PENGUIN BOOKS COOKING UP A FEAST

Over the past couple of years Penguin Books NZ has become a serious publisher of New Zealand cookbooks publishing many of our finest cookery writers and chefs ; Annabelle White, Allyson Gofton, Alexa Johnston, Julie le Clerc, Ruth Pretty and Alison Holst among them.
Now they have announced a trilogy of exciting new titles that will be published later this year in time for the Christmas market.

A SECOND HELPING
Alexa Johnston
Penguin – September - $45

In response to the enthusiastic reception for Ladies, a Plate, Alexa Johnston has gathered together another tempting selection of traditional recipes for the home baker. A Second Helping has many more old favourites including Sponge Kisses, Melting Moments, Tan Squares, Lemon Bars and Cream Lilies as well as a few savoury treats. And a new section, with fail-safe recipes for home-made sweets like Russian Fudge, Coconut Ice and Hokey Pokey, will help ensure the success of any community sweet stall.
Like its predecessor, A Second Helping celebrates the accumulated wisdom of past generations of skilled home cooks in a beautiful book which will bring continuing pleasure – and an assurance of baking triumphs – to your kitchen.

PETER GORDON – a culinary journey
Photography by Jean Cazals
Viking – October - $70

Peter Gordon: A Culinary Journey is the result of more than 25 years’ cooking experience and travel throughout the world exploring different cuisines, foods, tastes and cooking ideas.
In this magnificently photographed book, Peter Gordon presents 80 delicious recipes which epitomise fusion cooking. Fusion is a culinary method that integrates various regional flavours and cooking techniques in order to create innovative new tastes.

Also included are chapters on Peter’s travels in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom and the influences these places and their traditional foods have had on his cooking style. He has also chosen 13 ingredients and documents the extraordinary role they have played in history and modern cuisines.

COOK: delicious recipes for family & friends
By Allyson Gofton, Photographs by Alan Gillard
Penguin – November - $40

Known for her love of family and friends and her passion for cooking, Allyson Gofton has created a cookbook for everyday cooks who want to prepare special meals for their family and friends without spending hours in the kitchen or large amounts of money.

Cook is a beautifully photographed cookbook that will become indispensable in any home cookbook library — in fact, it’ll probably not get as far as the bookshelf, gaining a permanent place on the bench!
With chapters on barbecues, portable meals, brunch, afternoon tea and mid-winter meals, any occasion can become a delicious shared feast. Other chapters include meals based around the traditional celebrations of Easter and Christmas. Another essential chapter explains how best to cater for large gatherings; with information on how much food and drink to allow per person and easy and tasty recipes to feed a crowd.

The three above titles are all featured in a special 28 page trade catalogue that was issued last week and my copy arrived with a delicious little box containing hokey pokey biscuits especially baked by Alexa Johnston using her recipe that appears in A Second Helping, her follow up to the 2008 sensation, Ladies, a Plate. Brilliant marketing.