Cookb
ooks
of the year
We’ve cooked from some
great books this year –
here’s what inspired us
to tie on the apron.
SOUTH
($85, Artisan Books)
Sean Brock is a leading voice for Southern
US cooking, and known best for his
revival of heritage ingredients. If you
want to cook with fi re, smoke, cast iron
and cornbread, this is the book for you.
Dishes: Blackberry cobbler; bacon jam!TU CASA MI CASA
($59.95, Phaidon)
Know your tepache from your tortilla? Enrique
Olvera of Mexico’s acclaimed Pujol restaurant
shares recipes from his family (and Mexico
City’s) kitchen – so much fl avour-packed
goodness, best enjoyed when shared.
Dishes: Barbacoa; tetelas; churros.FOOD OF THE ITALIAN SOUTH
($49.99, Penguin Books)
GT contributor and author Katie Parla
travels from coast to countryside around
Puglia, Campania and Basilicata in her
quaint book of regional Southern Italian
cooking – and it’s one beautiful journey.
Dishes: Cauraro; sesame-nut brittle.ALPINE COOKING
($79.99, Ten Speed Press)
Alpine cooking defi nitely has its place
here in Australia, as we know you’d be
lying if you said you didn’t like fondue.
Kaiserschmarrn, the Austrian shredded
pancake, is another great recipe to try.
Dishes: A Proper Bullshot; spinach
and cheese mezzaluna.THE WHOLE FISH COOKBOOK
($55, Hardie Grant)
Josh Niland is a wizard of
head-to-tail fi sh butchery and
seafood sustainability. If you’d
like to know how to reverse
butterfl y, cure or simply cook
a perfectly dry-aged fi llet of
fi sh properly, then read on...
Dishes: King George Whiting
Kiev; fi sh sausage roll.THE GARDEN CHEF
($59.95, Phaidon)
An ingredient-driven book
celebrating urban roof gardens,
backyard veggie patches, farms
and stunning gardens around
the globe, plus stories of some
of the world’s best restaurants.
Dishes: Elderfl ower fritters
with honeycomb and salt;
chewy carrots.THE BOOK OF ST. JOHN
($59.99, Ebury Press)
Fergus Henderson served
British cooking to the world
on a silver platter, with bone
marrow and parsley salad.
There’s more o al and other
British classics including
the Christmas pudding
(see his recipe on p138).
Dishes: Pear and sherry trifl e;
Welsh rarebit.THE GAIJIN COOKBOOK
($50.99, Houghton
Mi¢ in Harcourt)
With Chris Ying as co-author,
Japanophile and New Yorker
Ivan Orkin reveals what it’s
like to be an outsider living in
Japan. There’s a plethora of
Japanese recipes he loves
to cook at home, and at his
restaurant, Ivan Ramen. We
loved cooking from this book.
Dishes: Okonomiyaki (savoury
pancake); oyakodon (chicken
and egg bowl).ELEVEN MADISON PARK:
THE NEXT CHAPTER, REVISED
($75, Ten Speed Press)
With recipes straight o the
pass of one of the world’s best
chefs, Daniel Humm, the highly
innovative recipes are exquisite,
and full of EMP theatre.
Dishes: Eggs benedict
with caviar and asparagus;
cookies and cream. WORDS LISA FEATHERBY. PHOTOGRAPHY ROB SHAW.