The title of Olly Smith’s latest book, Home Cocktail Bible, set a whole bunch of expectations for my husband and me, and we’re guessing the same applies to you. We’re reasonably regular home cocktail makers with a handful or two of books in our arsenal, ranging from the simple to the quirky to the complex. ... Read more »
Three by Selin Kiazim
Selin Kiazim had an unusual and admirable ambition in mind when writing her enigmatically titled cookbook, Three. She wanted to give an accomplished eater and competent “recipe cook” the tools to have the confidence to play with their cooking, to drop their reliance on the stricture of recipes and feel free to create. The secret, ... Read more »
Thali: A Joyful Celebration of Indian Home Cooking by Maunika Gowardhan
Whether intentional or not, the canvas of Thali by Maunika Gowardhan is an instant evocation of the Hindu Holi Festival of Colours, bright flashes of red, pink, yellow, blue, turquoise and green flung across the book’s cover and through its pages with a sense of joy and abandon. Great book design is a unique art ... Read more »
How to Bake Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell
The publication of How to Bake Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell follows the phenomenal success of her debut How to Make Anything Gluten Free (previously reviewed here), which prompted Nigella Lawson to endorse Becky as “the Queen of gluten-free baking” (I can only imagine the resulting paroxysms of joy in the Excell household). Becky’s ... Read more »
Veggiestan by Sally Butcher
This 10 year anniversary green and gold clad edition of Veggiestan by Sally Butcher comes at an opportune time: vegan and vegetarian cookbooks almost outnumber the omnivore cookbooks publishers are currently offering, as climate consciousness encourages us all to reduce our meat intake and increase the production quality (and hence cost) of the meat we ... Read more »
Take One Fish by Josh Niland
I was excited by the thud on my doormat of a review copy of Take One Fish by Josh Niland. Josh is an Australian chef and restaurant owner renowned for his nose-to-tail (fin-to-flipper?) approach to fish cooking, first published to universal acclaim in his previous book, The Whole Fish. He wants to inspire us with ... Read more »
Baked to Perfection by Katarina Cermelj
A gluten-free cookbook for rubes like me wanting to create a perfect bake – could Baked to Perfection by Katarina Cermelj be The One? Please don’t be put off by Cermelj’s credentials as a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry. If anything, lean into it. The beauty of Cermelj’s background is that she has, as she says ... Read more »
The Turkish Cookbook by Ghillie Başan
Ghillie Başan is a food anthropologist, and food and travel writer with a large back catalogue of cookbooks (one of which – Mezze – I already own, and The Lebanese Cookbook which we reviewed on Kavey Eats earlier in the year). Başan’s books are primarily focussed around the Middle East and Turkey though Indonesia, Cambodia, ... Read more »
Sicilia by Ben Tish
Sicily is high up on my ‘must visit’ list. I’ve watched many travelogues and cookery programmes covering the opulent geography, the history crafted by the positioning of Sicily between Europe and North Africa, and the cuisine blending Italian and Arab influences in its own unique way. In Sicilia Ben Tish does a fine job in ... Read more »
Sunshine Kitchen by Vanessa Bolosier
Vanessa Bolosier’s Sunshine Kitchen: Delicious Creole recipes from the heart of the Caribbean is a cookbook whose photos lift your soul every time you open it. Sea turquoises, sky blues and sunshine yellows predominate, punctuated with scotch bonnet reds and vivid jewel greens. Just flip through the book and you feel Vitamin D3-ed. Never has ... Read more »