Compared to the relative intimacy of a recipe book a computer based search (or worse, probably, an Internet search) seems sterile in comparison.
The answer might be somewhere in web 2.0 land though. Would you trust the recommendations of friends more than those on your bookshelf? Could the software learn what you like and come up with better selections in future? Solving this problem might require an understanding of just what it is in any given dish that characterises it and thus appeals or not to any given consumer. Analysing those characteristics could provide an excellent basis for a recommendations engine.