By Christine Salins.
From easy weeknight dinners to visiting some of my favourite culinary destinations, to making Christmas caramels in one of the world’s most Instagrammable cities, you can find it in this line-up of lovely cookbooks.
Every one of the dishes in Pete Evans’ Dinner In 5 (Plum, $39.99) has five ingredients or less, perfect for weeknight inspiration. Among the quick, easy recipes are crispy salt and pepper prawns with a kick of lime and chilli, a healthy spin on Chinese lemon chicken, and pork cutlets topped with zingy pineapple salsa. Evans suggests an optional sauce or spice rub for each recipe if you feel like taking things up a notch.
Also offering suggestions for easy weeknight dishes is Good Food Favourite Recipes (Simon & Schuster, $39.99), with more than 100 recipes chosen by the editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food section, Ardyn Bernoth.
The recipes – clearly labelled for those looking for gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options – come from professional cooks who Bernoth badgers each week for recipes. How good does Danielle Alvarez’s Chocolate, butterscotch and raspberry trifle, or Neil Perry’s Spicy braised lamb with apricots, pistachios and roast pumpkin, sound?
For anyone who has fallen in love with Japan and Japanese cooking, Food Artisans of Japan (Hardie Grant, $55) is a compelling book that delves into Japanese culinary and artistic traditions. Celebrating chefs and artisans from around Japan, Nancy Singleton Hachisu shares her in-depth knowledge of the country’s rich and diverse food landscape. The recipes in this beautifully designed book can easily be cooked in a home kitchen.
Street Food Vietnam (Simon & Schuster, $35) brings the flavour and spirit of one of the world’s most dynamic cuisines into your home. Vietnamese-Australian chef and Melbourne restauranteur Jerry Mai presents recipes for bahn mi, rice paper rolls, Vietnamese-style omelettes, stir-fries noodle salads and so much more. This is the perfect book for armchair travellers or those who’ve been to Vietnam and want to re-create their experience.
Authors Nadia Zerouali and Merjin Tol travelled extensively to find the people, places and dishes that unite the Mediterranean and the Arabic world. What they discovered makes for an informative and beautiful book in Under The Mediterranean Sun (Simon & Schuster, $55).
The 125 recipes are separated by region: Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Sicily, Andalusia, Sardinia and Catalonia. These are authentic, simple, delectable in a remarkable food odyssey.
Could the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania be the new Nordic? Who knows, but Simon Bajada gives it a good crack in Baltic (Hardie Grant Books, $50). The book showcases the unique culinary landscape of this region with wholesome, creative, intensely seasonal recipes complemented by stunning photography capturing the colour and vibrancy of the produce, culture and landscapes.
Copenhagen Cult Recipes (Murdoch Books, $49.99) takes you on a journey to the heart of Copenhagen’s culinary traditions, to find out why the Danes embrace their food heritage so passionately, and why their way of life continues to be adopted enthusiastically around the world.
Danish cuisine centres around “hygge”, the cosy atmosphere for which the Danes are famed – shared tables, outside eating, simple local produce, eaten in company. It’s about keeping things simple and tasty, and using space wisely by growing fresh herbs and greens on rooftops, in window boxes and small vegetable patches.
The book features iconic location shots and food photography that showcases traditional dishes with a modern twist, together with recipes from some of the most influential contemporary restaurants Copenhagen has to offer.
Copenhagen boasts the most beautiful caramel boutiques specialising in different flavours from liquorice to salt to berry. This recipe makes 48 delicious caramels that would be perfect for Christmas gift-giving, perhaps alongside a cookbook.
Karameller (Homemade Caramels)
180 ml (¾ cup) double cream
1 vanilla bean or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste, or ½ tsp sea salt flakes (such as fleur de sel), or 1 liquorice stick or 1 tsp liquorice granules
160 g golden syrup
225 g caster sugar
60 g salted butter, cubed
Freeze-dried berries (optional), to garnish
Heat the cream in a saucepan to just below boiling point, then remove from the heat and add your chosen flavour. Leave for at least 30 minutes to infuse.
Meanwhile, in a deep, heavy-based saucepan, add the syrup and sugar and heat gently for the sugar to dissolve completely. Bring to the boil and bubble until the syrup reaches 115°C. Remove from the heat and add the cream, it will bubble. Stir well to mix and return to the heat. Leave it to bubble until the mixture reaches 127°C.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until smooth. Pour into a 20 cm square tin lined with foil and brushed with oil. Sprinkle with extra salt or freeze-dried berries, if liked. Cool on a wire rack for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
Remove from the tin, then the foil and cut the caramels into 2.5 x 1 cm rectangles. Wrap in baking paper. Store in the fridge.
Recipe and images from Copenhagen Cult Recipes by Susie Theodorou and Christine Rudolph, photography by Christine Rudolph, Murdoch Books, RRP $49.99.
