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

Work continues apace on the catalogue & is now showing all the titles we have catalogued.  We are still waiting on the bank(s) in relation to a payment process but you can now browse everthing we have in stock & you can order/pay the old fashioned way!  We are adding more content daily

Please have a look around!

The catalogue now lists everything we have catalogued.  Some items (particularly out of print or secondhand items) are out of stock & their availability to order is shown in the catalogue.  We are updating the catalogue daily to reflect what we have.  Please ask if you don’t see what you want.

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In the meantime - please call or email - we are open every day until Christmas.

Despite being the birthplace of much of Western culture, religion, language, science & history, the Eastern Mediterranean remains a place of veiled mystery; seductive, fragrant, textual & textured, simple & exotic.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the current interest in foods from this region.  Silvena Rowe’s Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume may not be the first book this year to look at foods of the Eastern Mediterranean, but it is certainly one of the most beautiful, evocative & with the author’s heritage & view point, a worthy addition to the kitchen shelves.

Silvena Rowe was born & raised, by her Turkish father, in the ancient city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.  Plovdiv, orginially ‘Philosophillis’, a Greek Macedonian, then Roman, Byzantine & finally Ottoman city is the second city of Bulgaria and for millenia, a crossroads for the mingling of Eastern & Western culture.  All of these Empires, imported, sometimes forcibly cuisines, cultures & ingredients from their trading partners and neighbours resulting in a complex, multi-faceted cuisine

This, perhaps in part, explains why her food is equally comfortable, yet exotic to cooks familiar with the Western Mediterranean menu dominated by French & Italian influences.

Although not in any way a memoir, the book provides occasional glimpses of Silvena’s family traditions, Ottoman food culture, and her innovation.

Numerous interesting boreks, salads, kofte & gozleme beckon and will be cooked shortly.  Ingredients may seem unusual, but most can be easily purchased in either a good supermarket or a Middle-Eastern deli.

Silvena’s first book ‘Feasts’ won a prestigious Glenfiddich Food & Drink award

What do we say:  a copy has already gone home, & will be staying there.

What have we tested: Lamb & Pistachio Kebabs (p.135); Pomegranate Glazed Kebabs with Spiced Pomegranate Chutney (p.145); Fennel & Feta Kofte with Walnut Tarator (p.57); ) &  Tomato, Pomegranate & Sumac Salad with a Pomegranate Dressing (p.126)

Why should you have it: innovative, Eastern Mediterranean influenced casual food, full of bold flavours, perfect for summer

Who should get it:If you love Claudia Roden, Greg Malouf or Yotam Ottolenghi, this is a perfect compliment.

When can I get it: Out Now $65