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Friend
As winter bites here in Melbourne we have been
enjoying a new season of winter vegetables: turnips,
swedes, potatoes, celeriac, kale, swiss & rainbow
chard in warming stews, soups & pies. There is
something extremely comforting about a large bowl at
dinner time; of course the odd glass of Barossa shiraz
helps too!.
Last year it was all about pressure cookers
(apparently) but this year, it is the year of the slow
cooker. Although we don't own one, we have been
making do on the stove top looking in Clifford Wright's
Stews ($34.95) & Paula Wolfert's The Slow
Mediterranean Kitchen ($49.95); the greek beef stifado
with fetta, raisins & walnuts is the winner at the
moment....
Winter also means shorter days & conversely longer
nights, which is just as well as we are still spending
most nights working on our online catalogue. For
those who have heard it before - we are really close -
really!
As we continue to work on it, we are
also adding more to the catalogue - now approaching
25,000 odd titles on wine, food & cooking.
New to the store are an eclectic range of things
including: a food culture series from Greenwood
Press, a scattering of unusual whisky titles; a number
of self published chef's books from Asia & Europe but
our favourite would probably have to be Chris
Salver's 'Face Food: the visual creativity of Japanese
Bento boxes' - an unbelievable catalogue of home
made Bento 'Lunch' box designs. ($24.95).
Enjoy!
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...event - Monday 21 July...
Viva la Revolucion! by Fiona Dunlop
Critically acclaimed food & travel writer Fiona Dunlop
will be joining us on Monday evening to tell us about
the new food culture in Mexico, as well as her
experieneces in North Africa & Spain.
Please
join us instore for tastes from her latest books & a
fascinating
discussion about the new foods of these
regions.
As usual, our events are free, but
are limited to 30.
Mexico is experiencing a gastronomic revolution. A
return to pre-Hispanic cooking techniques & current
trends towards tapas-style eating are sweeping a
wind of change through the country's food.
From
Michoacan to Mexico City, from Oaxaca to the Yucatan,
Fiona has sought out the chefs & cooks at the
forefront of Mexican cooking to discover the
ingredients & techniques & recipes at the heart of this
revolution.
Here you will find new dishes as
well
as modern versions of classics. Chillies, seafood,
chicken, pork, game, tortillas & tacos play a central
role as do vegetarian dishes based on beans,
tomatoes, avocados, squash, corn & sweet potatoes.
Viva la Revolucion! is an extraordinary gastronomic
journey that captures the energy & colour of the
country & the remarkable food found in Mexico today.
If you think that Mexican food comes in jars at the
supermarket & consists of just guacamole & corn
chips - you'll be surprised.
An Evening with Fiona Dunlop
Date: Monday 21 July
Venue: Books for Cooks
Time: 7pm
Charge: Free
Bookings Essential
Viva La Revolucion!
ISBN: 9781845333034
Format: Hardback
RRP: $59.95
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...a new look at coffee...
two new professional coffee books well worth a look
The Espresso Quest
by Instaurator
ISBN: 9780646486321
Format: 4to Hardcover 224pp
Price: $59.95
If you are looking for a 'how-to' book for espresso
coffee this is not the book for you, you will be left
begging for answers & more detail, but if you are
looking for thought provoking, challenging even
provocative essays on all aspects of espresso coffee
by one of Australia's leading coffee exponents, then
this is worth a look (& several reads).
Beautifully illustrated & privately published, this kept
Tim quiet for most of a day. Recommended for
serious baristas looking for a challenging read.
The Professional Barista's Handbook: an expert's
guide to preparing espresso, coffee & tea
by Scott Rao
ISBN: 9781605300986
Format: 4to Softcover 98pp
Price: $59.95
By contrast, Scott, an American Barista from Boston,
has published an eminently practical book ...his
foreword sums it up quite nicely....
"When I began in the coffee business fourteen
years ago, I read every book I could find about coffee.
After reading all of those books, however, I felt as if I
hadn't learned much about how to make great coffee.
My coffee library was chock-full.... I would have traded
in all of those books for one serious practical book
with relevant information about making great coffee in
a cafe.
Fourteen years later, I still haven't
found that book. I know many other professionals as
well as some obsessive nonprofessionals would like
to find that same book I've been looking for. This book
is my attempt to give it to them."
This too kept Tim quiet, with little mutterings of 'aah'
and 'interesting'. Recommended for any obsessed
barista or home coffee maker looking for the perfect
cup.
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...book of the month...
Ottolenghi: the cookbook
When we unpacked the box earlier this week, Amanda
grabbed a copy & sat on the couch to read it cover to
cover - needless to say a copy has already gone
home & the pumpkin (sweet potato) gratin with cream
& sage has been added to the repertoire of winter
comfort dishes.
Ottolenghi is one of the most iconic & dynamic
foodstores in the UK. Its unique blend of exquisite,
fresh food, abundantly presented in a cutting-edge,
elegant environment, has imaginatively redefined
people's dining expectations.
Yotam & Sami's inventive yet simple dishes are
inspired by their respective childhoods in West & East
Jerusalem but rest on numerous other culinary
traditions, ranging from North Africa to Lebanon, Italy &
California; even Australia!. The 140 original recipes
cover everything from accomplished meat & fish main
courses, through to many healthy & quick salads &
suppers, plus Ottolenghi's famous & delectable cakes
& breads.
This is the perfect book for those looking for inventive
salads, breads, cakes & baking recipes for the jaded.
In the words of Nigel Slater, with whom we
wholeheartedly agree....
"This is simply
wonderful cooking...modern, smart & thoughtful. I love
it!"
Recomended
Ottolenghi: the cookbook
by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
Ebury Press: London, UK 2008
ISBN: 9780091922344
Format: 4to Hardcover 288pp illustrated
Price: 79.95
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...Portugal - the new culinary frontier...
Piri Piri Starfish: Portugal found by Tessa Kiros
Spain & Morocco are still going strong, Tuscany is
passe, but we reckon Portugal is probably the next
culinary 'black'.
When Tessa Kiros took her family to live & travel in
Portugal, she was captivated by the country &
charmed by the old-fashioned way of doing things.
Portugal has everything she loves; the markets, the
sea & the beautiful old pousadas, but she would have
gone for the pasteis de nata alone.
In Piri Piri
Starfish: Portugal Found, Tessa embroiders the
recipes, traditions & Portuguese way of living together
with her own unique colours & threads.
Like her other books (several of which are still
amongst our best-sellers) this book is sumptuous,
rich, comforting & above all about family
food.
Robust, warming, exotic yet simple this
is a beautiful book that will provide armchair travel
from your kitchen (and a good recipe for Portuguese
custard tarts!).
Format: 4to Hardcover 254pp
ISBN: 9781740459099
Price: $59.95
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That's all from us this month, but we will have another
newsletter out shortly.
Regards & Best Wishes
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The best North African food is rooted in the home
rather than in restaurants.
Pushing thirty, living in a rundown apartment in
Queens and working at a dead-end secretarial job,
Julie Powell is, in a word, stuck. In her desperate
search for an escape, she comes up instead with The
Project - a deranged assignment to take her mother's
dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic,
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and cook all 524
recipes. In the span of one year.
Two perennial favourites instore are: