Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Books General Cooking

General Cooking

  1. A Gourmet's Guide: Food & Drink from A to Z - John Ayto, 1990. Not an Australian book, but great fun to read and learn from.
  2. A Little Scottish Cookbook - Paul Harris, 1988. A little book that my wife likes to look at from time to time to remind herself of her heritage (several generations back).
  3. A Taste of Kashmir - Geeta Samatani, 1995. Kashmiri curries are richer and creamier than Indian ones. This book is an excellent introduction to the cooking style of this part of the sub-continent.
  4. Authentic Recipes from Korea - Injoo Chun, 2004. Korean food has wondeful combinations of ingredients and tastes. This is a good introduction to their cuisine, much of which is easy to prepare.
  5. Chinese Village Cookbook - Rhoda Yee, 1975. Uncomplicated food, with very interesting descriptions of Chinese village life.
  6. Cuisine Gourmande - Michel Guérard, 1977. A very politically incorrect book! But the food is wonderful. Published when Cuisine Minceur was at its peak, the author claims that "the complete absence of flour-based sauces will help keep the greedy cook slim - cream, butter and feather-light pastries take their place."
  7. Easy-Stages Cook Book - Good Housekeeping, 1972. Books like this are a great way for beginners to learn to cook and are also a good source of simple recipes for all of us.
  8. Fondue and Table Top Cookery - Marion Howells, 1971. Fondues were all the rage in the 1970s. This book makes them easy.
  9. Risotto Around the World - Tamara Milstein, 1996. Not an Australian book, but risottos originated in the countries that many of our immigrants came from, so they are well-established as an item on Australian menus.
  10. Stir-Fry - Diane Rossen Worthington, 1994. A book from a Time-Life series. This is one of the best books that I know of to learn about stir frying all sorts of foods. Not Australian, but good anyway!
  11. The Complete Asian Cookbook - Charmaine Solomon, 1976. I know that this is not an Australian cookbook. But Charmaine Solomon's books are the best around, and I couldn't resist adding this one to the list. I learned to cook Asian food from this book.
  12. The Wok - Gary Lee, 1970. I taught myself how to use a wok from the recipes in this book - I still have my original wok from the early 70s - a heavy steel, very black and well-seasoned thing that lurks in the bottom of the pantry. Now I most often use an excellent electric one with a non-stick cooking surface - but it's not the same as the old one with a million flavours!

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