If you've ever wondered what happens when classic Indian flavours meet sweets and bakes, then Hetal Vasavda’s Desi Bakes is your gateway to the world of desi-inspired baking. ‘Desi’ is a term used to describe the people and cultures of the subcontinent, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It comes from the Sanskrit word "desh," meaning "country" or "homeland." In food, "desi" refers to flavours…

Like so many did during COVID, the authors of this lovely tome spent their Covid lockdown baking. However, they had a bit of a head start on most of us as Gareth Whitton was the head pastry chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Melbourne. When that restaurant closed, he found himself working at a supermarket when the pandemic hit…

Victoria Granof's Sicily My Sweet is the cookbook you didn’t know you needed – a love letter to Sicily’s sweet side, where sugar and spice mingle in the most deliciously unexpected ways. If you’re the kind of person who loves to dive deep into the culinary heart of a place, this book is an absolute must-have…

Author Michael James, who owned Melbourne's Tivoli Road Bakery with his wife Pippa, is a Michelin-starred chef who found himself drawn to the precision of baking. This book isn’t their first cookbook rodeo, but for it they adopted a seasonal approach to baking – a bit unconventional, but it works. The recipes are definitely refined, but the vibe feels more homemade and rustic, thanks to the use of wholemeal flours and grains…

The world already has a gazillion Lebanese cookery books so what, you might be wondering, is the exact purpose of another? We thought the same when we received a copy of Sofra… but then, we opened it. Instantly, we felt like we were entering a most delicious world, with pics that include plenty of tactile, hands-on action, like wrapping, rolling, mixing and serving. These give a lovely, loose and inviting sense of the home made...

With Christmas just around the corner, maybe you’re already starting to plan get-togethers and parties. Or at least you’re ruminating on them and this year, dammit, you want fresh ideas, you want to keep things easy, and you want flavour to the max. Well, we suspect Bec Vrana Dickinson, chef and author of Happy Hour Snacks, heard your call and whipped this book together to make your festive (and other) snacking simpler...

If you get a new cookbook and routinely skip the introductory parts where the author talks about their life and philosophy, and instead head straight to the pretty pics and recipes, we have a book to challenge that approach. To really understand Chae: Korean Slow Food For A Better Life, you need to read the wordy bits. And what makes this a worthwhile exercise is that they’re actually really interesting, and even somewhat moving…

Shu Han Lee might not be a household name down here, but she’s known in the UK for her spice company Remapapa, stocked in leading supermarkets like Selfridges. A Singapore native, she’s also authored another book called Chicken and Rice, a collection of more broadly SouthEast Asian recipes. Her latest concentrates on what she describes as “everyday recipes from Singapore”…

If you’ve never thought much about travelling to Seoul, reading Pocha just might change your mind. We got as far as the contents pages and thought “dammit; take us to this place!” The book takes its inspo, and title, from pojangmacha, or ‘pocha’ for short. A pocha is a small, tarpaulin-covered cart, selling modest snacks and street food….

If ever there was a subject close to our hearts, it’s Türkiye and Turkish cuisine. One of our team spent time there, falling for this alluring, somewhat complex place. And oh, the food. It’s a flavouricious ride that’s fascinatingly varied among regions – the Black Sea area champions cornmeal and anchovies; in the South the fare is influenced by bordering Syria, with pistachios, pomegranate molasses, spices…

We reckon if everyone cooked everyone else’s food from time to time, it would surely spread a bit of love and understanding around the world and isn’t that sorely needed right now? And sorry if that sounds a bit dippy-trippy; we’re just your basic idealistic leftie-leaning types who, despite our smart arsery and snark, wish people would sit at each other’s tables…

Rumi is a legendary Brunswick East, Melbourne restaurant that opened in 2006. Still going strong, its longevity is as much a testament to owner Joseph Abboud’s easy charm as a host as it is to his brilliant Middle Eastern-esque fare. “Food of a Middle Eastern Appearance” is the subtitle of his first ever cookbook, and it’s a jokey side-swipe at the way Australia’s Muslim population was profiled and vilified…

Miami-born Danielle Alvarez has called Sydney home for the past 10 years or so and is recognised as one of the city’s best chefs. Her food draws on a number of influences; her Cuban roots, a love of French and Italian food, years of working in incredible kitchens such The French Laundry and Chez Panisse in California, and the Asian threads that run through Australian cooking…

Arlyn Osborne is an American-Filipino food writer who, if you’ve been hankering for a collection of Pinoy-inspired sweet recipes, totally read your mind. There’s not much else like her book Sugarcane around, described on the cover as ‘sweet recipes from my half-Filipino kitchen.’ Mostly, these aren’t straight Filipino dishes, they’re largely where she imposes traditional flavours and ingredient combos…

If you love baking books with a warm tone, some ripper recipes to really stretch your skills, and razor-sharp instructions for optimum success, you’ll love this adorable new book from cult-followed Melbourne baker Natalie Paull. Every day before it sadly shuttered in 2022, her cute cafe Beatrix Bakes attracted the cake-erati, salivating for innovative takes on Aussie, Euro and American classics…

We don’t know about you, but we see SO many cookbooks we can get a bit jaded. For a new one to really grab us it needs to be pretty darn amazing. Enter Bao Family. The author is Céline Chung, born in Paris to Chinese parents who, while on a student exchange in Shanghai, travelled throughout China and totally fell for its varied regional cuisines. Heck, who wouldn’t?…

If you follow the Sydney dining scene, and we know lots of you do, you may have heard of Ho Jiak. It opened on the site of a pretty forgettable Cantonese BBQ joint in Haymarket a few years back, then proceeded to take the city by storm with its elevated Malaysian fare. The team went on to open at Townhall and…

If you’re like us, Bangladeshi is not a cuisine you know particularly well. And any book that expands our culinary horizons is always welcomed so we were chuffed to be sent a copy of London-based Bangladeshi writer Dina Begum’s latest book, Made in Bangladesh. It’s a lovely introduction…