4 comments about Good Food from Australia.

1. This book is an invaluable tool if you are trying to capture the essence of Aussie cooking.Recipes are easy and the ingredients are readily available in the U.S.Not classic cookery, but real grub that Mum would put on the table! The Queensland fruit curry is a winner.



2. The real deal. Traditional Australian home cooking and pub food, as opposed to modern fusion-confusion cuisine.



3. (This is an addendum to a previous review) As an American who has spent some time in Australia, I do have one criticism of this book: I found several jabs by the authors at American food/culture (fat Americans eating giant sandwiches, etc.)to be mildly annoying (though not entirely without basis!), considering that this is a book written by Australians and targeted primarily to an American audience. The authenticity and traditional nature of the Australian recipes, however, make up for this minor flaw.



4. I really love this book! My husband is Australian and I lived there for over a year. We are now in the states and I miss some of the Aussie foods...I asked for this book for Christmas and got it. It is awesome! Has recipes for all the foods that I was missing like meat pies, Lamingtons, Pavlova, and more! It also gives history of the dish and tells alot about Australia as it pertains to whatever you're making. I also like that the recipes are translated into American measuring systems which I always would find difficult when bringing a recipe from Australia because their cups are different and they use the metric system. I'm so excited to have gotten this book and can't wait to cook all my favorites! Being someone who is married to an Aussie as well as lived there for a time, I think this book is awesome and I would suggest it to anyone who wants to cook traditional/modern Australian dishes.

4 comments about Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories.

1. I love this cookbook. I started watching Kylie's show on Discovery and have gotten both her cookbooks. I am currently working my way through the recipes and have yet to find one my family doesn't like. Plus, I love to just sit down and read her stories, she writes so vividly you feel like you are right there with her. I especially like the listing in the back of the products she uses, and the brands she recommends. It made it much easier to go my local Asian store and find exactly what I needed. The only problem is having to translate cooking temperatures from celcius to farenheit and she uses grams instead of ounces/pounds in the measurements. BUT, it is worth the few minutes hassle of converting to what I need, so I don't really mind it too much.



2. Kylie is inventive and fun. Her stories made me read her book cover to cover!



3. The recipes are great. Lots of variety and easy to follow, even for a beginner like me...
   
   Just have peanut oil and ginger available, it's in almost all her recipes, and your good to go.
   
   Enjoy!



4. Kylie love for her family and her cooking shows on every page and her simple but mastery recipies makes you want to cook chinese as often as you could. Enjoy !

5 comments about Terrific Pacific Cookbook.

1. I've been making Thai Drumsticks for a Crowd for potlucks for the last two years. They're a real draw on a table full of tahini and tabouli! These recipes are easy and the authors descriptions are engaging. Not for people who are looking for serious ethnoculinary books, but easy to dazzle with.



2. I'm a cookbook junkie, and I have dozens of books I just look at and never actually cook from. This isn't one of them. It's stained and dog-eared, from trying exotic but not terribly difficult recipes like Pot Roast with Asian flavors, stir-fried spinach and a terrific pineapple upside-down cafe with rummy, coconutty whipped cream. A great way to cook Asian without resorting to fattening, take-out-style recipes. The small sections about markets in Southeast Asia and such are also good...they make you want to try this food in person!



3. I've been through a lot of Asian Cookbooks but this is one that I keep comming back to for new and orginal reciepes.

   Asian Fusion is the Theme, particularly Southest Asia. Thai, Indonesia, Phillipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Fusion Recepies from Australia and New Zenland dot the pages as well as receipies that are had to classify other than really good. They blend ingredients and techniques for some awesome dishes.

   The book is more or less organized by theme and ingredient, finger foods, poultry, deserts, salads, soups etc.
   In addition to the organization of the book the receipies are organized in a reasonable fashion as well. To many cook books haphazardly organize the steps and ingredients so that you miss something or do it out of sequence (oh, I was supposed to boil this first).

   This is not a book for beginners though. The reciepies here are generally moderate to very complex and are generally not the sort of thing you throw together at the last minute. Not to say they don't have some quick and easy ones but the theme is more towards those with gormet inclinations and farmiliarity with Asian cooking already.

   One downside to the book is they assume you have access to an incredible variety of ethnic ingredients. In Austin we have Asian Markets and Central Market (an awesome store that specializes in gormet ingredients) but from time to time I find myself unable to locate something needed for some dishes. I've learned some substitutions. Also some of the reciepies can run up your food bill a bit. They are best left for those yearly special occasions.

   Still its an EXCELLENT cookbook. Every time I get bored I go back to it and find something new and interesting. Its just loaded with great stuff. Buy it, you won't regret.




4. I love to cook, and have a number of cookbooks. Over the last four years, I have turned to "Terrific Pacific" 9 out of 10 times. Most Asian cookbooks are too frequently focused on one style, assume you know everything about the mysterious, or unfamiliar ingredients cited, and don't make you feel the recipes are accessible. "Terrific Pacific" is, in my opinion, a new classic. If you are interested in Pacific Rim cooking, this is a great place to start. You will develop a comfort level with fresh, interesting ingredients, and an appreciation for clean, lovely food from the other side of the planet. With a new vocabulary of ingredients, I have also had fun changing/developing recipes of my own. Kudos to Anya von Bremzen.



5. This book has an amazing variety of great recipes from many parts of the world. There are many new and unusual recipes in every section :finger foods, soups, curries, starters, meats, noodles, desserts etc. Each section also has short essays which give you an introduction to unique qualities of the food, ingredients and recipes in the area that relate to this section. This rounds out this great book with historical, geographic, culinary and gastronomic information. The instructions and recipes are clear and easy to understand. Most of the ingredients are ones you can find locally. While I have many still to try, these recipes have garnered my endorsement: stir fried spinach (9.6/10); eggplant curry (9.6/10); BBQ red snapper (9.8/10); grilled herb steak (9.8/10;marinated fish (9.5/10). I already have at least a dozen other recipes I want to try immediately. Get this book if you want to try some recipes from around the world. You will be glad you did.

3 comments about Childrens Birthday Cake Book ("Australian Women's Weekly" Home Library).

1. I had this book when I was a kid and everytime my birthday would roll around I would flip through this and admire all the doll cakes, sprinkled cakes, chocolate cakes and so forth. One year the piano cake was recreated for my birthday and we added some musical accessories to it. Some of the other highlights I enjoyed in here were the tea party cake, the candy shop cake, the doll cakes, the number cakes, the musical instrument ones, fairy tale ones and this really pretty cake with vanilla frosting with sprinkly hearts on the sides. People used to really treat cake baking as an art form as shown in this book, but now people just want to get the same old cake from a grocery store or a plain cake with a picture of the latest cartoon fad or something, where's the art in that? Definitely buy this book and make creative cakes together with your kids or anyone at all, it's a great pasttime



2. This was an absolute favourite with the kids in my family when we were growing up. Getting to choose what cake you were going to have was a favourite family tradition. You should REALLY get this book for your kids.



3. I had this book as a child too - my mother made the piano cake, the baby doll cake and many more which I remember vividly. Now I have two little boys and they love looking through the book to choose their own birthday cakes. So far we have made number cakes, dump trucks, barns and ducks together - not always quite from the book, but using it as inspiration. The kids love it and it's great fun. Highly recommended!

5 comments about Tetsuya: Recipes from Australia's Most Acclaimed Chef.

1. Beautifully presented, innovative recipes, amazing combinations of flavors that one would not normally consider. I have made a number of the recipes which have won rave reviews from my guests. I love cooking and eating and found these receipes easy to follow however to get the best results one really needs to use the freshest of ingrediants. Some recipes are a little more involved and need a trial run prior to trying them on guests. One of the best cook books I have seen for some time and I have quite a few. For those that really appreciate the best in food.



2. Two weeks ago my girlfriend Snow and I dined at Tetsuya's new restaurant Mju at the Millenium Knightsbridge Hotel in London, prompted by Snow's raving of Tetsuya from her winters in Sydney. The only dining option is an eight-mini-course tasting menu, but since the man himself was in town (Tetsuya spends only one week a month in London) we were all for it. We thought the portions were adequate, but I suspect people used to NYC portions might go home hungry. I must say that his cuisine was awesome - highlighting the flavors of fresh ingredients, and many of the courses were based on raw or undercooked items. Although the presentation of the food was highly stylised - just look at the photos in the cookbook and they are similarly presented at your table - the cooking is unfussed and the philosophy predominantly reflected the Japanese appreciation for simplicity and French classical culinary techniques. The result was that every dish managed to emphasize yet enhance the flavor of the main ingredient. Compared to Nobu, Tetsuya is hardly fusion and very Asian at heart. Most of the courses served at Mju are included in the cookbook, so we know that these recipes have been tried and tested. What's most gratifying is the listing at the end of the book of food sources for Mju - London lags NYC in terms of high-end food stores such as Dean & Deluca and Citarella, so the list is very useful, and it allows me to dream about learning to cook at the level of a master like Tetsuya.



3. Altough this is a beautifully illustrated book, I found that the recipes I tried seemed to just miss the mark. I am an experienced Asian cook and have lots of knowledge of fresh Asian ingredients so I was not daunted by the recipes. When each dish was completed it looked beautiful but tasted as if something was missing. I have tried recreating several of the dishes to no avail. Puzzling!



4. When I say expierenced, let me explain. My wife and I just recently became parents and it makes it REAL difficult to go out and eat let alone find the money. If your a parent, you know what im saying.
   
   That said we are by no ways professional chefs. This book really explains it out and the ingrediants(or what to substitute.) This book helps you gain a palette and expierence new flavors.
   
   This book in my opinion is not Nobu, but you cant cook the same meals over and over. This WILL get you on the way to creating your own dishes.
   
   GOOD LUCK and make your purchase to further your development!



5. Having had the fortune to eat at Tetsuyas, I could not resist buying the book. Tetsuya is a master and a complete perfectionist. I do not use this book often as I find it a little like following a Japanese Thomas Keller (lots of work!) but it is a gorgeous book from an inspirational chef.

2 comments about Surfing the Menu: Two Chefs, One Journey: A Fresh Food Adventure.

1. I bought this as a gift and the recipient loved it. I had browsed the book prior to wrapping and found it to be interesting, colorful and useful.



2. Nicely presented book, nice anecdotes for the recipies however the ingredients are a bit out of the range of most people. They are also hard to replicate easily, exotic and expensive ingredients form the basis for most recipies, truffles, raddichio, barramundi, lobsters and more are the basis for most of the recipies. could have been much better if substitutes were recommended
   
   Update: Anyone who watches masterchef should by now realise how much of a douche Ben O'Donaghue is after his sore loss to contestant Lucas.

1 comments about Oz Clarke's Australian Wine Companion (Oz Clarke's Wine Companions).

1. Australian Wine Companion: An Essential Guide For All Lovers Of Australian Wine is a 'must' for any who would explore Australian wines with one of the most famous wine writers in the world. Divided by grape growing region and regional producers, this doesn't just list wineries and their specialties: it also provides both background history and insights into how the winery has changed since its establishment; in the process revealing much about Australian wine industry history as a whole. Whether you're a destination-oriented wine enthusiast or an armchair reader/drinker, Australian Wine Companion is the first starter kit.

No comments about James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2009 (James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion).

5 comments about The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen.

1. Have gone through all but 80% of the recipes in the book. The most impressive thing is the simple instructions and advice, which are always precise and helpful. How other cooks can spend pages on the instructions is beyond me, it's a cook book, not a novel. Probably should drop a star for the amount of offal recipes, but having tried it SOME are not too bad, but not rushing to try them again, e.g. pigs trotters. But this is another positive point to the book, the comprehensive range of ingredients used and the they way they can be cooked, ensures there is a number of recipes to meet everyones tastes and cooking styles.



2. I don't know a lot about the kitchen and cooking, so I felt that this book was a great way to start. It taught me so much about cooking and more importantly, it explained a lot of things about ingredients and how to prepare them. It was VERY informative, especially for beginners. I highly recommend this book, even if you are not from Australia.



3. It's a big claim, but this might be the greatest cookbook ever published.
   
   The crowning piece of the author's long and distinguished career, it is utterly comprehensive, authoritative and, befitting its title, friendly and companionable.
   
   Alexander begins with a general introduction followed by thorough sections on equipment and basic ingredients, preparations and techniques.
   
   Then follows the main body of the work, which runs to more than 1100 pages without ever seeming too long or even too heavy. Well over a hundred ingredients, starting with abalone and ending with zucchini and squash, are covered. She begins with introductory remarks, which often venture into history and folklore, sometimes spiced with appropriate literary quotations. Each entry has useful notes on varieties and seasons [although here adjustments will need to be made for northern hemisphere readers] on selection and storage and on preparation and cooking.
   
   Then come the recipes. Each ingredient is given at least two or three recipes, the more significant might have a dozen or so, with cross references to maybe as many more elsewhere in the book.
   
   This is a book to lose yourself in, to seek inspiration in, to answer any of a hundred and one questions.
   
   No serious cook deserves to be without this.



4. As the other reviewers have stated, this book covers almost anything a novice to serious homecook would want to see in a cookbook. From abalone to zabalione, it has the antedotes, stories, history, and backgrounds.
   
   The book does slant towards (urban) Australian cooking since Alexander is Australian. Simply put, if you put aside the concept of Steve Irwin or Paul "Dundee" Holgan crocodile and kangaroo, and certainly Outback Steakhouse tongue-in-cheek dishes, the true picture of early 21st century Australian cooking is not terribly far from starting with British cooking with a hefty dose of Italian and Greek first, then Chinese, Japanese, and the Southeast Asian/ASEAN except the Philippines and Burma, cuisines thrown into the mix, and Turkish and Lebanan cooking acting as cameo appearances. All these will probably not shock much of modern American palates except Southeast Asian tastes may crop up more frequently than what you are used to, even to those who are used to Californian dining.
   
   The book does teach basics like how to make a roast for the first time, although I would recommend a techniques/"How to Cook" type cookbook as a tutorial to it since Alexander assumes at least a little cooking knowledge.
   
   A highly recommended book for cooking basics, and those who want to have an Australian-based cooking.
   
   PS It must be noted cooking in New Zealand is a little different from neighbouring Australia, although there are trickle-down effects from Australian food across the Tasman. For instance, there is less direct Asian influence in NZ cooking due to lesser number of Southeast Asian international students studying in this country. We use less lemongrass, we still stick to more British cooking. There is also an absence of much Lebanan influences due to the migrants' tiny numbers. There is more Pacific influences such as taro and coconut in some urban dishes. So this book may give a good approximation but not a completely picture of NZ cuisine.



5. If you want to know how to cook something this is the book. Great for beginners and master chefs alike - great purchase all round.

5 comments about A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes from America's Rich Immigrant Heritage.

1. "A Baker's Odyssey" is thick with recipes of all kinds---fried sweet pastries and doughs, flatbreads, savory & sweet pastries, yeast breads & pies (both sweet and savory), cookies, cakes, tortes, and more.
   
   There are a few small bundles of color photos in the book. Most of the time I'm happy either way when it comes to the presence of photos---they aren't a must-have for me the way they are for some folks---but given the wide array of unusual (to me, anyway) treats in here, I would have loved more photos. The ones that are here are gorgeous, though.
   
   There are plenty of notes on ingredients, which is incredibly helpful given that, for example, you might not have worked with lard before. Mr. Patent even includes instructions for rendering your own so it'll be of better quality than that found in your average grocery. There are also plenty of notes on equipment; just because these are traditional recipes doesn't mean you have to forgo modern convenience appliances!
   
   A Baker's Odyssey includes recipes from all over the world---Kahk from Iraq; Puff Puff from Nigeria; Casatelli from Italy; Lebanese pita; Norwegian lefse; and on and on. I'd say that hands-down the biggest hit out of the recipes we've made so far was the Kachauri, fried flatbreads stuffed with a spiced split pea mixture. Cheese Sambouseks were quite popular as well---pockets stuffed with an egg-and-cheese mixture. We made a delightful whole wheat oatmeal bread as well as the tasty, crunchy little Kahk nibbles.
   
   The recipes are clear and easy to read. So far I've only found one editing snafu (two slightly different sets of instructions to divide up a dough in one paragraph, such that it took a moment to realize I wasn't supposed to try to divide up the dough multiple times) and it was easily recognized and dealt with. All in all, I expect this will become one of our more treasured bread books. I just love being able to try out the vast wealth of recipes from around the world.



2. `A Baker's Odyssey' by professional Zoologist, Greg Patent is a sequel to his excellent `Baking in America' and is also different from the rich selection of books we have on American desserts from the likes of Nancy Baggett, Wayne Harley Brachman, and Judith Fertig. It is most similar to `A Baker's Tour' by noted baking author and teacher, Nick Malgieri, except that Professor Patent limits himself to baking imported into the United States by Immigrants.
   This book successfully emulates the virtues of `Baking in America' in many ways. First, it is a superior reference on how to recreate authentic recipes for many classic international dishes, plus some great homegrown dishes, especially from my favorite Pennsylvania Dutch corner of the world. Second, its discussion of the fundamentals is far more nuanced than one would expect in a book intended to be a collection of traditional recipes.
   The very first recipe I checked, for the Russian Easter bread, kulich, is a fine example of both how thorough and how `ethnic' Patent's recipes can be. I have found and made similar recipes in both Betsy Oppenneer's `Celebration Breads' and in `The Best of Gourmet, 20th Anniversary Edition', and it is fascinating to see what the three recipes have in common and what is different. The most surprising common feature is that all three recipes call for baking the bread in two pound coffee cans. And, I can testify from experience that one strays from this recommendation at your own risk. I have mad kulich in three quart soufflé dishes and in 1 quart soufflé dishes, and neither one came out quite as good as I expected. There is something about the metal and the tall thin shape of the container which seems to be needed. The problem is that all 2 lb coffee cans today come with easy open tops, with pronounced lips, which make them virtually unusable as baking pans. I found that small metal springform pans are a reasonable substitute to the metal coffee cans. One simply has to carefully follow the directions on how to determine when the baking is done. The primary difference between Patent and the two more `modern' recipes is that Gourmet and Oppenneer both call for two rises of four hours or less while Patent's grandmother's recipe calls for three rises totaling up to eight hours. Less significant differences are that the modern recipes add saffron. I constantly puzzled over how Russian peasants could get or afford saffron. Patent's ethnically accurate recipe achieves the yellow coloring form using plenty of eggs and butter.
   The second recipe I checked was the classic Pennsylvania Dutch shoo fly pie. Not only does Patent include one, he includes two, both from authentic sources, Betty Groff and William Woys Weaver. So, Patent remedies the omissions in practically every other authors' book(s) on `American' baking.
   Another ethnic recipe very important to me are the Hungarian Walnut Torte, classically flourless, with `body' provided by walnuts and bread crumbs and lift provided by egg whites. Patent gives ample instructions on being careful not to over bake, but I'm surprised he gives no special instructions on how to avoid droopy centers. I'm totally amazed that my grandmother was able to make this cake without a droopy center. When my aunt took over the duties of making it for my birthday, her cake always drooped.
   The last recipe near and dear to my heart I found was for Apple Strudel. Like every other recipe, this one comes from an authentic German recipe, relayed by an authentic German! The highlight of the recipe is that it includes instructions for making strudel dough from scratch. There is a family resemblance between strudel dough and the Greek Phyllo dough, but anyone who has improvised strudel with Phyllo knows they are simply not the same thing. German / Austrian strudel dough is a bit easier to make, and has more body to it.
   As I have intimated above, every recipe comes from an authentic source. Patent had a good start for his cosmopolitan sources, as his parents were Iranian and Russian, and he was born in China. And, virtually all the recipes have a basis in home baking. There is not a trace of artisanal baking from ambient wild yeasts, something which can only be done effectively with a commercial bakery which specializes in such breads. Thus, the whole world of artisanal breads is left for other writers. But this is no loss, as this is a very well-tilled field of writing.
   It is just a bit surprising to find no hot cross buns, especially since it did not appear in `Baking in America'. It is not surprising to find no buttermilk biscuits, since that did appear in `Baking in America'. But Irish Soda Bread, even the `Spotted Dick' variety is here.
   The obligatory list of sources at the back of the book is as good or better than I've seen elsewhere. If you love baking `ethnic', this book and its predecessor are a superb pair of references, especially if you don't have lots of room for a dozen baking books.
   The book includes a DVD which, I am happy to say, includes techniques on two of my favorite recipes cited above, the apple strudel and the Hungarian walnut cake.
   There are many, many good baking books these days. If traditional recipes are your thing, there is nothing better than these two.



3. Baking is made easy with the enclosed dvd. I always prefer to bake instead of fry, this gives me more options. I also recommend Finger Licking different.



4. After hearing the author on NPR, I was expecting the book to have a bit more in the way of savory recipes. That being said, this book contains the only recipe I've ever found for the real Russian kulich I had as a child. While time consuming,the recipe is easy enough to follow for an experienced baker. The result was magnificent-the only perfectly scented and textured kulich I've ever managed to make.



5. I love this book. Mr. Patent has devoted a great amount of time to the research of the recipes and it shows. So far I have tried 4 and loved every single one of them. I have had to make adjustments because I live in a high altitude city, that's standard for me. Actually, the only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because Mr. Patent as most authors, does not give too much of his attention to the subject of high-altitude baking.