favorite cookbooks - multinational to old standby?

hey all. so, in the VERY near future I'll be cooking a whole lot more. I love cooking, so I'm cool with it. but, given that I've always lived in big cities, figuring out how to make my own buttermilk, for instance, has never been a priority for me. so I kinda need a book on the basics from when, well, you couldn't buy buttermilk on every street corner (or sourdough starter, resolve an altitude issue, etc.) a complete reference, if you will, to the classic recipes - from the simplest thing (timing a perfect hard boiled egg at 9k feet) to classic sauces (romescu, for instance - I hate that bourdain guy) to beef wellington (well, I know that one, but you catch my drift, I hope). my poor mother probably still suffers from when I found a recipe for baked alaska at the age of 8 and was determined to make it - thankfully, when we moved to miami, we found this awesome cuban restaurant that made this ghetto, yet way better version with fluff instead of merengue and a blow torch. but I digress.

I love a lot of global cuisine. I'd love to get 3 or 4 solid spanish cookbooks - new takes, old classics, true tapas (not the bullshit tapas books you find in bookstores obvi made for stupid americans), etc. I also love indian food - meat or veggie, ethiopian, korean, mexican (from all over, though I'm a bit hesitant about the west coast, just cause I've only been there as a tiny kid, not as an older child or adult. but I love stuff from the east coast - fresh seafood caught two hours ago and thrown on the grill in merida is a wonderful thing as are tamales in oaxaca), turkish/most middle eastern (minus the mystery spice that smells like vomit to me and makes me gag. can't describe it that way to someone's face as they're downing something that reeks of it so I renamed it especie gomito and claim to be allergic to it.), japanese - especially non-sushi stuff, though I do have a small addictive issue with sushi rice covered in those msg laden shaker thingys, and I adore freshly made, custard textured tofu. what else? oh! d'oh! obvi many regions of china (yes, I did mail myself an electronic rice cooker that will make me congee - can't live without the crack), vietnamese (!!!!!!!), maybe thai but I'm not dying for it. american southern, texas bbq and tex-mex are also interesting, though my grandmother, when able to access her memory, can help me with a lot of the southern, and my aunt or mom can help when she can't, so that works. and I can hack a beef brisket bbq once I figure out how to describe the part of the cow I need at the butchers. and tex-mex is also something I get from living there, but what if I can't remember the components to a certain dish? maybe northern mexican is better - need to know how to make machacado - I have a small addiction to that shit with eggs in a tortilla for bkfst. and maybe for contrast, some other carib books (sweet tea - I did email myself a copy of the doubles recipe you posted about on your blog and already have a great curry goat recipe) - but not of the hispanic varietal. I plan to pick dad's brain for the cuban recipes and stick with them. it's fufu, not mofongo!

I already mailed myself thru amazon a batali book and the jamie oliver at home book (mostly because he does a lot of outdoor wood oven and grill cooking that is kinda classic, what to do with a freshly shot quail, etc.) so I think between what I already have in my arsenal (sorry mario, I know you boil your potatoes for gnocchi but I like to bake mine with garlic and shallots and leave that all in the dough) I have enough to fill my italian and UK farm/organic cooking for a bit.

I'd say I want a veggie/vegan cookbook but that'd be a lie. I prefer eating food that isn't trying to imitate the texture of meat, so I'd rather get a tofu recipe from asians, etc. just my own thing. and J#### (fellow cuban) - I tried seitan again and seriously, the flavor, for whatever reason, is a bit noxious to me and I can't deal with it. I'd rather go without protein and drop dead than eat that stuff. seriously. and this was homemade by a vegan hippie expat from the pacific northwest.

so, if there's a go-to book for your favorite food that, for lack of a better word, is authentic (as in not modified for stupid americans who can't be bothered to figure out how to acquire, make or substitute ingredients on their own), please tell me about it. may not get them all first go-around, but will definitely keep the list handy. kinda what I mean is that, for instance, there's a lebanese place in quito that sometimes substitutes fresh peas for garbanzos in falafel and even hummus when garbanzos are scarce - they comprehend that fresh and local is better than moving heaven and earth to acquire an ingredient, and the results are slightly, obviously different, but equally simple, pure and delicious as the more "authentic" versions they can easily make in lebanon. so, I'm not looking for dumbed down - if I can't get my hands on mustard greens, in with the turnip greens, etc.

thanks!