Revealing the first insight into the food and philosophies of the 2 Michelin star chef, with a foreword by Heston Blumenthal and featuring contributions from 36 of the world’s best chefs - this linen-covered limited edition of Michelin star chef Sat Bains debut cookbook, Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian, is packaged in a stunning slipcase and mailing box.

Weighing in at almost 4kg, this is a stunning book. At one level, it’s a beautiful coffee table cookbook appealing to anybody with a passion for food.  But for the serious chef this is definite must have in a professional library.

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian follows the celebrated tasting menu format of Restaurant Sat Bains. It contains 68 incredible recipes that will inspire a generation of chefs.  Each recipe has detailed instructions and photographs.  A clever graphic design element included with each recipe clearly and easily identifies the seasonal aspects, the taste profile and the flavour components of each dish.

Featuring a fascinating behind the scenes account of a chef at the cutting edge of modern cuisine, the book reveals the theories, thought process and evolution that shape Sat’s food, and how gastronomic research, development and creativity play a vital role in the unique food pairings and flavour combinations at the 2 Michelin star restaurant,  Restaurant Sat Bains .

Sat Bains won a Roux Scholarship in 1999, and is the holder of numerous awards.  Sat is also highly regarded by his peers

“One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had was at his restaurant, and I reckon he’s one of the best chefs this country has produced. Once you read this book and see what goes into his wonderful recipes, I’m sure you’ll agree with me.”

Heston Blumenthal

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian is published by Face Publishing, a bespoke specialist Northern England Fine dining publisher.  Their earlier (stunning books) authored by Michelin starred Andrew Pern and James McKenzie are multiple award winners and we expect Sat Bain’s publishing debut to do the same.  We’re very excited to be stocking Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian

Despite what you will see on other online bookstores, Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian is available exclusively from only 4 places in the world: the author, the publisher, our colleagues at Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York and here!

Every year, when asked which author we would like to have tour - Tessa Kiros has been at the top of our list.

Tessa is the best-selling author of some of our most beautiful cookbooks such as Falling Cloudberries, Apples for Jam, Twelve, Venezia, Piri Piri Starfish and Food from Many Greek Kitchens.

Visiting Australia for the first time since she became an author, to appear at the Sydney International Food Festival and to celebrate the launch of her new book Limoncello and Linen Water, Tessa will be our guest for dinner!

In Limoncello and Linen Water, this much-loved author celebrates the heritage of Italy, the country she has chosen to call home.  This whimsically feminine book is a tribute to the women in our lives – mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers – and the important lessons we learn from them.  With accessible, delicious recipes ranging from robust family dishes to quirky cakes and old-fashioned preserves, this book is a precious heirloom to treasure.

If you don’t know Tessa - no-one else captures the spirit and soul of a place or family quite like Tessa Kiros.  Born in London to a Finnish mother and a Greek-Cypriot father, she moved to South Africa when she was four, and at the age of 18 set off to travel, learn all she could about the world’s cultures and traditions and discover new ways of living and eating.  She has cooked at London’s The Groucho Club and in Sydney, Athens and Mexico. On a trip to Italy to study the Italian language and food she met her husband Giovanni, and they now live in Tuscany with their two children.

With the help of George Calombaris and Shane Delia we’ve organised a four course sharing style dinner at St Katherine’s

When:  Tuesday 9 October

Where: St Katherines - 237 Cotham Road Kew

Price : $95

To book call St Katherine’s on 9207 7477 or email admin@stkatherines.com.au

If you can’t attend but would like signed copies of her books you can order online or contact us by phone and we’ll organise that for you

On Monday 27 August, we’re having dinner with Nino Zoccali, one of Sydney’s finest Italian chefs to celebrate the release of his book Pasta Artigiana and to celebrate Italy’s culinary gift to the world - pasta!

Nino Zoccali, a second-generation Italian chef is chef owner of Pendolino and La Rosa restaurants in The Strand Arcade in Sydney’s CBD.   Nino opened his first Italian restaurant in Margaret River at the age of 25 and has been at the forefront of traditional/authentic Italian fine dining in Australia ever since.

During his career he has worked at a ranging of leading Sydney-based Italian restaurants and was the founding head chef at Otto Ristorante Italiano.  He is a founding member of CIRA – the Council of Italian Restaurants in Australia – and active as an olive oil judge.

Pasta Artigiana: simple to extraordinary shares a lifetime of irresistible recipes – from indulgent filled pasta to hearty soups and even pasta-based desserts.  There is a recipe for every occasion, from a classic spaghetti alla napoletana through to a refined sweet pea ravioli with gorgonzola cream, as well as a range of versatile pasta doughs, sauces and broths.  Chapters included dried pasta, fresh pasta, filled pasta, baked pasta and vegetarian pasta - even dessert pasta!  As practical as it is beautiful, Pasta Artigiana is an important companion for anyone who loves to cook and eat pasta.

You can read a few chapters here (or buy it as an ebook):

Please come and join us for dinner celebrating pasta at every course!

Nino will present 3 stunning pasta dishes/courses and take time out to tell us all about his love for artisanal and traditional pasta.

(and why are we having a Pasta dinner at a Croatian restaurant?  Well, Ino, the chef patron of Il Dalmatino, and Nino are great friends; so much so that Ino’s recipe for gnocchi is in the book!  And if you remember your Shakespeare, the Dalmatian Coast was long ago Ilyria - a quasi Italian/Roman province…)

When: Monday 27 August 2012  7pm

Where: Il Dalmatino, 280 Bay Street Port Melbourne

Price: $65 per head + drinks

To Book: call 03 9645 6584, email dalmatino@dalmatino.com.au or book online at www.dalmatino.com.au

Published by Phaidon Press, and designed ‘loosely’ as a ‘companion’ to Rene Redzepi’s Noma (hopefully part of a series to come…) Mugaritz is a beautiful, striking cookbook with strong contemporary photography that documents the unique creative process behind Aduriz’s innovative dishes, with 70 recipes and over 150 photographs.

Six thematic chapters explain Aduriz’s key philosophies, including his interactions with nature and technology, a new language of cooking, the experience of the diner and his wide-ranging sources of inspiration.

Aduriz is currently one of the brightest stars in the culinary firmament - holding 3 MIchelin Stars for his restaurant Mugaritz, and recently being confirmed for the second year as the No 3 restaurant in the world in the San Pellegrino Restaurant Top 50 List.  Aduriz has in fact been in the top 50 for 7 years.

It’s impossible to keep the attention of diners for two-and-a-half hours if you focus exclusively on their palates’, [Andoni] says. “You also have to tickle their intellect, imagination and sense of humour and memory, and test their capacity for surprise.” This is exactly why people flock to this out-of-the-way 50-cover restaurant’ … after 14 years of running one of the world’s most feted kitchens, Aduriz is finally shedding light on what makes him tick with the publication [...] of his restaurant’s first book
Restaurant

Andoni Luis Aduriz, who trained with most of the highly regarded Michelin 3 Star chefs in Northern Spain and is regarded as the lead protege of Ferran Adria,  is at the forefront of Spain’s culinary innovation.

Mugaritz: a natural science of cooking, is equally at the cutting edge in introducing and communicating Aduriz’s philosophy and creativity.  This cookbook is already running out the door.  It  will appeal to all lovers of creativity, as well as restaurant-goers and aspiring or professional chefs.

Mugaritz is available as a beautiful 250pp hardcover for $69.95

…to buy…

[Fergus Henderson :] ‘The child of Elizabeth David and George Orwell.’ - A.A. Gill

Fergus Henderson will be in Melbourne for a day or two & we’ll be having a chat with Fergus about his books over a Fernet Branca at the European this coming Monday 21st May.

Fergus caused something of a sensation when he opened, with Trevor Gulliver, the restaurant St John in London in 1995.

Set in a former smokehouse near Smithfield meat market, its striking, high-ceilinged white interior provides a dramatic setting for food of dazzling boldness and simplicity.

As signalled by the restaurant’s logo of a pig (reproduced on the cover of Nose to Tail Eating) and appropriately given the location, at St John the emphasis is firmly on meat. And not the noisettes, fillets, magrets and so forth of standard restaurant portion-control, all piled up into little towers in the middle of the plate: Henderson serves up offal and secondary cuts in big, exhilarating dishes that combine high sophistication with peasant roughness.

In addition to wide ranging critical acclaim for his approach to ‘Nose to Tail’ Eating and the celebration and rebirth of British traditional foods in a restaurant context, Fergus is also an Andre Simon Award Winner for his wonderful book Nose to Tail Eating.

Fergus will be signing copies of both of his books, and rumour has it there might be mention of a new book to come.

What: A Drink with Fergus
When: Monday 21 May 6.30pm
Where: The Tea Room at The European, 159-161 Spring St

Bookings are Essential

Tickets are $10 per head which includes a glass of Fergus’ favourite tipple, Fernet Branca

To book call us on (03) 8415 1415 or email us

Usually new releases are either full of glossy pictures with celebrity chefs festooned on their covers delivering sometimes an over sumptuous visual feast or text rich, almost dour, practical tomes designed to educate rather than titilate.

To our surprise and pleasure, Love & Hunger is neither.  Almost oddly positioned as neither a cookbook nor a polemical statement, Love & Hunger manages to be a cookbook for the kitchen, a gentle read for the bedside table and a positive affirmation of the pleasure of cooking for family & friends.

Charlotte Wood is a highly regarded Australian novelist and journalist based in Sydney for whom food and its place at her table with family and friends is one of the most important parts of her life.  This collection of 27 essays gently and sensitively explores the rich complexity and spiritual sustenance that good food with family & friends imparts to our lives.  Each chapter  explores, a different aspect of ‘the gift of food’ with a number of recipes ‘attached’; all of them good, none of them complex and many wonderfully comforting.

Love & Hunger is beautifully and simply written (as one would expect from an author with such critical recognition; another of her novels, Animal People is currently listed for the 2012 Miles Franklin Award).  There were many moments when reading, we nodded in heated agreement with the almost commonsense views espoused.  As one other reviewer noted, it’s rare for a cookbook to move you to tears; be warned you may succumb.  Wood’s scholarship is also in evidence (she is currently a PhD candidate looking at food in literature) as many of her accurate observations are elegantly woven into a gentle but compelling argument

If there is a criticism to be made, we would only want more….

The title of the book comes from this paragraph, from MFK Fisher’s The Gastronomical Me - which is the epigraph Charlotte has used for this book.

“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it … and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied … and it is all one.”

Love & Hunger is published by Allen & Unwin and is available as a paperback for $29.95 instore or online and as an ebook from www.ebooksforcooks.com.au for $9.99

To celebrate the release of Matt Wilkinson’s Mr Wilkinson’s Favourite Vegetables we are excited to announce we are having a degustation dinner based on recipes from the book with Matt at one of Matt’s (and our) favourite hangouts - Gerald’s Bar in Rathdowne St North Carlton next Wednesday 28th March.

Matt will of course be chatting about his book, his views on Zucchini, Pistachios & Horseradish and pretty much anything else that comes to mind; just don’t mention Barnsley FC!

How much? $60 (drinks extra)

Where: Gerald’s Bar 386 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North

When: 7.30pm Wednesday 28 March 2012

40 seats are available

To book: - call Mario or Gerald at Gerald’s Bar on (03) 9349 4748 (ignore the message about not taking bookings - leave a message or you’ll miss out!)

Gerald’s Bar was Gourmet Traveller’s Bar of the Year in 2010 and Gerald was the recipient of the Donleavy Fitzpatrick Award in 2011.

Postscript (29th March)

Last night Matt cooked up a storm at Gerald’s Bar to launch his brand new book…

~
Smoked tomato gougeres
Radishes, butter & herb salt
Beetroot Juice, vodka shot
~
Horseradish & celeriac salad, grilled ox tongue
Shepherd’s pie croquette
Piquillo pepper, chorizo & mango salad, rare seared tuna
~
Sweet & Sour Goat’s neck, fennel & mozzarella salad, pumpkin salad
with macadamias, caper & raisin dressing
~
Lemon verbena scented blueberries, rice pudding

Thanks to Matt, Gerald & Mario, the evening was a great success.  If the measure of a good cookbook is the end of the meal…..nothing was left….!

Matt is a Yorkshire born, British trained, and now Melbourne based Chef and gardener who cooks at his restaurant Pope Joan in inner Melbourne.

Matt’s strong views on the importance of eating locally produced and seasonally grown vegetables are deftly and amusingly put. Scattered amongst the 24 or so chapters on common and less common vegetables (Nettles anyone?) are Matt’s childhood, family (most infamously with his Nan) and professional encounters with what are now his favourite vegetables (or at least 23 of them!). Matt is an ambassador for the Victorian Farmer’s Market Association and his committment to local producers and regional cuisine shines through. Each chapter begins with useful and practical information about cooking and growing or sourcing each vegetable. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower and even Zucchini are redeemed by simple beautiful dishes. We particularly liked the ‘Salad of Brussels Sprout Leaves, Mozzarella, White Anchovies’, Salad of Cauliflower, Smoked Salmon & Strawberry’ the ‘Frozen Vanilla Syrup-coated Fennel’ and the ‘Salad of Radish, Figs, Walnuts & Blue Cheese’.

Reflected in his Yorkshire upbringing and classical training, Matt’s dishes are mostly British/European or Mediterranean in style and perfectly suited to casual eating, shared plates or even informal restuarants. Despite Matt’s highly regarded fine dining background, this is not a restaurant book. Both beginner and competent cooks will be rewarded as the dishes are never complicated, but there is enough innovation to suit almost anyone. Matt’s plating is elegant but casual and his dishes light but driven by flavour. Lovers of recipes by Yotam Ottolenghi, Karen Martini or Anna Hansen will find this a perfect addition to their kitchen library. Although Matt also champions locally and carefuly raised meat, vegetarians will also be rewarded with innovative and interesting dishes throughout.

Mention must also be made of the beautiful matt photography by Jacqui Melville, and the striking personal design by Studio Racket; we particularly like the uncommon coptic binding and the graphic vignettes

Highly Recommended

This philosophy is one of the themes, and driving forces behind Neil Perry’s hugely succesful Rockpool Bar & Grill restaurants; and it is this that makes Neil Perry’s new, beautiful, heavy cookbook, highly desirable.  The simplicity of the food, using the best meat and seafood in the country, stands out and screams ‘cook me!’

For those who haven’t been, Rockpool Bar & Grill is now three restaurants; in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.  All three restaurants have been critcally acclaimed and awarded multiple ‘hats’ and ’stars’ by the various guides, national and international.  Their signature, perhaps put crudely is ’surf & turf’ but certainly not as you may have once known it!  The stars at Rockpool are the local ingredients and produce carefully and sustainably sourced direct from the farmgate/fisherman; that are quite simply ‘the best’.  Each of the meats is handled differently and dry-aged on site.  Each restaurant has their own ‘butcher’ and ‘fishmonger’ so that whole beasts and fish are delivered and broken down appropriately.

The chapters of the book are laid out like the menu at Rockpool Bar & Grill.  It starts with the story of Rockpool Bar & Grill and then offers you a drink - just like when you sit down at the table.  You then move onto the Raw Bar, the starters and pasta, the mainplates and then from the charcoal oven to the wood-fired rotisserie and then the wood fired grill; along with the condiments and sides (as one of our staff said yesterday - you could live off the sides!).  The cheese of course, is before dessert.  As you work your way through ‘the menu’, Neil introduces you to his team and his ‘extended’ Rockpool family - his suppliers for each course.  We meet his executive chefs Khan Danis and Catherine Adams who play a large part in the success of Rockpool Bar & Grill; and of course there is the ‘Wagyu Burger’.

At 450 odd pages, this is a generous cookbook, much like the hospitality at the restaurant.  Every dish is beautifully & simply photographed.  The production values and the design are world class.  There are lucid and helpful chapters on choosing and working with ingredients; how to choose a scallop; why Wagyu beef should be at least cooked to medium rare; how to handle seafood; Beef 101 on dry-ageing and cryovac; using a charcoal grill etc. Even the advice on how to cook a steak…

Some of the dishes have a long heritage - the seared king prawns with goat’s cheese tortellini is one of the first dishes we ever tasted at Rockpool in Sydney in the early 90s.  It’s a classic and we were so glad to see it in this book.  Whilst some would say that not all of the dishes are everyday recipes for home cooks - many of them are or could be - particularly with access to a good barbecue or grill.  Good food is often that simple.  And even if you don’t eat Wagyu every night (who does?), the chapters on sides and condiments make it an indispensable book.

The modern cookbook of course needs a backstory and great images as well.  Rockpool Bar & Grill delivers these in spades.  Whilst generous with the recipes, it is much more than just a cookbook; the story of Rockpool Bar & Grill, its chefs and its suppliers - all focused on delivering the best possible produce to the diner - is inspiring.  It is reassuring to learn of farmers, fishermen, suppliers and chefs focused so clearly on sustainable production whilst chasing perfection.

Good cookbooks, always draw comparisons.  To us, Rockpool Bar & Grill is like a version of Thomas Keller’s books Bouchon and The French Laundry; elegant beautiful and evocative books that are almost timeless.  Neil Perry’s pursuit of excellence, championing of local terroir and local produce and the sheer dark beauty of  Rockpool Bar & Grill probably justify putting this on the same shelf in the home library.

Signed copies are available…and we’ll leave the last word to Neil…

Saturday August 20th is Australian National Bookshop Day; a chance to celebrate with our community of readers, authors and customers all that we love about what we do.  Bookshops all over the country are hosting events big and small, funny and serious but always with books, authors and readers in their hearts.

There are many great events going on around the country - you can check them out on Facebook - or just drop into a local bookstore - there is sure to be something fun going on!

For our part we will be celebrating on Saturday with Bubbles and lots of tastes throughout the day.  Amanda will be baking up a storm from books new and old and a few of our friends will be helping out too.   We expect the odd chef and author to drop in and say hullo (they do most days!).

Please join us throughout the day: after breakfast or before lunch; on the way to the football or before an afternoon coffee - or just because you have a moment -  and raise a glass with us  to the health of independent and community bookstores and the communities we live in.

Every customer will receive a booklet listing many of our favourite chef/authors’ favourite cookbooks, books and bookshops; food for thought for your next visit to a bookshop or two.

Please also buy a ticket (or ten) in our ‘Grand Cookbook Library Raffle which will be drawn at the end of the day on Saturday.  Donations are flooding in of classic and new release cookbooks and the window will fill during the week with a display of all the donated cookbooks up for grabs.  Already there are a number of classic references in the prize, and rumour has it there might even be a copy of Modernist Cuisine in the mix…!  (Here’s an early picture…)

This will be the one raffle you just have to win!

All the proceeds will be donated to two charities dear to the hearts of booksellers around the country - the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation so dig deep!

Tickets are $5 and can be bought instore.  Donations are also welcome.

Thanks in advance to our sponsors: Murdoch Books; Pan Macmillan; Random House Australia; Penguin Australia; Hardie Grant Books; Harper Collins Australia; & many more to come.

Released in the UK to coincide with the release of his new 4 part BBC series on regional Spain, this is for our money - a worthy cookbook!  While we wait for the series down under (apparently early 2012 - and possibly earlier if you can find the DVD) there is plenty to cook from this book.

Normally we are cautious about TV/cookbook adaptations, but there’s something about Rick - maybe we fell in love with his dog Chalky - maybe its his uncomplicated honest outlook - maybe its his love of sustainable and local produce that forms the basis for the local, simple cuisine he loves to cook  - whatever it is, we can’t help but get excited about another Rick Stein cook book!

Most people associate Rick with seafood recipes, and there are a good few in this book - but the heart of the book is Spanish regional cuisine - both traditional and contemporary.  Some dishes are Rick’s interpretation and others come from the people he meets during his travels.  Many will surprise as he has made an effort to ‘get off the beaten track’ and whilst the obvious recipes are included, there are many that are interesting.  Our list of recipes to make is already long: Fresh Broad Beans with Black Sausage & Garlic Shoots; Pot-roasted Chicken with Chorizo, Leeks & Cider; Pearl Barley Stew with Morcilla, Bacon & Wild Fennel; Pork in Almond Sauce; Veal Pork, Serrano Ham & Porcini Mushroom Cannelloni - to name just a few.

The book is filled with large rich photographs, but for us, after the recipes, its Rick’s text that is most rewarding,  In an age where some publishers often take the adage ‘a picture is worth a 1000 words’ as a reason to cut the text in a cookbook to an absurd minimalist position, Rick continues to provide thoughtful, enriching introductions to most of his recipes. Perhaps because the book is a companion to the series where he is talking to us on camera, the book feels personal, conversational, almost in camera…

There is a useful glossary of ingredients, cheeses, cooking implements and basic recipes as well as a directory of suppliers (including a number of Australian & New Zealand suppliers)

Who: If you like Rick Stein, you’ll love this.  If you cook from Movida, Moro, or love bold Mediterranean flavours, you’ll find something to cook.  Armchair travellers will also be rewarded

When:   Due 1 August 2011

Price: $49.95

Lady Victoria Buxton, wife of the Governor of South Australia (1895 - 1899), described Adelaide in 1896 as a “Land of Cakes”.   Coming from a family focused on evangelical and community works she began the Lady Victoria Buxton Girls’ Club in 1898  under the guidance of the Anglican church, as an alternative for young working women of Adelaide instead of the beach or street; namely a club to provide rooms where girls might ‘meet for amusement and instruction’.  It then developed into a hostel for 25 girls until 1955.  Lady Buxton had undertaken similar projects in London and involving the YWCA before moving to Australia.

One of the primary means of fundraising for the Girls’ Club was the sale of The Kookaburra Cookery Book, the proceeds of which were used to purchase buildings for the Club’s use.  First published in 1911,  The Kookaburra Cookery Book was reprinted a number of times both in Adelaide and by E W Cole in Melbourne and was continuously in print until 1930.  Later editions had additional recipes,  and were occasionally bound in green cloth, but these additions didn’t change the focus of the book which was, despite 70 categories of recipt (over 1200 in all), predominantly baking and sweets (almost 1/3 of the book).

Most of the recipes are attributed to their contributor, some coming from far afield including NSW, Victora, Western Australia and the United Kingdom - even America.  Mrs P Stow (actually the whole Stow family) seems to have contributed a lot!  And we can thank Mrs Robertson of Melbourne for her dish of Savoury Oysters -

Season some oysters with lemon juice and cayenne.  Roll each in thin pieces of fat bacon, have ready some beaten egg into which dip each oyster and bacon, then put into pan of boiling fat and fry till brown, drain on paper and serve very hot on pieces of fried bread.

Predominantly English or French recipes, there is a smattering of recipes from the Indian Raj including kabobs, chutneys, curries etc with the odd helpful hint such as”never serve a curry as an entree, always after the piece or the joint”

Sadly, despite its name, there is almost no reference to native produce apart froma Kangaroo Tail soup and a Parrot Pie (which includes the useful advice to substitute quail!); definitely no Kookaburra dishes!

Not rare, but rarely not well used, we usually have one or two in store.  For anyone interested in early Federation cookery in Australia, this is a useful source.

Over the years, when asked what cookbook we would love to find a box of, the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book (the one with ‘the train on the front’) always topped the list.

Published in 1980, it has sold well over half a million copies.  We’ve had countless requests going back years for copies, and have seen it advertised on eBay at over $100; we’ve had parents, grandparents, Aunts & Godparents all chasing it, keen to reproduce the cakes of their children or childhood for the latest generation of Australian kids.

There has even been a show: Josh Earl vs The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book recently featured at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and around Australia (see reviews); by all accounts very funny & distinctly Australian.

Tim’s first cake was a soccer field ( an adaptation of the cricket pitch ) and he still remembers the addictively sweet, oddly compelling green dessicated coconut grass.  Months would be spent combing over the book making strategic decisions about what cake one should ask for.  With siblings you always had to make sure they didn’t gazump your favourite cake!

So imagine our excitement, when the Australian Women’s Weekly announced they would reissue it as a vintage edition - almost exactly as it was!  A bit like counting down to your birthday, we’ve been counting down the days until it was available to bookstores.

The wave of nostalgia has been almost a tsunami.  We’ve had copies in the window for only a few days and everyone who has picked it up has told us about the cakes they had as a child, the cakes they desired (and not always got) and  the first cake they are going to make when they get home!

Even if you think you have too many cookbooks, you do need this one.  Why don’t you tell us about your favourite cake!

Instore now at $14.95

When we first heard of Penguin’s plan to publish what could be described as ‘Popular Penguins’ for foodies, we were pretty excited.  The idea of having morsels, tidbits, appetisers and amuse bouches as books that we could read, collect (and sell) was mouthwatering.  To be able to dip into MFK Fisher and then taste Elizabeth David, Eliza Acton and Hannah Glasse in digestible bites seemed perfect.

And so they are - all 20 titles are interesting, exciting & evocative - truly covetable.  The authors & texts are drawn from over 4 centuries, several continents, the formal and domestic, food writing and instructional manuals.  They each mark a point in the history of food. But what has made them truly stand out - is their jackets.

The jackets were designed by one of Penguin’s senior designers, Coralie Bickford-Smith, who has used an appropriate period ceramic tile/style as the background for each title.  As with all good food, its the garnishes that make the difference;in this case embossed/textured lettering & calligraphy by Stephen Raw & clever graphic details such as the penguin logo armed with a knife & fork.

These are our favourites at the moment, if we have a quibble, its that we would have loved a slipcase to put them into…but then we wouldn’t see the jackets!

The series was the inspiration of Pen Vogler at Penguin and the publishing story can be found at her blog Pen’s Great Food Club.

The twenty titles are: Dr A W Chase  Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding; Isabella Beeton Campaign for Domestic Happiness, Alexis Soyer  Chef at War, Charles Lamb Dissertation Upon Roast Pig and Other Essays, Calvin Trillin Eating with the Pilgrims and Other Pieces, Eliza Acton Elegant Economist, Hannah Glasse Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving, Pellegrino
Artusi Exciting Food for Southern Types, Alexandre Dumas From Absinthe to Zest: An Alphabet for Food Lovers, Samuel Pepys Joys of Excess, Agnes Jekyll Little Dinner Before the Play, MFK Fisher  Love in a Dish and Other Pieces, Claudia Roden Middle Eastern Feast, Alice B Toklas Murder in the Kitchen, Colonel Wyvern Notes from Madras:, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Pleasures of the Table, Alice Waters Recipes and Lessons from a Delicious Cooking Revolution, William Verrall Recipes from the White Hart Inn, Elizabeth David  Taste of the Sun, & Gervase Markham Well-Kept Kitchen.

Oh, and they are a steal at 9.95 each - check them out instore

A New Cookbook - Tropical Cuisine

Over the years we have had occasional ‘taste’ workshops with local growers and producers.  Next Tuesday, we are lucky to have Clare Richards visiting from cyclone swept Cairns in far North Queensland.

Clare is a cook, recipe developer, cooking school teacher & committed tropical locavore based in Cairns after spending a decade in tropical and Northern Australia.

Recently published, Tropical Cuisine: cooking in Clare’s kitchen is one of the best self-published books we have ever seen.  Defined by strong design, and filled with beautiful photographs, sumptuous recipes, and a treasure trove of detailed useful information about tropical & Australian food products, this is a beautiful and practical cookbook.

Only published late last year, and already an award winning cookbook, Tropical Cuisine is currently in the running for a Gourmand ‘Best in the World’ Cookbook Award going up against cookbooks from Sweden, France and Brazil.  The awards will be announced in March at the Gourmand Cookbook Fair in Paris where hundreds of cookbooks from all around the world compete for recognition.

On Tuesday, Clare will be chatting to us about tropical produce, self publishing a gorgeous cookbook, and the effect of Cyclone Yasi on local food producers.

Please join us for a taste of the tropics, a look at unusual tropical produce and learn how to support our local tropical produce industry.

As usual, bookings are essential.  Places are limited to 30.  The event is free.

Telephone Bookings are Essential: +613 8415 1415

7pm Tuesday  22 February @ Books for Cooks, 233-235 Gertrude St Fitzroy

If you can’t attend, we can organise signed and/or personalised copies of this beautiful cookbook for you.

Copies will be available for purchase on the night.

Please RSVP by telephone after 10am