Kavey Eats’ Guide to the Best Food & Drink Books of 2018

Not a year goes by when I don’t have a long list of the food and drink titles on my wish-list, in the hope that I may find a few of them under my Christmas tree. This year has seen publishers release another slew of great titles. Here are my personal picks of the best food and drink titles published in 2018.

Best Food & Drink Books of 2018

Asma’s Indian Kitchen | Baladi | Borough Market Cookbook | Casablanca | Copenhagen | Easy Thai Cookbook | Eat Korean | From The Earth | How To Eat A Peach | Japan: The Cookbook | Lavender & Lovage | Living on the Veg | My Fussy EaterMowgli Street Food | Pidapipó | Pies & Tarts | Robata | The Japanese Larder | The Lazy Weekend Cookbook | The Life Of Tea | The National Trust Book of Crumbles | The National Trust’s Classic British Cooking | The Nordic Baking Book | The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World | The Taste Of Portugal | Will Travel For Beer

Collage of Kavey Eats' Best Food and Drink Books of 2018

Asma’s Indian Kitchen: Home Cooked Food brought to you by Darjeeling Express

Asma's Indian Kitchen | A Cookery Book from the Creator of Darjeeling Express

Asma is one of my food industry heroes, not only for her meteoric rise from self-taught supperclub host to successful and much-lauded restaurateur, but also for her dedication to supporting others. Not only does she run an all-female kitchen team, helping women who may not otherwise get the chance to embark upon a career in the restaurant kitchen, she also supports a myriad of charitable causes and campaigns.

Her cookbook shares her favourite recipes (from the supperclub and restaurant menus as well as childhood and family events). Read my full review of Asma’s Indian Kitchen here, and click through to enjoy three full recipes, extracted with permission from publisher, Pavilion.

Asma’s Indian Kitchen, available on Amazon, is written by Asma Kahn and published by Pavilion.

 

Baladi: Palestine – a celebration of food from land and sea by Joudie Kalla

Book jacket for Baladi: Palestine - a celebration of food from land and sea by Joudie Kalla

From the author of Palestine on a Plate comes this latest title, Baladi: Palestine – a celebration of food from land and sea. Kalla showcases more of her food heritage by taking readers on a journey through the food and culture of Palestine.

Exploring the seasons and landscapes of Palestine leads to an understanding of the ingredients and approach to cooking that is at the core of Kalla’s cooking. As a Leith’s trained chef, Kalla also adds her personal twist, adapting some of the more traditional dishes to suit a modern cook and kitchen. The book’s photography is particularly appealing, allowing readers not familiar with the region to gain a real sense of place and culinary history.

Baladi: Palestine, available from Amazon, is written by Joudie Kalla and published by Jacqui Small, an imprint of the Quarto Group. 

 

Borough Market Cookbook by Ed Smith

Book jacket for Borough Market Cookbook by Ed Smith

I adore Borough Market, and am always happy to while away some hours browsing and buying the very best produce from its many vendors. The market, which has a history dating back centuries, is still popular with London shoppers, but has also caught the attention of tourists to the city – and I can’t blame them – visiting is a great way to get to grips with the food story of London.

This book, by food writer and fellow blogger Ed Smith takes us on a journey through four seasons (and the ingredients, events and celebrations that mark them) via stories, shopping advice, preparation and cooking tips, and delicious recipes. The beautiful photography was taken on site, and really shows off the appeal of Borough Market.

Borough Market Cookbook, available on Amazon, is written by Ed Smith and published by Hodder & Stoughton.

 

Casablanca: My Moroccan Food by Nargisse Benkabbou

Book jacket for Casablanca
I’ve visited Morocco a couple of times and enjoyed the food on each visit. Full of flavour and texture, it echoes the warmth of the people, the colourful souks, and the vibrant landscapes. Hospitality is culturally very important, and in her debut book, blogger and food writer Benkabbou shares more than 80 recipes for classic and modernised Moroccan dishes, and a few Western classics given a Moroccan twist. Raised by Morrocan parents in Belgium, Benkabbou brings together Morrocan and Western ingredients, cooking techniques and ideas in an exciting and appealing way.

Casablanca, available on Amazon, is written by Nargisse Benkabbou and published by Mitchell Beazley.

 

Copenhagen: Stories, Traditions and Recipes by Trine Hahnemann

Book Jacket for Copenhagen: Stories, Traditions and Recipes by Trine Hahnemann

I’ve been a fan of Trine Hahnemann’s cookery books for a while, particularly The Scandinavian Cookbook and Scandinavian Christmas. Hahnemann is a hugely popular chef, restaurateur, cookery book author and television presenter with a passion for sustainable food production, and hearty, delicious food.

In this new title, she shares her love for Copenhagen, the city she has called home for more than 40 years. The book appeals enormously to my love of food culture and history as part of travel, so I enjoyed reading about Hahnemann’s memories of and experiences in Copenhagen, from her childhood through to modern day. The portraits of Copenhagen’s food scene are partnered with 70 recipes that bring the stories to life.

Recipes include the mazarin cakes Hahnemann remembers buying from a Copenhagen corner shop as a child, Danish hot dogs that are a popular street food in the city, and more elegant dishes served at world-famous restaurants. There are also comforting family-style dishes such as beetroot and celeriac cakes with potato wedges or Rhubarb tartlets, made using good quality ingredients bought at local food markets.

The writing and photography are beautifully evocative, so much so that I’m yearning to book a trip to Copenhagen for 2019!

Copenhagen, available on Amazon, is written by Trine Hahnemann and published by Quadrille.

 

Easy Thai Cookbook by Sallie Morris

Cookery book jacket image for Easy Thai Cookbook by Sallie Morris

We have always loved Thai food, even more so after our amazing three week Thailand trip, earlier this year. Since we returned from that holiday, we’ve been cooking more Thai food ourselves at home. When I first read the synopsis for this book of easy Thai recipes, I worried that complexity of flavour might be lost in favour of simplification, but was happy to discover that Sallie Morris’ recipes taste just like the food we loved in Thailand.

Read my full review of the Easy Thai Cookbook here, and click through to enjoy three full recipes, extracted with permission from publisher, Watkins and Nourish.

The Easy Thai Cookbook, available on Amazon, is written by Sallie Morris and published by Watkins and Nourish. 

 

Eat Korean: Our Home Cooking & Street Food by Da-Hae West

Book jacket for Eat Korean
I absolutely love Korean food! This has been hugely aided by working in New Malden aka Little Korea for the last few years, where I have enjoyed Korean food for lunch at least three days a week every week. But I’m not alone – there’s a growing buzz about Korean food in the UK, and yet there aren’t that many cookery book titles covering this cuisine.

Partners Da-Hae and Gareth West bring together Korean and Western flavours, ingredients and cooking techniques to create delicious modern Korean food. The book includes a run down on the basics of Korean cooking, and an introduction to key ingredients. Lots of favourites, from kimchi to Korean barbeque, from bulgogi burgers to panjeon (seafood pancakes), are included, and many more.

Eat Korean, available on Amazon, is written by Da-Hae West and published by Mitchell Beazley.

 

From The Earth: World’s Great, Rare and Almost Forgotten Vegetables by Peter Gilmore

Book jacket for From The Earth: World’s Great, Rare and Almost Forgotten Vegetables by Peter Gilmore

My familiarity with the cooking and career of Peter Gilmore is thanks entirely to religiously watching many seasons of Australian Masterchef, superior in every way to the UK version.

In this beautiful book, the acclaimed chef writes about cooking with 50 heirloom vegetables and plants. Each one is introduced with a hand-drawn botanical illustration, key information about its family group, history and origin, traditional cooking uses, and growing conditions plus anecdotal stories that tell why Gilmore loves it. And of course, each is accompanied by a delicious and beautifully photographed recipe featuring that plant or vegetable.

From Kyoto red carrots to Black Chickoeas, from Elephant Garlic Scapes to Pin-Striped Peanuts, this is a book that will appeal to armchair gardeners as much as to keen cooks. Recipes are equally intriguing; ‘black chickpease slowly braised in roasted onion juice‘, ‘roasted mitoyo eggplant, XO, streaky bacon‘, and ‘wilted daylilies, sea urchin, koshihikari rice, salted egg yolk‘, to pick a few.

From the Earth, available on Amazon, is written by Peter Gilmore and published by Hardie Grant.

 

How To Eat A Peach: Menus, Stories & Places by Diana Henry

Book jacket for How to Eat a Peach

I’m a huge fan of Diana Henry’s food writing and cookery books; her A Bird In The Hand is a personal favourite. In this latest book, she shares recipes she’s collected, developed and cooked again and again over the years for friends and family. Since she was sixteen years old, Henry has kept a personal notebook recording all the menus she dreamed of making.

More than simply pulling together dishes that must work together in terms of their succession of flavours, menus are also the path to creating different moods and transporting diners to different places, whether an afternoon spent on a Brittany beach, or a hot and muggy evening eating mezze in Istanbul. She says, “I don’t invite people round and then wonder what I’ll cook, I come up with a menu and then consider who would like to eat it.

In this book, she shares a whole book of menus, noting that she gets more questions about menus than anything else. Thus, at the start she runs through the practical ‘rules’ about menus, though Henry is certainly not too prescriptive, and describes these as basic guidelines that exist to being bent or even broken.

Divided into sections, the first covers spring and summer, the second autumn and winter. Within these, each menu evokes a time and place, and carries with it a strong sense of mood and locality. Whimsically named, the twenty-five menus include ‘before the passeggiata’, ‘summer begins with apricot tart’, ‘take me back to Istanbul’, and of course, ‘how to eat a peach’, for spring and summer, and ‘smoky days’, missing New York’, and ‘midnight at the oasis’, for autumn winter. Spring summer recipes range from leeks with Breton vinaigrette, to Korean cucumber salad, and white peaches in chilled moscato. Autumn winter ones include mango cheeks in lime and ginger syrup, cheddar onion and spinach tart, and slow roast duck legs with sweet-sour plums.

How to Eat a Peach, available on Amazon, is written by Diana Henry and published by Mitchell Beazley.

 

Japan: The Cookbook by Nancy Singleton Hachisu

Book jacket for Japan: The Cookbook by Nancy Singleton Hachisu.

Phaidon’s country-specific series is an amazing collection of hefty tomes, each one showcasing the breadth of recipes in a country, a snapshot in time of the cuisine. Their Japan edition is authored by American Nancy Singleton-Hachisu, a food writer I first came across via her blog, where she first shared her experiences cooking in a rural Japanese kitchen in Saitama, where she lived after marrying her Japanese husband. This is her third book after Japanese Farm Food and Preserving the Japanese Way.

Hachisu took three years to pull the book together, much of that time spent in gathering recipes from classic cookery books as well as many contributed by a wide range of people from trained chefs to local grandmothers who shared their techniques and recipes for home cooking.

Over 400 recipes are divided into fifteen chapters by the type of dish, including dressed salads, steamed dishes, stir fries, pickles, rice, one pots and sweets, amongst others. Hachisu has written the recipes faithfully to their origins (which may mean that some ingredients are harder to come by in various parts of the world), and translated the recipes shared with her orally into clearly written instructions.

Read my full review, and enjoy three recipes extracted with the permission of the publisher.

Japan: The Cookbook, available on Amazon, is written by Nancy Singleton-Hachisu and published by Phaidon. 

 

Lavender & Lovage: A Culinary Notebook of Memories & Recipes From Home & Abroad by Karen Burns-Booth

Book jacket for Lavender & Lovage: A Culinary Notebook of Memories & Recipes From Home & Abroad by Karen Burns-Booth

My friend Karen Burns-Booth is a born story teller, and luckily, she has many stories to tell. I met her through food blogging many years ago, and today Karen is a food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer and stylist, writing not only for her own blog but for a range of brands and publications.

In her first book, named for her successful blog, she takes us on a journey through the memories and stories of her life. From a childhood spent in South Africa, Hong Kong, Germany, the USA, Cyprus…, to her life in England, France, and now in Wales, plus her many many travels, Karen’s interest in food, and exposure to many different cuisines, has always been at the heart of her writing.

In Lavender and Lovage, she shares a wide range of recipes collected and perfected over a lifetime. Unlike many books that specialise in a particular ingredient, or category of cooking, this book meanders through baking, soups, snacks, sides, mains and desserts, and all around the world. The book is illustrated with Karen’s own photography, of the places she’s visited, as well as the recipes themselves.

Lavender & Lovage, available on Amazon, is written by Karen Burns-Booth and published by Passageway Press.

 

Living on the Veg: A kids’ guide to life without meat by Clive Gifford and Jacqueline Meldrum

Book jacket for Living on the Veg: A kids' guide to life without meat by Clive Gifford and Jacqueline Meldrum

Another book from a fellow blogger friend, Jacqueline Meldrum, and author Clive Gifford, Living on the Veg is is aimed at helping children to understand how to live and eat as vegetarians.

Gifford, a well established children’s author, provides simple and clear explanations of why people choose to give up meat, the difference between vegetarian, vegan, amd pescatarian diets, and how to ensure that a vegetarian diet is healthy and nutritious. There is also practical guidance on issues such as reading and understanding food labels, budgeting, and the key food groups.

Meldrum, author of long-standing vegetarian blog Tinned Tomatoes, provides the recipes, all of them suitable for family cooking and eating.

Living on the Veg, available on Amazon, is written by Clive Gifford and Jacqueline Meldrum and published by Wayland, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group.

 

My Fussy Eater by Ciara Attwell

Book jacket for My Fussy Eater by Ciara Attwell

My Fussy Eater provides practical, easy and delicious solutions for fussy eaters that the whole family can enjoy!

Many parents have to deal with the fateful ‘Fussy Eater’ at some point in their lives. In this book, the hugely successful blogger and food writer Ciara Attwell, shares easy ways to get your children eating a variety of healthy, delicious foods. You will find lots of family-friendly recipes, entire meal plans and the all-important tips on dealing with fussy eaters.

Key to its value for parents is avoiding the need to cook separate meals for parents and children, saving time, money and stress. All recipes take 30 minutes or less to prepare and cook, using simple, everyday ingredients and many can be made in bulk for even easier mealtimes.

My Fussy Eater, available on Amazon, is written by Ciara Attwell and published by Lagom. 

 

Mowgli Street Food by Nisha Katona

Book jacket for Mowgli Street Food by Nisha Katona

Only a few years ago, Nisha Katona was working as a barrister, but dreaming of Indian food, her real passion. Like me, she was born to first generation immigrants from India, both doctors (like mine), who no doubt gently encouraged Katona into a “sensible” profession! In the book’s introduction she talks about her experience growing up in an era when racism was rife and integration was hard work. The family won over their neighbours through traditional Indian hospitality – as Katona says, Indians love to feed people.

In 2014 Katona said goodbye to the legal world and hello to the world of food, launching Mowgli restaurant in Liverpool, to a very warm reception from customers and critics alike. She followed by launching the first sister restaurant in Manchester less than a year later, with more Mowgli siblings in the growing chain. It’s a joy to read her story of the journey from lawyer to restaurateur.

Mowgli’s menu is all about the kind of food Indians eat at home, and on the street. Much of the daily diet is full of fresh vegetables and pulses, providing lots of flavour in a healthy way. When creating the menu, Katona chose her favourite 20 Indian dishes (irrespective of which Indian region they hailed from), and was surprised to realise that 12 of these are vegetarian. These are the recipes Katona shares in her cookbook, along with many other delicious dishes to appeal to anyone keen on cooking real Indian food.

Mowgli Street Food, available on Amazon, is written by Nisha Katona and published by Watkins and Nourish.

 

Pidapipó: Gelato Eight Days a Week by Lisa Valmorbida

Book jacket for Pidapipó: Gelato Eight Days a Week by Lisa Valmorbida

Written by chef and author Lisa Valmorbida, Pidapipó is named for the ice cream parlour she established in Melbourne, Australia after first learning the ropes working at one of the best gelaterias in Turin, Italy.

Valmorbida makes gelato in the traditional way using only fresh fruit and real ingredients, plus whole milk. In this book she shares not only a wide range of delicious gelato recipes but also sorbettos, granitas, and classic and modern Italian desserts. I can’t wait for summer to try out her Raspberry and Rose Bombe Alaska, Brioche with Pistachio Gelato (my favourite flavour), and her Tiramisu Layer Cake.

Pidapipó, available on Amazon, is written by Lisa Valmorbida and published by Hardie Grant.

 

Pies & Tarts For All Seasons by Annie Rigg

Book jacket for Pies & Tarts For All Seasons by Annie Rigg

Who doesn’t love a pie? Whether it’s sweet or savoury, individual or sharing, rustic or elegant… the combination of pastry and filling is irresistible. This new book is a celebration of all things pie and tart, with 100 recipes covering both sweet and savoury, suitable for all kinds of occasions.

Rigg covers a range of base recipes for different types of pastry, including flaky pastry, pâte sablée, cream cheese pastry, and a clever sourdough pastry that makes use of leftover sourdough starter.

Recipes are inventive and appealing; from Malted Custard Tartlets with Bourbon-Soaked Raisins to Vietnamese Pork Puffs, Cherry and Almond Sourdough Pie, Smoked Aubergine and Herb Tarts on crumbly walnut-flavoured pastry, and Veal and Pork Sausage Rolls with Sage and Fennel Seeds, it’s hard not to salivate as you flick through to choose what to make first.

Photography is beautiful, and with such a wide range of flavours and techniques, there are recipes to suit beginners as well as seasoned bakers.

Pies and Tarts, available on Amazon, is written by Annie Rigg and published by Quadrille.

 

Robata: Japanese Home Grilling by Silla Bjerrum

Book jacket for Robata: Japanese Home Grilling by Silla Bjerrum

I utterly adore Japanese cuisine, so immensely varied and utterly delicious, and often far easier to make at home than people expect. Silla Bjerrum has been championing Japanese cuisine in the UK for many years, as the founder of popular sushi chain Feng Sushi in the late 1990s, as well as a teacher of sushi and other Japanese cooking across Europe.

In this title, Bjerrum explores the world of robata, cooking skewered food over a charcoal grill. Ingredients including fish, shellfish, meat, vegetables and funghi all feature together, flavoured with a variety of marinades and glazes and often served with specific condiments, pickles and side dishes.

The book includes classic items such as chicken yakitori and miso back cod, as well as many vegetarian robata recipes and a wide selection of accompaniments. These can easily be cooked on an authentic robata grill, or using your home barbecue or oven grill.

Robata: Japanese Home Grilling, available from Amazon, is written by Silla Bjerrum and published by Jacqui Small, an imprint of the Quarto Group. 

 

SUQAR: Desserts and sweets from the modern Middle East by Greg and Lucy Malouf

Book jacket for SUQAR: Desserts and sweets from the modern Middle East by Greg and Lucy Malouf

I’m a big fan of Greg and Lucy Malouf’s books, particularly Saraban, a truly beautiful title. In Suqar, they explore desserts and sweet treats from the Middle East, where sharing sweets is an important aspect of hospitality.

Split into ten chapters (Fruit, Dairy, Frozen, Cookies, Cakes & Puddings, Pastries & Tarts, Fritters & Pancakes, Confectionery, Preserves and Drinks), Suqar shares well over 100 recipes based on Greg’s Lebanese heritage, and the couple’s extensive travels around the Middle East. Some are more traditional, others showcase Greg’s signature style of modernisation and fusion. Expect plenty of flavours so evocative of the Middle East – cardamom, cinnamon, saffron and citrus, flower waters, honey, pomegranates, figs, tahini, labne and more, combined with ingredients from Australia, Europe and the rest of the world.

Every recipe in the book appeals; I’m particularly drawn to Date tiramisu, Orange blossom possets with pomegranate–blood orange jelly, Rose jam ice cream, Choc chip–tahini cookies, Chocolate fondant pudding cakes with Turkish delight, Crunchy cardamom fritters, and Persian butter fudge, to name just a few.

Suqar, available on Amazon, is written by Greg and Lucy Malouf and published by Hardie Grant.

 

The Japanese Larder: Bringing Japanese Ingredients Into Your Everyday Cooking by Luiz Hara

Book Jacket for The Japanese Larder: Bringing Japanese Ingredients into Your Everyday Cooking by Luiz Hara

I’ve known and enjoyed Luiz Hara’s approach to food and his cooking for almost a decade, and am a huge fan of his second book, The Japanese Larder, a great follow up to his first book, Nikkei, a reflection of the fusion cuisine of Japan and Brazil. In this title, Hara introduces a range of Japanese ingredients and techniques, some familiar and some less so, with tips and recipes for incorporating them into our every day cooking.

You will find some classic Japanese dishes, but many of the recipes in the book are modern ideas with influences from around the world. Ingredients like miso, matcha and mirin are enormously versatile and Hara encourages us to use them more extensively and in more inventive ways.

Recipes are grouped by the main ingredient, with chapters covering Dried, Fermented and Preserved Japanese Ingredients; Japanese Spices, Condiments and Garnishes; Japanese Rice, Noodles and Tofu; Japanese Fruit and Vegetables; Japanese Teas and Other Beverages; and Sauces, Marinades and Garnishes. In each chapter is a detailed introduction to the ingredients, making this a great reference and learning resource as well as a source for delicious recipes.

Read my full review, and enjoy three recipes extracted with the permission of the publisher.

The Japanese Larder, available on Amazon, is written by Luiz Hara and published by Jacqui Small (Quarto Books).

 

The Lazy Weekend Cookbook by Matt Williamson

Book jacket for The Lazy Weekend Cookbook
If you love cooking and eating, the weekend is your time, time to cook up a storm of delicious recipes, for breakfast lunch or dinner, whether you’re feeding yourself, the family or a gathering of friends.

Chef Matt Williamson is best known for his Flinty Red restaurant in Bristol, but has worked in a range of restaurants from casual pubs and bistros to Michelin starred restaurants. In The Lazy Weekend Cookbook, he shares a wide range of dishes including breakfast classics such as French toast and pancakes, modern brunch ideas like chorizo hash browns or cheesy cornbread muffins, satisying lunch or dinner dishes such as baked giant meatballs or a Persian-style shoulder of lamb. There are ideas for picnics, barbecues, and parties, or for a delicious weekend inside, hiding from the world.

The Lazy Weekend Cookbook, available from Amazon, is written by Matt Williamson and published by National Trust Books, an imprint of Pavilion Books.

 

The Life Of Tea: A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas by Michael Freeman and Timothy d’Offay

Book jacket for The Life Of Tea

As a tea addict, it’s no surprise that I was drawn to The Life Of Tea: A Journey to the World’s Finest Teas. The book is a joint project by documentary photographer Michael Freeman and tea expert Timothy d’Offay (who I first came across through his London tea business, Postcard Teas). It’s based on their travels around the world’s tea growing regions. With sections on tea botany and horticulture, processing and preparation methods and the history and cultural impact of tea, the book covers China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka and is stunningly illustrated with beautiful colour photography; particularly striking as the book is a big one – slightly larger than A4 size.

This is a beautiful book, and would make a really special gift for any tea enthusiast, especially those who love the delicate high quality teas of Asia and would like to learn more about them.

The Life Of Tea, available on Amazon, is photographed and written by Michael Freeman and tea expert Timothy d’Offay, and published by Mitchell Beazley. 

 

The National Trust Book of Crumbles by Laura Mason

Book jacket for the National Trust's Book of Crumbles
Who doesn’t love a great crumble or cobbler for dessert, especially during the colder months of autumn and winter? For those who’ve not come across Crumbles, these are often called Crisps in North America, and feature the classic crunchy crisp topping over fruit. For those who aren’t familiar with Cobblers, these feature fruity fillings topped with a sweet scone or dumpling-like topping.

In this National Trust title, Laura Mason shares 50 recipes for comforting crumble and cobblers (both savoury and sweet) ranging from familiar and much-loved classics like rhubarb crumble or apple, chestnut and mushroom crumble, to more unusual combinations such as plum and amaretti. There are also some new ideas such as crumble cheesecakes and even microwavable mug crumbles for when you’re short of time!

The National Trust Book of Crumbles, available from Amazon, is written by Laura Mason and published by National Trust Books, an imprint of Pavilion Books.

 

The National Trust’s Classic British Cooking by Sarah Edington

Book jacket for the National Trust's Classic British Cooking
Published by National Trust as part of their series of cookbooks sharing traditional and modern British recipes, Classic British cooking is a celebration of recipes from soups and starters, to mains, sides, drinks, desserts and sauces. Whether you are looking for guidance on making potted crab, slow-roasted pork belly, steamed ginger pudding or a classic chutney, this book will show you how. Sarah Edington also shares the history behind many of the dishes, making this both an informative and practical title.

National Trust Classic British Cooking, available from Amazon, is written by Sarah Edington and published by National Trust Books, an imprint of Pavilion Books.

 

The Nordic Baking Book by Magnus Nilsson

Book jacket for The Nordic Baking Book by Magnus Nilsson

The Scandinavians really are a region of bakers, I think it’s an essential part of their psyches, and sweet or savoury baked treats are enjoyed throughout the day, for breakfast, for a snack with tea or coffee or for a main meal.

In this book, chef Magnus Nilsson explores a wide range of Nordic baking, based on his research travels through Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. He shares classic recipes and modern twists, as well as personal and family recipes. There are many easy-to-follow recipes, with step-by-step instructions for aspects such as shaping buns and braids, or building a ginger bread house.

From Danish Marzipan Napoleon Hats to Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake and Finnish Spoon Cookies, there are over 450 recipes in this hefty and comprehensive cookery book, a great addition to any kitchen shelf.

The Nordic Baking Book, available on Amazon, is written by Magnus Nilsson and published by Phaidon. 

 

The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World: A History of Pork, Honey, Salt, Chilli, Rice, Cacao and Tomato by Jenny Linford

Book jacket for The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World: A History of Pork, Honey, Salt, Chilli, Rice, Cacao and Tomato by Jenny Linford

I love the premise of this book! Some ingredients are so adaptable that they have become almost universal staples all around the world. Food writer Jenny Linford picks seven of the most important – cacao, chili, honey, pork, rice, salt, and tomato – and relates the role that each has played in human life.

Trading the epic journey of each ingredient from its point of origin, she tells the story of how it reached the rest of the world and the different ways that each place adopted and adapted it into their cuisine. These culinary histories are brought to life through 63 recipes, each with one of the seven wonder ingredients in a starring role.

This is a fascinating book for anyone who loves to learn about the history and culture of food, alongside the cooking.

The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World, available from Amazon, is written by Jenny Linford and published by White Lion Publishing, an imprint of the Quarto Group. 

 

The Taste Of Portugal by Edite Vieira

Book jacket for The Taste Of Portugal by Edite Vieira

This updated paperback edition of Edite Vieira’s authorative book on Portuguese cuisine (first published in 1995) traces the history and culture of the country’s cuisine from medieval times through to the modern day, with plenty of recipes along the way. There are dishes making use of bacalhau (salt cod), sardines and shellfish; recipes featuring spices and ingredients that were brought back during the age of exploration, and of course, a repertoire of porky deliciousness. And, as befits a nation of sweet teeth, a chapter of ‘Sweet Things’ from puddings to pastries, fried cakes to biscuits and more.

The introduction is a pleasure to read, painting a portrait of how food and drink is at the very heart of Portuguese culture, exploring the traditions of food and festivals, and introducing the core ingredients that feature most heavily.

The Taste of Portugal, available on Amazon, is written by Edite Vieira and published by Grubstreet.

 

Will Travel For Beer: 101 Remarkable Journeys Every Beer Lover Should Experience by Stephen Beaumont

Book jacket for Will Travel for Beer
If, like me, you like to incorporate food and drink in your travels, and are a fan of good beer, this one is for you. Beer expert Stephen Beaumont takes you around the globe in this ‘world atlas of beer’, sharing all the best beer destinations.

From the breweries of Ashville, North Carolina to those of Beiging, from the Ølfestival in Copenhagen to Oktoberfest in Brazil, from the world’s most romantic pub crawl in Bruges, to the craze for American beers in Japan, Beaumont shares tasting notes, drinking tips and addresses all around the world.

If you’ve chosen holiday destinations based on beer, this is a great reference book for a long list of new ideas for beery travel.

Will Travel For Beer, available on Amazon, is written by Stephen Beaumont and published by Mitchell Beazley.

Collage of Kavey Eats' Best Food and Drink Books of 2018

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7 Comments to "Kavey Eats’ Guide to the Best Food & Drink Books of 2018"

  1. Karen

    What an amazing round up of some wonderful books, there’s some there I already have and some I’ve added to my Christmas list. Thank you so much for adding my book, I’m in good company. Karen

    Reply
  2. Lisa

    So many great books on this list!! I have a couple, but there are a few I haven’t heard of that I may have to track down…. love a great cookbook!!

    Reply
  3. Janice

    I have to look away, I’m such a cookbook lover and I I have to choose carefully as my house is full of cookbooks! Having you review the books for me is really helpful and I might just have to sneak another one of two onto my shelves.

    Reply

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