Three delicious new cookbooks from around the world
So French So Sweet by Gabriel Gate
From the very first Melbourne celebrity chef comes a wonderful collection of recipes sure to increase your appetite for a sweet end to your meal. You already know that Monsieur Gaté’s recipes are easy to follow. I consider his food writing one of the most accessible of all instructions for the home cook. So French So Sweet will make it possible for you (and here I do mean anyone) to make cakes and tarts, sorbets and ice creams, mousses and crèmes and puddings. The only problem with this beautifully presented book is that we know the French would advise us to taste only a little, but sadly this book makes me want everything, often.
Oklava by Selin Kiazim
Kiazim is not someone who just pulses her chickpeas and opens a bottle of wine for dinner, but she does make cooking dips, fritters and roasted meats as easy as pouring that glass of wine. She has been pushing the boundaries of Middle Eastern fare since she began cooking, and now with her own London restaurant in full flight, she has focused on communal eating and conversations. I’m a huge fan of her vegetable dishes and am obsessed with chilli roasted cauliflower. Oklava translates simply as ‘rolling pin’ and is a clear hint as to the type of food this book promotes. Oklava will inspire entertaining choices from this point onwards.
Sri Lanka by Prakash K. Sivanathan and Niranjala M Ellawala
Visiting Sri Lanka is on my bucket list, which is growing more expensive by the day. A much more responsible and mature approach to my yearnings would simply be to commit to cooking from this gorgeously presented cookbook for the rest of the year. There are certainly enough recipes to cover the days, and the imagery of the dishes presented is truly luscious. It’s as if I can smell the curry and the tamarind rinds from the very pages. Think: a range of curries, including crab and egg, a variety of fried snacks, and sweet dishes made from coconuts. Through the recipes, it’s easy to see that Sri Lankan cuisine has taken the best of its neighbouring countries and created a cuisine that is rich and diverse. I’m all in.