are tempting recipes from around the world. It's all lavishly illustrated, and written in such a way as to make it seem wholly within the realm of possibility that any of us would be able to reproduce these recipes. You wouldn't know it to look over the mouth-watering contents, but this book has the recommendation of the American Heart Association. The World of Jewish Cooking, by Gil Marks (Simon & Schuster, $30). For most of us, Jewish cooking has consisted almost solely of foods from Eastern Europe: knishes, chicken soup with matzo balls and noodle kugel. Marks, a rabbi and gourmet cook, enlarges the scope of that perception by introducing Jewish cuisine from every part of the globe, including Yemen, Ethiopia, Morocco and India. Interspersed among the many amazing recipes is the fascinating history of Jews around the world. For traditionalists, Marks has included all the familiar recipes as well. Vegetarian Times Vegetarian Entertainment, by the editors of Vegetarian Times (Macmillan, $27.50). I was inspired to try more recipes from this book than from any of the others. Moreover, the format of putting the contents into discrete, theme-based menus makes all kinds of entertaining easier, regardless whether you ultimately add meat to mix. Those familiar with Vegetarian Times already know how accessible the recipes are. For those new to cooking for your vegetarian friends, this book will give you everything you'll ever need to know in order to wow them. Four-Star Desserts, by Emily Luchetti (HarperCollins, $32.50). Luchetti makes an appealing argument for restoring not only our personal relationships but maybe even aiding world peace, all with a warm, gooey, vanilla-scented chocolate-chip cookie fresh out of the oven. She sees baking as a labor of love, something beautiful we give others to brighten their day and lighten their load a bit. It works for me. The chocolate recipes are particularly inspiring, but the book also includes a bundle of recipes featuring all manner of fruit. Have fun shopping out there, and be sure to stop by your local bookseller and pick up a cookbook or two for the chefs in your life. If they end up using any of the recipes from these books, you may be the one to receive the greatest gift.

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