By Christine Salins
With Australia Day coming up, it’s appropriate that we should be kicking off the year with a cookbook that celebrates all that is wonderful about Australian food and wine.
The Australian Heritage Cookbook (New Holland Publishers, $39.99) is a beautifully illustrated book catering for every occasion, from spontaneous entertaining and family cooking to extravagant dinner parties. Needless to say, there is plenty of inspiration in it for making this Australia Day your best celebration yet.
The ubiquitous lamingtons are there, of course, in a chapter titled Country Cooking, but you’ll also find an interesting Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf, a wonderful Honey Pork Roast and numerous meat, vegetable and seafood ideas.
These Sesame Coconut King Prawns with Mango Salsa are from a chapter titled Let’s Go Tropical, and not only are they quick to prepare, they will surely impress your guests.
Mango salsa is our favourite accompaniment for seafood, and what a wonderful feast of mangoes we’ve been enjoying over the current summer season. Kensington Prides are, in my humble opinion, the finest of all mango varieties, and the quality this year has been superb.
Prawns also feature in the chapter titled Bounty From The Oceans, Rivers and Streams, which like the chapter From The Plains, Paddocks and Pastures highlights the abundance of natural good food we Aussies are blessed with.
Just as Australia Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the contributions that so many cultures have brought to our shores, so too does this lovely cookbook, with the chapter How Other Cultures Have Influenced Australia. Duck pancakes, Thai chicken curry, Hungarian goulash soup, lamb korma and Pizza di Napoli are among the offerings.
Most of the recipes in the Australian Heritage Cookbook can be made in a short time with minimum ingredients. As the recipes are interspersed with some lovely landscape photography, the book would also be a perfect gift for overseas friends.
Sesame Coconut King Prawns with Mango Salsa
Serves 4
12 raw king prawns, shelled and deveined, tails left intact
salt and freshly ground black pepper flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup coconut threads
1 mango, peeled and finely diced
½ small red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
assorted greens of your choice
Butterfly the prawns then dust with salt, pepper and flour. Dip in egg, allowing the excess to run off, then dredge in a mixture of sesame seeds and coconut. Set aside.
Mix the mango, onion, coriander and lime juice in a bowl and season to taste.
Heat the butter or olive oil in a frying pan, add the king prawns and fry over a high heat for 1 to 2 minutes each side until golden.
To serve, arrange some greens on each plate and top with 3 cooked prawns and a generous spoonful of the mango salsa.
From: The Australian Heritage Cookbook, New Holland Publishers, $39.99.
