Book Review - 'Turkish flavours: recipes from a seaside café' By Sevtap Yuce

Written by Turkish chef, Sevtap Yuce, who grew up in Turkey and now lives and owns a restaurant in Australia, 'Turkish Flavours: recipes from a seaside café' consists of classic Turkish dishes with an inspired modern feel.

The book is organised into chapters according to dish type, and include chapters on Mezze and salads. The recipes are easy to read and simple to follow. The book also contains beautiful images of food that will make you want to start cooking right away.

You will find traditional dishes such as koftes, menemen and dolmades as well as yummy sweets such as baklava and yoghurt and olive oil cake. This is for anyone interested in Turkish cooking, or simply tasty food.

Book Review - Delia's Cakes

This is a completely revised edition of Delia Smith's Book of Cakes first published in 1977. Since then, she has gone on to be a household name in Britain and quite well known in Australia, so presumably does not need a surname anymore. The recipes have all been revised, simplified and updated for 2013 and she includes useful general tips on methods and equipment. More than 90% have options for gluten-free baking and some recipes are egg-free. She now advocates using soft butter spreads which almost completely do away with the step of creaming the butter and sugar, just put them all in together and whisk! As well as all kinds of cakes, there are also recipes for delicious sounding biscuits and muffins. The Iced Lemon Curd Layer Cake and the Hidden Strawberry Cupcakes caught my eye and the light sponge of the Orange and Passionfruit Cake would suit this warmer weather. Wendy

Book Review - A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell

This is much more of a history book than Who put the Beef into Wellington? Sitwell, a British TV and magazine foodie goes back in time to identify when foods first emerged and the historical contexts. Bread, porridge, roast beef, tomato sauce, oatmeal cookies and ice-cream sodas are a small fraction of what is covered. Including fragments from the earliest known writing about the dish, Sitwell's purpose isn't to help you cook it, but to appreciate its history. Find out why the tomato was viewed with great suspicion in Europe to begin with - apart from anything else, The Axtecs ate them but they also ate people…. , but it went on to be one of the essential ingredients of many cuisines. I found this a fascinating but slow read – a few chapters at a time. Be warned with both of these two food books you will experience a great need to read bits aloud to your nearest and dearest! Wendy

Book Review - Who put the Beef into Wellington? 50 culinary classics – who invented them and why by James Martin

This book contains 2 double page spread about 50 iconic recipes. The first gives a short history of the origins and context of the dish emerging and also briefly how it has captured the public imagination. The second gives the author's updated version of the dish. Recipes include Tarte Tatin, Melba toast, Waldorf Salad etc The latter entry includes the original recipes from The Cookbook by Oscar of the Waldorf 1896. The book also includes short entries on 10 classic cocktails including Bellini and Martini. This is a very engaging coffee table book to dip into. Wendy

Cooking...mmmmm...

We were passing the cooking shelves at the library today and had to snap this one! What an unusual mix of books on display- it really demonstrates the vast range of food and cooking books available for loan at your library. Click one to view more details, and as always, we'd love to see you in person at our Camden and Narellan branches.

Glamour Cakes

This book is sumptuous and breath-taking! This is food art! hopefully there are people in our library community who will invest the time to make some of the creations in this book - for me - I am content to just look and marvel at what can be achieved. Butterflies, cherubs, white chocolate cigarillos, flowers and spots - who would have thought they could be so magical. For an elegant and sophisticated cake try the American Retro or Venetian Carnival....or lose your heart to Lavender Fields or Cherry Envelope. Extensive step-by-step instructions with pictures show how to make the cakes, icings, edible garnishes and how to construct your very own Glamour Cake.
Wendy

Fast, Fresh and Fabulous

A terrific cook book from Janelle Bloom of Ready Steady Cook fame. She covers entrees, mains, desserts, drinks, cakes and sweets and some basics for all occasions. As well as fabulous full recipes, she has quick tips eg Apple and Mint Sauce - peel and dice golden delicious apples, microwave on high until tender. Add spoonfuls of mint jelly and process until smooth adding sugar to taste. Serve with pork schnitzel. I can't wait to try her favourite mud cake or her potato and sweet onion frittata. Meats, seafood, vegetarian dishes - something to tempt every tastebud!

Wendy

Cook's Endeavour Journal : the inside story

This charming little book takes all the work out of research and presents you with choice bits of information, facsimiles & transcripts of actual written records and reproductions of artwork from precious original items held by the National Library of Australia. While we go about our daily routine, busy people are working with these items and discovering our history and serving it up in these bite size chunks! Less than 180 pages of text and images give a wonderful flavour of Cook's journeys and the achievements of this talented crew which included Banks and Solander. The portions of transcripts are given background and context so we can understand their significance. The original journal is available on line as are the transcripts which is terrific for more in depth research but for a small weekend trip on the bark Endeavour, this beautifully designed book is perfect.
Wendy

Make it Moroccan

A luscious new cook book exploring Moroccan cuisine. a brief introduction to Morocco and its cuisine is followed by chapters focusing on a different theme eg Tagines, preserved lemon/limes, pomegranates, salads etc. The chapter starts off with an explanation/recipe for the main theme and then has some yummy recipes. I think I'll try the Caramelised Tomatoes (ingredients include nutmeg, rosewater, pepper, honey, cinnamon and almonds) and then branch out into something more involved. Although the recipes use lots of spices, they don't seem too complicated. The photos certainly look mouth watering. Another fine addition to our wonderful collection of cook books.
Wendy