286 replies to this topic

[Aussie_Gusto]

Spoonbread, thanks for the reply. San Antonio is a marvellous city - love the river walk. I Used to enjoy a trip there (3 hrs from Houston) and also stopping on the way to get some nice smoked sausage (similar to a sausage in Australia called Kabana or Cabana). If your are searching for any good recipe books or need any packaged or tinned Australian items, pop into a store in the Alamo Plaza called About Australia. Souveniers, books, sheepskin, Travel Agents, Aussie foods etc - Paul and Veronica (real Aussies) run the store. They are most accomodating and will order in for you. If Passionfruit is exhorbitant to get (as I usually found) they do have the tinned John West which, though not as good as a fresh piece of fruit, will suffice in dessert preparations. Try some of the biscuits (cookies) they stock such as Tim Tams etc hahahahaha
The measurements ugh! hahahha The tablespoon will get you every time...What you call a Tablespoon here we call a dessertespoon in Oz.. I think the calculations 1 and half to one, but I adapt as I go, depending on the recipe. Cup is a metric cup but in the old Aussie classic recipes (of which I still use a lot, it was a breakfast cup).

Bon Appetit!

Edited by Aussie_Gusto, 30 March 2004 - 09:48 PM.

[spoonbread]

Thank you very much, I shall look up that store! Ya never know what one might find. And it is always great to meet and talk with people that truly know what original ingredients taste like. I have an Aussie friend/chef that swears by TimTams..( lol), as well as being adament about vegemite.

[Aussie_Gusto]

Yes try the Tim Tams! hahahaha I will completely understand about the Vegemite though! This store also has dessicated coconut, Golden Syrup (superior to Lyles), Australian honey,. They also organize functions on dates such as ANZAC day (25th April) and Australia Day. They usually arrange for Aussie meat Pies,Sausage rolls, Lamingtons, Pavlova etc, so if you get the chance, have a try of these classic yummies.

Nice chatting!

[spoonbread]

Cool! I will try those products. Really, vegemite isn't that bad, I just like to give my chef/friend a hard time. But she told me how to use it and it was ok, to my palate at least. And I have most of the recipes of foods you have mentioned ( pavlove, etc.). I'm tryin' to get my Aussie chef/friends to try menudo! lolol..

Nice chatting with you as well...

[Rhea_S]

Australian cookbooks and magazines are gorgeous. The photographs are always enticing. I buy Donna Hay and Delicious whenever I find them at the local bookstore. I use the Donna Hay recipes for about 20% of what I cook. That's mostly because I stock many of the ingredients required by Hay recipes, most everything is fresh yet quick and simple and the flavours are right in line with my tastes.

[helenas]

Recently i bought several books by australian chefs: all of them are excellent.
I have two by Christine Manfield,
couple of Neil Perry,
Ezard by Ezard,
and finally Longrain Modern Thai Food by Martin Boetz (this one i coundn't find in US and wanted badly so i ordered it directly from Australia).

[Trixy]

Cool! I will try those products. Really, vegemite isn't that bad, I just like to give my chef/friend a hard time. But she told me how to use it and it was ok, to my palate at least. And I have most of the recipes of foods you have mentioned ( pavlove, etc.). I'm tryin' to get my Aussie chef/friends to try menudo! lolol..

Nice chatting with you as well...

You are going to be trying for awhile Spoonbread!

I also find Ian Hemphill's " Spice Notes" an invaluable resource. And Stephanie Alexander's " Cook's Companion" is a real gem too.

[spoonbread]

One day, Trixy, one day.....

What of Niel Perrys' books? What are the names and are they good?

[petemelb]

Hi there Spoonbread - I use Neil Perry's "Simply Asian" book quite a bit. If you haven't checked out the Rockpool Website (www.rockpool.com.au) it's worth a look. It lists his other books. Check-out his current menu at Rockpool. He has some fantastic dishes listed.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

I've only got two at the moment, but I really like them both:

Banquet: Ten Courses to Harmony, by Annette Shun Whah & Greg Aitkin
-- this is mostly a food-related history of the Chinese community in Australia with recipes scattered throughout.

kylie kwong: recipes and stories
-- good food with family stories behind them

Pat

[spoonbread]

petemelb- I finally recieved "Simply Asian" and it is great! I will order "Rockpool" next. I haven't seen any other books by Neil Perry, but this one should keep me busy for a bit. The website is very cool, and the menu items are well worth mentally chewing over. Thanx for the recommendations!

[petemelb]

spoonbread - pleased to hear that you like "Simply Asian".

Another Australian Chef who does the Asian-inspired thing well is Teage Ezard.

He has a great book that was released a year or so ago called "ezard" (helenas referred to this earlier).

His website is worth a look (http://www.ezard.com.au/).

Cheers, Pete

[spoonbread]

I liked the site, and the menu looked great. Right up my alley. I'll order the book as well. Looks very interesting.
Thanx agian, pete!

[Shinboners]

Could I put a word in about "Paramount Desserts" by Christine Manfield?  

Hi all

This is my first post on this board.

On Christine Manfield, she's also released three other cookbooks...."Paramount Cooking", "Spice", and "Stir".

I haven't got "Paramount Cooking", but I can say that it's the companion piece to "Paramount Desserts".

I do have "Stir" and "Spice". "Stir" is split up into several sections where she has a recipe for a basic paste (eg., coridaner peanut pesto, garam masala, laksa paste, chili jam etc.) and a series of recipes that use those basic pastes. Her recipes do take some time, but are worthwhile for that special dinner party.

"Spice" is one of those dual coffee table and cooking books. In the book, she discusses spices and spice mixes before several sections of recipes (divided into salads, soups, seafood, poultry, meat, vegetables, noodles/rice, pastry, bread, and dessert. Near the end of the book, she has an essay discussing spices and wine. As yet, I haven't cooked from this book.

All in all, if you have "Stir" and "Spice", you probably won't need "Paramount Cooking" as many of the recipes overlap. Also, "Paramount Desserts" has recently been re-released in paperback.

Everyone else has already mentioned the really good Australian cookbooks. Bill Granger, Kylie Kwong, and Stephanie Alexander all have great books on the bookshop shelves. I've also found Campion and Curtis's "Campion And Curtis In the Kitchen" to be good, and Anthony Telford's "The Kitchen Hand - A Miscellany of Kitchen Wisdom" is fantastic for the times when you want to quickly check on a cooking technique or finding alternate names for foodstuffs. Also, Greg and Lucy Malouf's "Moorish" is quite good and friends have raved about their other book, "Arabesque". I've also had good recommendations from friends for Ian Hempills (spelling?) books on spices.

A couple of last things, the Ezards cookbook has been re-released in paperback and Shannon Bennett (of Vue De Monde) will be releasing a cookbook later this year.

Cheers

Edited by Shinboners, 29 May 2004 - 06:16 AM.

[andiesenji]

For those in the U.S. interested in Australian cooking: there is a possiblity that the company which puts out Women's Weekly might be "translating" some of their list of cookbooks into American. I'm not sure which books, but as I find out more I'll post.

For years a friend in Sydney would pack up a bundle of AWW along with whatever cookbooks I wanted and ship them to me a couple of times a year. Then their site came on line and when they began accepting international orders I bought direct.
http://magshop.com.a...oks.asp?CID=522

I have at least 25 of the cookbooks. In the back of every book is a sections that explains the conversion factors and the difference between Australian measurements and English and American.

I find that the recipes are easy to understand and I have yet to prepare a recipe that wasn't excellent.
Some of my favorites are: Biscuits and Slices, New Finger Food, Wicked, Good Food Fast and The Christmas Book.

[helenas]

And both books by Greg Malouf: Moorish and Arabesque - just excellent!

[Shinboners]

I bought Arabesque last week. I don't know why I didn't buy it sooner.

[helenas]

I'm also curious about what do you think about Les Huynh's Blue Ginger cookbook? Sounds similar to Manfield's in spirit.

[Shinboners]

I've looked at the Blue Ginger cookbook a few times, but nothing in there has really inspired me to buy it. Looking at the recipes, there hasn't been enough in the book that makes me say, "I want to cook that!"

[helenas]

Thanks for responding: since it seems we have a similar likes in cookbooks, i'll skip on Blue Ginger.
How about Sri Lankan Flavours?
It's another one on my wishlist of australian titles.

In the meantime, i got The Lebanese Kitchen by Abla Amad, a friend of Greg Malouf's.

[Shinboners]

I've been tempted by "Sri Lankan Flavours". I may take the plunge and buy it soon. Recently, I've been buying up on spices, and I've been roasting and grinding my own spice mixes, and I'd imagine that there would be plenty of spices used in Sri Lankan food.

What's your view on "The Lebanese Kitchen"? Speaking of Abla Amad, I've just made a booking for tomorrow night. It'll be my first time there and I'm very much looking forward to it.

I think the next cookbook I'll be getting will be "Rockpool". I just want to read Neil Perry's thoughts on food and there are a couple of recipes that I want to try.

[spoonbread]

Who is Sri Lanken? I have been studying Sri Owen and she claims the best laksa is from Australia. Her books are really, really good. Are they the same person?

[Sentiamo]

Kylie Kwong ( dontcha love that name!!) has a great book out and my copy of Bill Granger's Sydney Food has been thumbed through so much that the pages are beginning to blur ( or is it a senior moment?!)

Donna Hay's magazine/books are OK but if you spend a little time REALLY looking, it is easy to see she relies on her photographs and her food stylist rather too much... as I do on my hair colourist and gym meister. hehehe.
Far too much of the ' pretties ' happening and far too many simple tweaks to food we already know. But good on her. She is makin' a $!!!

My 2 cents worth...for what it's worth!

[Sentiamo]

Spoonbread, Sri lanka once was Ceylon. There is no person involved here. Its confusing I know!! And just cos' I love ya...I can get to say that!!

[spoonbread]

Rofl! ok,ok...I get it! Sorry 'bout that! Must've been a "senior moment"..

[spoonbread]

Rofl! ok,ok...I get it! Sorry 'bout that! Must've been a "senior moment"..

[spoonbread]

Rofl! ok,ok...I get it! Sorry 'bout that! Must've been a "senior moment"..

[arbuclo]

Hello Suzanne

Vogue E+T is a beautiful magazine to look at - and it does write lovely reviews of restaurants etc - but I have to confess that I prefer a magazine called Delicious. It is produced by our national govt TV station (the ABC) and has a much higher usability rating, and lower glossy ad rating. I am pretty sure that you can get it overseas. Try here:
http://shop.abc.net....roductid=602160

Hope this helps!
Maliaty

I completely agree with the assessment of delicious. magazine. In fact I was just admiring the latest copy that came in the mail to me today. Yeah! (doing the dance of joy )

[arbuclo]

Kylie Kwong ( dontcha love that name!!) has a great book out and my copy of Bill Granger's Sydney Food has been thumbed through so much that the pages are beginning to blur ( or is it a senior moment?!)

Donna Hay's magazine/books are OK but if you spend a little time REALLY looking, it is easy to see she relies on her photographs and her food stylist rather too much... as I do on my hair colourist and gym meister. hehehe.
Far too much of the ' pretties ' happening and far too many simple tweaks to food we already know. But good on her. She is makin' a $!!!

My 2 cents worth...for what it's worth!

I really like Donna Hay. Her recipes inspire me and are easy to do with stuff I already have around. I'm one of those people that needs inspiration to help come up with dinner!

I was privileged to go to a special Kylie Kwong dinner held at Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder (in Melbourne) a few weeks ago. Extremely delicious! Also got to see her at the delicious. double acts during the Melbourne Food & Wine festival. I really admire her.

[Shinboners]

I've been looking forward to Shannon Bennett's cookbook and it's now been released. I picked up my copy two days ago. It's a hardback, 426 pages, and costs $60.

It has a short forward by Paul Bocuse - nothing too enlightening, just a few kind words about Bennett. The first section is an overview of Bennett's journey in cooking. It's often humourous, sometimes egotistical (his Swedish model girlfriend), but balanced with some self-depricating comments (his London greengrocer winding him up). But all in all, he gives a good overview over why he loves cooking and the pressures and pleasures of his profession. I get the impression that he thinks very deeply about the relationships in his life - he's well aware of the family and friends that have supported him, but also the personal sacrifices he has had to make. There were two very poignant stories on the personal losses that chefs endure - for him, it was losing touch with school friends, and in another, he tells a story of hearing his head chef apologising to his (ex-)girlfriend about working too hard over the phone.

The rest of the book is divided into sections based on ingredients: The Tomato, The Potato, The Mushroom, etc. - 18 sections in all. Each section starts off with a discussion on the ingredient, a few personal views, some tips, even some history and stories. He then follows up with around a dozen recipes based on that ingredient. There is a short comment on the recipie, the usual list of ingredients on one side, and the recipe on the other. The instructions are quite clear, but then again, you never really know until you actually cook the dish. For myself, I bought this book because I'm a fan of Bennett's cooking rather than with the intention of cooking from it. However, after reading some of the recipes and his comments, I will be giving it a good crack.

There are colour photographs of some of the dishes, but more impressively, there are pictures of the artwork by Tom Samek which are on display at Vue De Monde.

I've picked up a few other cookbooks, but of the recent releases, I've got "Spirit House" by Brierly/Fear (I've cooked a few recipes from it, all have worked well) and the Cook And the Gardener (Hesser) which has, so far, been quite entertaining.

There have been plenty of other new releases: Bathers Pavillion (Danserau), Falling Cloudberries (Kiros), Moroccan Modern (M'Souli), Bistro (Johnson), and the new Cooks Companion (Alexander).....any opinions on these?