A Heide Harvest
Maximilian & Alice Crowe
A Heide Harvest invites you to spend a day in the life of the Heide kitchen gardens, with a foreword by Lesley Harding and menus to inspire you from breakfast to lunch and from there to afternoon drinks and beyond.
In 1934, when John and Sunday Reed purchased an acreage in Heidelberg, they had a vision of a bohemian artistic community living in harmony with the earth. The Heide gardens became a place where everyone contributed and heritage roses grew side-by-side with herbs and heirloom vegetables. It remains so today.
Inspired by the Reeds’ values of nourishment and communality, this seasonal cookbook features 90 original recipes from leading Australian chefs as they share their interpretations of and reflections on the Heide kitchen gardens. Alongside the recipes, each chapter delves into the history of the garden and charts the evolution of this dairy farm turned cultural institution.
Combining food, art and history, A Heide Harvest is an ode to Sunday’s kitchen and garden, and to the continuing legacy of Heide Museum of Modern Art.
The Spanish Mediterranean Islands Cookbook
Jeff Koehler
I do know some people who have been to this coastline and stuffed themselves silly on fish and salads, barbequed meats and rice dishes. Sadly, I have never been, but after reading this beautiful book, it is certainly on my destination list. Located off the Spanish Mediterranean coast, the Balearic Islands are renowned for their natural beauty, yet their cuisine has been largely underappreciated. That stops now. This book is mouthwateringly good: the photos are transporting, with delicious recipes listed alongside images of coastal drama. This book has easy-to-follow dishes of vegetables, seafood and local produce. It’s enough to make you want to grab your cane basket and head to the local food market immediately. Or perhaps, as it is for me, it is simply an enticement to begin saving my funds.
Cook Korea!
Billy Law
Billy Law is a treat of a cook. You might remember him from MasterChef, or you might read his infamous blog, or perhaps you simply have his first Malaysian cookbook. He has now turned his attention towards Korean food, and we are very happy he has done so. Billy Law is a gift to all of us not brought up on Korean dishes because his recipes are easy, they are fun, delicious and, most importantly, they are accessible. This book is filled with recipes of Korean barbequed meats and vegetables, or kimchi with a twist and deliberately bold flavours. This is the perfect cookbook for those who are tentatively making their way towards the wonders and delights of Korean food. Billy Law is holding our hands here.
Pranzo: Sicilian(ish) Recipes & Stories
Guy Mirabella
Oh, we are so happy to have a new cookbook by the wonderful Guy Mirabella. This celebration of Italian food is a pure delight. He uses his home in the Mornington Peninsula and his love of his grandkids as a backdrop to recount stories, memories and recipes from his Sicilian upbringing. And by doing so, captures something very pure and utterly wonderful about cooking for family. The recipes included in this book are vibrant, generous, and beautifully photographed with clear and unassuming instructions. The overall effect of this cookbook is of an artist’s journey through tables laden with food and wine, baskets filled with fresh produce, and stories that evoke long meals spent listening, laughing and sharing.
This is the book you buy because everyday beauty makes everything easier, because you have family and friends coming to spend a weekend with you and because, in the end, it all boils down to our senses: the smells, the colours, the tastes, the texture and, of course, the heartbeat.
Everything is Indian
Justin Narayan
This is a brilliant idea: a cookbook that is a plan of attack for adding more spice and more seasoning to everyday cooking. We all love the flavours of Indian food, but why are they not as routine in Australian home cooking as Italian methods or even Japanese? This book encourages you to look further. Justin Narayan invites you to take his family recipes and add a little something extra. There are no rules, he suggests, if it tastes great. Drawing on his Fijian Indian heritage and his multicultural upbringing, Narayan shares recipes that need a good going over. (Think Marsala with roast potatoes, cardamom in brownies, and the list goes on.) This cookbook is perfect for those who need a little encouragement to try something new and to have an adventure in their own kitchen.
The Food of Bharat
Helly Raichura
I bought my partner a voucher to the Carlton North restaurant Enter via Laundry for Christmas; yes, I know, a gift that gives twice. This cookbook will do more than that: it will change the way you eat. The Food of Bharat is a deep dive into India’s culinary history, exploring how Indian cuisine has evolved. Chef and true inspirational goddess Helly Raichura charts a course through thousands of years of culinary history and highlights recipes that are diverse, mouthwatering, and creative.
This book is not for the novice or the experienced, but rather for all of us who want to sharpen our senses, and produce a dish that celebrates our own location, alongside traditional Indian dishes. It is the type of cookbook you read from cover to cover and by doing so, you learn something new, something kind and good. Dare I say, something utterly transformative.
