Rating: Being the consummate sweet tooth, it didn’t take much to convince me to dive into Kate Bracks’ new book – The Sweet Life – a collection of divine temptations from Australia’s 2011 MasterChef winner. Mother to three young children, Kate lives in Orange, New South Wales, where she is working towards running her own […]

Rating: It’s easy to recognise a Donna Hay cookbook. The queen of gorgeous styling and branding knows the power of both familiarity and consistent best quality, and A Cook’s Guide – a compendium of donna hay magazine’s How to Cook sections – is another mouthwatering concoction for the home cook who wants simplicity with their […]

Rating: Oh yes, it’s an art all right. Like sushi chefs, French pâtissières spend many years studying and perfecting their craft. Ginette Mathiot (1907 – 1998) taught three generations of French families how to cook. The author of over 30 cookbooks, running the gamut of French cuisine, this legendary food writer has brought together a […]

Rating: The wonderful thing about modern day cookbooks is their reliance on more than fabulous recipes. It’s their reliance on travel, on culture, on a way of living . . . a reliance on heart, emotion, experience, as well as flavour texture and culinary fulfillment. Sicilian Seafood Cooking is one such book. Food writer and […]

Rating: Summer is busting out all over and this icy book is just the sweet ticket to an oasis of cool (even if only for the tongue). Best be careful where you shelve this brand new tome of freezer-bound pleasure, lest the kids see and you’re forced to spend the next fortnight whipping up batch […]

Rating: Having a long-time obsession with fondant, sprinkles, cupcake liners and ganache, it was with much anticipation that I carefully inked in the Lifestyle Food Channel-arrival of the television version of Planet Cake, taking 3D to a whole new level. Propped up on the couch with my similarly-obsessed 11-year-old daughter, we pressed our hands together […]

Rating: Since the advent of Junior Masterchef, cookbooks for children have never been hotter – and indeed, they’ve been popping off the hotplate and onto the bookstore serving shelves like those notoriously quick hot cakes, of late. This latest tome by Sabrina Parrini, cookbook author and Kitchen Wiz presenter, follows on from her first book […]

Rating: Hello. My name is Tania and I’m a sugarholic. So are you (more than likely). In fact, sugar-addiction is so rife, we’re in danger of crystallising. Sure, we’re cottoning onto the fact that even our most savoury foods – those that tingle the tongue with that salty edge – are also packed with sugar, […]

Okay – you wanna bake? Well, welcome to baking heaven. From the pale pink and black Fauchon-esque, superbly-styled cover, dotty endpapers and delectable paper – to the recipes themselves – this is a book so sweet, it’s already dusted with icing sugar and melting in my mouth. Author Alison Thompson has been a passionate cook since childhood, […]

Rating: If the adult version of MasterChef really roasted your potatoes, then it’s likely (unless you’re the type who doesn’t like working with animals or small children) that Junior MasterChef also inspired you – or perhaps the kids – more than ever before. I loved the series and, other than making me feel completely incompetent […]

Rating: Once upon a time, it was de rigeur for celebrities to release a hit single. Or a perfume. Nowadays, it seems, it’s books. But not just the ubiqitous ‘auto’-biography (the inverted commas are due to the fact that they are usually actually penned by someone else)… the celeb book production line is extending well beyond the […]

Rating: If the luscious cover complete with handsome man adorning Table by the River doesn’t immediately draw you in, the culinary story behind this internationally acclaimed chef will soon have you scrabbling to add his gorgeous book to your collection – for it’s not just an impressive array of recipes Dietmar Sawyere shares in this […]

Rating: I’ve always been a Dorling Kindersley fan. The intense research, the clear, concise, comprehensive offering of information, the focus on visual splendour… they just stand alone. DK books are always a feast for anyone intent on learning, growing, expanding and conquering… and there’s probably nowhere more popular for the desire to divide and conquer than […]

Rating: When I first took India The Cookbook and lifted it up, the first thing that struck me was the weight. Many fat, tome-like cookbooks (and there are many of late) are like poured concrete, making cooking from them a bit of a task and reading them on the couch the equivalent of a six-year-old […]

Rating: Tobie Puttock is well-known for his passion for Italian cuisine but this time, he has really outdone himself. This is not just a cookbook, it is an Italian experience, one that is personal to Puttock. The result of a six-week trip to immerse himself in the Italian way of life, beginning in Venice and […]

Rating: I first had the pleasure of reviewing young Sam Stern’s Eat Vegetarian (see AWO’s review here) back in June and I must admit, I was instantly hooked. Publishing his first book at the age of 14 (okay, with a little help from his mum), this young food-lover has released an astonishing five books – and […]

Rating: A big fan of Jane Kennedy’s first cookbook, Fabulous Food Minus the Boombah, I was thrilled to see her second book hit the shelves. And I spent a week devoted to this new book, to check if it’s as good as the first. What I loved about her first book was the simple, yet […]