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It’s true, Ottolenghi has millennials in a chokehold but that doesn’t mean his recipes don’t live up to the hype. The chef brings middle eastern flavours into the mainstream, adjusting them to suit the time-poor among us. It’s a great option for dinner parties and feeding vegans and vegetarian without needing to buy costly and harder-to-find dietary alternatives. This book has things separated out with vegetarian dishes and meat dishes listed separately \u2013 and each recipe is labelled with an index: S = Short on Time. I = Ingredients: 10 or fewer. M = Make ahead. P = Pantry-led. L = Lazy-day dishes. E = Easier than you think.<\/p>\n
Recipes to try first up:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carter Were’s cooking is unpretentious and homey \u2013 heaps of veg-heavy dishes and hearty dishes that the whole family will love. From their home in Byron Bay, these indie recipe books have been flying off shelves \u2013 so we’d highly advise getting in quick when there’s another drop. The recipes themselves are basic and simple \u2013 the perfect way to effortlessly start cooking some new things without the effort of a heavy grocery shop beforehand.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another local legend, Bouhadana headed up Melbourne institution Hope Street Radio <\/a>until last year, famed for her perfect, salty, soft focaccia and intuitive approach to Mediterranean cooking<\/a>. I was lucky enough to be gifted this book by a friend earlier this year and have already had my first attempt at recreating her focaccia \u2013 and while I still have a ways to go before I rival Bouhadana’s own, the recipe is pretty do-able with some patience and practice. Her pasta recipes and salty snacks are also A+ for a weekend dinner. Her writing on its own is beautiful enough that I read this one like a novel, cover to cover.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alison Roman has quickly become a household name in the culinary world, and her recipes cult-favourites among those who know a thing or two about food.\u00a0Nothing Fancy\u00a0<\/em>is her guide to hosting without the fuss, from Caramelised Garlic on Toast with Anchovies (Nigella’s fave from the book) to her viral Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s probably not considered a classic just yet, but I now have two of Ixta’s cook books in my possession and they are both resoundingly EXCELLENT. Equally as flavourful, full of hacks and originality as anything from Ottolenghi or Roman \u2013 Ixta is one of my new favourite cook book writers. This Mezcla book in particular reimagines Spanish ‘fusion’ cooking with some foolproof techniques and inventive ingredient combinations.\\<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This one came out literally a week ago, but if you’ve followed the restaurant’s Instagram for a while now, you’d know just how exciting this is. The restaurant is so inventive, seasonally led and flavourful beyond belief. They start with fizzy cocktails and nibbles, signature dishes \u2013 like their fried ribbons of chickpea batter \u2013 as well as breads, soups, salads, pastas, mains, and contorni. Of course, for dessert they also have their classic flourless chocolate cake recipe, as well as a selection of variations on their rich ice cream custards and bright sorbets.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Few of us are immune to the charms of what was once the\u00a0Bon Appetit\u00a0<\/em>test kitchen crew, and one of those gems was the inimitable Molly Baz. She’s since gone on to spawn not one, but two best-selling cook books \u2013 of which, I have this one. ‘More is more’ is basically the Baz cooking motto \u2013 that and having to give everything a shortened nickname just because (you won’t stop calling mortadella ‘Morty-D’ after you’ve read this one). But while these recipes are for the most part, a little more involved, they are worth it for the full force of FLAVOUR that ensues.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Salads are still severely underrated as a dish in a home chef’s repertoire (in my humble opinion). It’s a dish often overlooked and under-dressed. But Alice Zaslavsky has created what I would deem the ‘salad bible’. It’s veg-forward and somehow works across seasons (salads can still be comfort foods as it turns out). These are great to make in bulk and use alongside your weekly proteins of choice.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mark my words, this one’s set to become a modern classic. If you haven’t already fallen for First-generation farmer and chef Julius Roberts’ cooking videos online (his TikTok recipes are incredible), then you may have spotted his debut cookbook in this vibrant golden hue. In it are plenty of hearty, veg-heavy recipe for soups and pastas broken up by seasonality (spring, summer, winter, autumn), which is a great lesson on making the most of produce when its in season.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Clementine Day was my cooking north star during COVID lockdowns, when she began to post her daily culinary adventures to her now-booming Instagram @somethingsiliketocook<\/a>. If you’re unfamiliar, Day is an intuitive cook who spends her days baking incredible cakes, churning homemade ice cream (in a variety of fun flavours like Sumac Stewed Plums and Bread and Burnt Butter), or making delicious veg-forward meals and fruit-forward granola bowls. Copies of this book were pretty limited \u2013 but if you’re lucky you can chase down one of the remaining copies at a stockist.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A woman that needs no introduction. Julia Child is famed for having introduced the Americans to authentic French cooking but this book is not for the faint of heart. She’ll make you work for it. So if you’re not prepared to follow the three pages worth of instructions to conjure up her boeuf bourguignon<\/em>, then this cookbook will be more aspirational than practical. That being said, it is a classic and your kitchen will be all the better for it. Just leave yourself enough time and a glass of wine to get started.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a Greek girl, this one feels like the most authentic thing after my own hand-me-down recipes from my Greek grandmother. The Yiayia’s of Greece have offered up recipes from their personal rolodex \u2013 an offering not to be overlooked. Whether making Yiayia Sofia’s Milppitakia or Yiayia Evangelia’s beef Pastitsada from Corfu. Some recipes are more involved than others, but all are a mainline to the homeland.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So you’ve graduated from the school of gentle cooking and want to sink your teeth into something with funk? Look no further than\u00a0The Noma Guide to Fermentation.\u00a0<\/em>Highly technical, this manual will take you far beyond the realm of kimchi and sauerkraut and into the territory of lacto-fermentation and koji. Although it shouldn’t be intimidating \u2014 everything you need to know is clearly explained in the cookbook and reflects the techniques and knowledge employed at the three Michelin-starred restaurant.<\/p>\n Recipes to try first up:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trade in your apron for a napkin and settle in at our favourite fine-dining restaurants in Sydney<\/a> and Melbourne<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\n
2. The Shared Table<\/em><\/a> by Clare Scrine<\/h3>\n
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The best kind of cooking is uncomplicated and fuss-free. For all who subscribe to this belief, then your cookbook collection isn’t complete without Brisbane foodie Clare Scrine’s\u00a0The Shared Table.\u00a0<\/em>A bible of sorts for Brissy sharehousers, this book is all about cooking for your home’s small commune \u2013 simple, cheap, large portions and crowd-pleasing vegetarian dishes. I can honestly say I’ve made almost every recipe in this book at some point or another, and have never had a mishap. Scrine’s instructions and ingredients lists are relatively fool-proof. She’s also got a follow-up called The Shared Kitchen\u00a0<\/em>that’s well worth checking out too.<\/p>\n\n
3. Carter’s Cookbook 2<\/i><\/a>\u00a0by Carter Were<\/h3>\n
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4. Ellie’s Table<\/em><\/a> by Ellie Boudhana<\/h3>\n
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5.\u00a0The River Cafe Cookbook<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Ruth Rogers<\/h3>\n
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No cook book collection is complete without Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers tome The River Cafe Cookbook \u2013 <\/em>one that is at the very top of my to-buy list. I nearly picked up a copy in London after visiting their famed restaurant along the river Thames, but thought better when I remembered how full my suitcase was already. Titled after\u00a0the iconic\u00a0London institution, one must ask if there is any cuisine equally as rewarding and simple in its essence than Italian? From three-step blood orange\u00a0sorbet to ricotta al forno, the only answer is no.<\/p>\n\n
6. Nothing Fancy<\/em><\/a> by Alison Roman<\/h3>\n
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7. MEZCLA<\/a><\/em> by Ixta Belfrage<\/h3>\n
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8. The King Cookbook<\/em><\/a> by King New York<\/h3>\n
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9. More Is More<\/em><\/a> by Molly Baz<\/h3>\n
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10. Salad for Days<\/em><\/a> by Alice Zaslavsky<\/h3>\n
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11. The Farm Table<\/em><\/a> by Julius Roberts<\/h3>\n
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12. Coming Together<\/em><\/a> by Clementine Day<\/h3>\n
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13. Mastering the Art of French Cooking<\/em><\/a> by Julia Child<\/h3>\n
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14. Yiayia<\/em><\/a> by Anastasia Miari<\/h3>\n
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15. The Noma Guide to Fermentation<\/em><\/a> by\u00a0David Zilber and Ren\u00e9 Redzepi<\/h3>\n
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