Whet your appetite with great food writing
From world-renowned chefs to foodies with a passion, these tantalising page-turners are captivating reading – regardless of whether you're a home cook that throws lavish dinner parties, or are still working on how to boil an egg properly . . .
A Bit on the Side by Virginia Trioli
Virginia Trioli knows that enduring joy is often found not in the big moments but in the small. And as a dedicated, almost obsessive, foodie, she believes that food gives us the perfect metaphor for how to seek, recognise and devour the real flavour of life.
When the main course is heavy going or unappetising, the 'bits on the side' make life really delicious. The sweet and the sour; the salty, the bitter – our small, meaningful selections are the ones that make life glorious.
Kitchen Sentimental by Annie Smithers
In her new memoir, respected chef and paddock-to-plate pioneer Annie Smithers answers the question she is asked most often: why cook?
Annie takes us on a journey through every significant kitchen in her life, both domestic and professional, sharing with engaging honesty her personal development, her surprisingly complex relationship with food, and the lessons she has learned along the way to find her culinary niche at the famed du Fermier restaurant in country Victoria
Raised by Wolves: A Memoir with Bite by Jess Ho
Jess Ho emerged from their childhood, growing up in a dysfunctional family that only ever made peace over food, with two important traits: a major psychological complex, and a kick-arse palate. Both would help them fit right into the messy world of Melbourne’s food scene.
In hospitality Jess found their new family, who shared their lust for life and appetite for destruction. As the Australian food scene exploded, fuelled by a thirst for the sort of ‘exotic’ foods they’d grown up on, Jess thrived, helping to create iconic venues and becoming one of the most influential voices in Australia’s bar and restaurant scene. But over time they realised that the industry they loved had its own dysfunctions: greed, ego, sexual harassment and a never-ending festishisation of Asian food culture.
Uses for Obsession: A (Chef's) Memoir by Ben Shewry
Chef and restaurateur Ben Shewry knows obsession well. Whether it's crispy-edged lasagne, saltwater crocodile ribs or the perfect potato, obsession is what motivates him and what makes him tick. It's also what has propelled his Melbourne restaurant Attica into the league of the most innovative, acclaimed dining experiences in the world, and one of the most vital in Australian history.
In this absorbing and wide-ranging memoir meets manifesto, Shewry applies his sometimes searing, sometimes comic eye to creative freedom in the kitchen, food journalism, sexism in hospitality, the fraud of the farm-to-table sustainability ethos or the cult of the chef.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
After twenty-five years of 'sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine', chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain decided to tell all – and he meant all.
From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Taste is an intimate reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about growing up in Westchester, NY, preparing for and filming the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia, falling in love over dinner, and teaming up with his wife to create conversation-starting meals for their children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burnt dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.
Mark your calendars for October 22nd when Stanley Tucci's new book, What I Ate in One Year, will be hitting shelves – or, pre-order it now!
Rick Stein's Food Stories by Rick Stein
Rick Stein's Food Stories is an exciting collection of new classics that celebrate modern Britain. Rick highlights traditional favourites such as Bangers and champ with red wine gravy, Crumpets with potted shrimp, and Tattie scones with smoked salmon and puts his twist on new food and flavours that have come to British shores, including Kubo pork belly adobo, Arroz roja and Paneer jalfrezi.
With stunning food and location photography, Rick Stein's Food Stories also shines a spotlight on talented food heroes from all over the country, from food growers and producers to immigrant home cooks and rebellious young chefs.
The Dinner Table, edited by Ella Risbridger & Kate Young
In this big, beautiful anthology, award-winning writers Kate Young and Ella Risbridger present you with their ultimate fantasy dinner party. Here you'll find over 100 authors, cooks and poets, from Laurie Colwin, Salman Rushdie and Jack Underwood, to Rachel Roddy, Audre Lorde and Nigella Lawson.
The individual pieces in The Dinner Table each have something to say to their neighbours on either side; just like a real-life dinner party, the collection is designed to flow from one topic to the next. You'll discover old friends as well as new, discussing eggs, bread, fridge-raid suppers, wedding feasts and much, much more.
Eat a Peach: A Chef's Memoir by David Chang
In 2004, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in Manhattan’s East Village. Its young chef-owner, David Chang, served ramen and pork buns to a mix of fellow restaurant cooks and confused diners whose idea of ramen was instant noodles in Styrofoam cups.
Eat a Peach chronicles Chang’s journey to becoming one of the most influential chefs of his generation. Laying bare his mistakes and feelings of otherness and inadequacy, Chang gives us a penetrating look at restaurant life.
