Books for Cooks

LUCY CORRY - stuff.co.nz -  30/11/2011

In Hanif Kureishi's novel Intimacy, the main character tells how he left his wife because she was the type of woman who read cookbooks in bed.

Well, as an ardent lover of reading cookbooks in bed, I can tell you she was well shot of him. Few things are better than reading a cookbook in bed, though I have learned to draw the line at reading bits out loud to my spouse after I read a little too much of Elizabeth David (in a prim English accent) recently. I have since realised that not everyone wants to hear about the history of various French cooking methods before they go to sleep. The alternative is, of course, getting a new husband for Christmas, but I think a new cookbook to recite from might be a more family-friendly option.
In any case, nothing holds more promise as a Christmas gift (for giver and recipient) than a delicious new cookbook. If you're reading it on Boxing Day, making plans for what you're going to make just as soon as the ham is finished and the trifle can be legitimately thrown out, you know it's going to be a keeper. If your partner looks over your shoulder and asks when you're going to make "that one", so much the better. Here's a carefully chosen selection of books that I think any keen cook – and reader – would love to find under the tree on Christmas Day.

RIPE RECIPES
Angela Redfern
Beatnik Publishing, $59.99
Last January I got a text from a friend in Auckland that read: "Hv u got Ripe book? Is amazing." Never has so much been said in so few words. It's not strictly new as it was published at the end of 2010, but this collection of recipes from Auckland's Ripe deli remains one of the best local cookbooks I've seen in the last year. Ripe has been one of the go-to delis for the food crowd of Grey Lynn for a decade and owner Angela Redfern finally decided to bow to all the recipe requests she'd received in that time. The recipes tick all the hot trends - they're seasonal, feature twists on traditional favourites, use fresh ingredients in interesting ways and generally leap off the page. Fantastic salads make this a summer essential. Best for: Homesick Aucklanders, cooks who want to rev up their menus in 2012.

PENGUIN CLASSICS GREAT FOOD SERIES
Penguin Books
Single book, $12.99; complete boxed set of 20, $220
If you're the sort of person who thinks books about food require pages of step-by-step instructions and enormous photographs, these wonderful little books are not for you. But if you have an appetite for food as social history and a love of peerless writing, then put the Great Food series on your Christmas wishlist. These 20 slim volumes, which can be bought as stocking-stuffer singles or a glorious box set, bring together the writing of Samuel Pepys, Hannah Glasse, Eliza Acton, Elizabeth David, MFK Fisher and Alice Waters, among others. The stories are historically fascinating, the recipes are occasionally alarming and those who judge books by their cover will find lots to admire in Coralie Bickford-Smith's refined cover art. Best for: Aspiring food writers and hungry historians.
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