Adding a new cookbook to your collection can be on par with travelling to a new country – its pages can open up whole new worlds of culinary possibilities, and at the very least bring excitement to your everyday cooking. The second half of 2024 is bringing a line-up of cookbooks that offer a little bit of everything: fresh ways to make salads, an exploration of the cuisines of Asia, simple weeknight meals and more. Here’s what to look forward to in the coming months.
Chae: Korean Slow Food for a Better Life by Jung Eun Chae
Who:
Jung Eun Chae, chef-owner of Chae, a six-seat Korean restaurant in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges.
What:
It’s really, really hard to get a seat at Chae – wannabe diners must enter a lottery to try to nab a reservation. But this cookbook is bound to be a great consolation prize for missing out. It’s a deep-dive into slow Korean food and fermentation, beautifully showcasing the graft that goes into running a thoughtful, impactful restaurant like Chae. You’ll get a rundown of key ingredients, as well as staples to make at home, plus recipes for seasonal cooking – including kimchis guided by what’s in season. Think stuffed cucumber kimchi in the summer, chestnut rice stone bowls for autumn, wintery pumpkin porridge and spring-friendly knife-cut noodles with fresh pippies.
When:
July 2024
Where:
Vegan Italian Food: Over 100 Recipes for a Plant-Based Feast by Shannon Martinez
Who:
Plant-based cooking queen Shannon Martinez, chef-proprietor of Melbourne’s Smith & Daughters and Smith & Deli.
What:
The title of the latest release from Shannon Martinez is a dead giveaway of what you’ll find inside: more than 100 plant-based Italian recipes. Build an Italian festa with a host of vegan dishes ranging from antipasti to tortellini in brodo, red-sauce “meatballs”, vegetable sides and more. Like Martinez’s other books, it’s likely to be an ideal kitchen companion regardless of your omnivorous status.
When:
October 2024
Where:
Hardie Grant Books
Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class by Tony Tan
Who:
Tony Tan, the French-trained chef considered a leading authority on Asian cuisines, and owner of Tony Tan’s cooking school in Trentham, Victoria.
What:
Tony Tan is the guy you want teaching you how to cook Asian cuisines – this deeply thoughtful, well-read chef has been studying the cuisines of Malaysia (where he was born and raised), China (where his parents are from), Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries for decades. This cookbook is split into various aspects of Asian food, with recipes for dishes based on noodles and rice, meat, seafood, sweets and more, as well as their histories and how the dishes of Asia have filtered across borders over the centuries. The book begins with a rundown of the essential ingredients of the Asian pantry before deep-diving into recipes for laksa lemak, Xi’an-style lamb dumplings, spring onion pancakes, massaman beef curry and Indian rice pudding.
When:
November 2024
Where:
Tipo 00 The Pasta Cookbook by Andreas Papadakis
Who:
Andreas Papadakis, chef-owner of Melbourne’s Tipo 00.
What:
If you’re a pasta fanatic in Australia, you’re probably all over Tipo 00, Andreas Papadakis’s small but well-loved pasta bar in Melbourne. Over the past decade it’s made a name for itself for simple but excellent pasta made using ace ingredients. Papadakis’s upcoming cookbook hews to the same ethos with 80 recipes, including the restaurant’s signatures – like its squid ink taglioni with calamari, and gnocchi with duck and porcini ragu – plus comforting dishes such as cacio e pepe, lobster risotto and a cracking lasagne.
When:
August 2024
Where:
Time for Dinner by Adam Liaw
Who:
Adam Liaw, kitchen polymath, winner of Masterchef season two, cookbook author and host of TV shows including The Cook Up With Adam Liaw and Destination Flavour.
What:
Adam Liaw’s recipes are notoriously home-cook-friendly. They tend to be quick, punchy and efficient – just what you want on a weeknight when you’re trying to feed the family. His new book doubles down on this ethos, promising “smarter recipes for faster cooking” in chapters that fall under headings like “less time shopping”, “while the pasta cooks” and “less time washing”, all of which are very appealing propositions. Recipes include carbonara fried rice (which is ready in just 10 minutes); tamago don (egg rice bowl) that makes use of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, fridge and freezer; a one-pot “vaguely Turkish” roast lamb shoulder; and a mille-feuille that ingeniously swaps out puff pastry for Weet-Bix.
When:
October 2024
Where:
Tarts Anon: Sweet And Savoury Tart Brilliance by Gareth Whitton and Catherine Way
Who:
Gareth Whitton and Catherine Way, founders of Melbourne’s Tarts Anon.
What:
Tarts. So many tarts. Gareth Whitton has helped bring tarts back into public consciousness at his Melbourne shopfront Tarts Anon, and this book is packed with eye-catching sweet and savoury tarts as well as pastry-making tips and other tart-perfecting advice. Add to repertoire: classics like lemon tarts and vanilla custard tarts; non-traditional takes including coconut pandan tarts, and mango and yuzu tarts; savoury tarts such as mushroom and parmesan, and potato and raclette; and show stoppers like the St Honore tart and the pineapple tart.
When:
July 2024
Where:
Quality Meats by Luke Powell
Who:
Luke Powell, chef-owner of Sydney’s LP’s Quality Meats and Bella Brutta.
What:
Sydneysiders know that if you see “LP’s” on a menu, you’re destined for a good feed. For years now, Luke Powell has been crafting sausages, charcuterie, cured meats and more under the LP’s banner, selling them at his own restaurant for a while, then at his own deli and to eateries across the city. Powell knows what to do with meat, and in this cookbook he’s sharing that knowledge across 90 recipes, plus lessons on the basics of making sausages, smoking meat, pickling seafood and perfectly cooking meat. There are also recipes for all sorts of meaty goods: pepperoni pizza, beef tartare and brisket, plus veggie dishes like tomato salad with stracciatella, braised green beans and roast potatoes.
When:
August 2024
Where:
Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky
Who:
Alice Zaslavsky, James Beard-nominated cookbook author.
What:
Well, exactly what it says on the tin: salads for days, weeks, months. Inside, Zaslavsky – whose last cookbook, In Praise of Veg, was also dedicated to vegetables and became an international bestseller – shares salads you’ll want to eat all the time. And, unlike many salads, some of these will actually keep overnight, so you can make them in advance (a huge selling point if you ask us). For warmer days there are recipes for tomatoes with a milk kefir dressing, beans with a sharp vinaigrette, and a “Greek-ish” salad with nectarines. And Zaslavsky proves salad isn’t just for hot weather with warmers like baked cauliflower and feta salad with golden raisin dressing, pumpkin wedges with a dill-tahini dressing, and even a Scandi breakfast salad.
When:
October 2024
Where:
Eat NYC: The Iconic Recipes That Feed the City by Yasmin Newman
Who:
Yasmin Newman, food and travel writer and host of Taste of the Philippines.
What:
A collection of 55 recipes showcasing the dynamism and diversity of the food scene of New York City, one of the world’s great eating metropolises. Expect icons regularly associated with the Big Apple, such as chocolate babka, everything bagels and New York cheesecake, classic NYC-style pizza, Manhattan cocktails and more. Newman also shares stories from some of the city’s most storied eateries, including cookie connoisseur Levain Bakery and local institution Joe’s Pizza.
When:
September 2024
Where:
Some of My Best Friends Are Cookies by Emelia Jackson
Who:
Emelia Jackson, pastry cook and former Masterchef contestant.
What:
Like the Cookie Monster, Emelia Jackson is a bit of a cookie fiend – and, fittingly, her new compendium boasts more than 80 recipes for cookies of every kind. There are the basics: chocolate-chip cookies (apparently the “only chocolate-chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need”) and chocolate wheaties; Aussie icons like Anzac biscuits and homemade Iced Vovos; and cookie-adjacent treats from around the world, including rugelach (rolled pastries with a sweet filling originating in Polish Jewish communities), gingerbread and French-style cinnamon palmiers.
When:
November 2024
Where:
This is a Book About Street Food by Brendan Pang
Who:
Former Masterchef contestant Brendan Pang.
What:
The street food scenes found across Asia – in particular Taipei – have inspired Mauritian-Chinese chef Brendan Pang’s latest cookbook, a follow-up to his books about dumplings and noodles. Inside is a cornucopia of savouries: pork belly bao, Singapore chilli crab and Xinjiang cumin lamb stir-fry, as well as sweets and easy-to-assemble snacks. In other words, a little bit of everything if you can’t decide which Asian cuisine to cook up tonight.
When:
August 2024
Where:
Konbini: Cult Recipes, Stories and Adventures From Japan’s Iconic Convenience Stores by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng
Who:
Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng, regular visitors to Japan and founders of Melbourne pop-up Chotto.
What:
Anyone who has been to Japan knows the joy of scouring the aisles of its konbini, or convenience stores. While in Australia these small shops are often only frequented for slushies, or during late-night snack runs, in Japan they’re a part of the food ecosystem, serving an array of specialities people actually want to eat. This book is a celebration of those stores, with stories and histories of Japan’s konbini alongside 110 recipes for what you’ll find inside these icons: sandos, onigiri, curries and more.
When:
October 2024
Where:
The Fishmonger’s Son: The Expert Guide To Buying, Preparing And Cooking Seafood by Anthony Yotis and Laura di Florio Yotis
Who:
Anthony Yotis and Laura di Florio Yotis, the husband-wife team behind Melbourne fishmonger The Fishmonger’s Son.
What:
Despite being surrounded by water, Australians’ skill and confidence when cooking with seafood can be a bit shaky. Conversely, Anthony Yotis grew up with seafood up to his gills – his father was a fishmonger at Footscray wholesale market for decades. Yotis and wife Laura di Florio Yotis are the perfect pair to guide you on your seafood journey, advising on the best types of fish to use for which dishes and how to buy the best seafood, plus 70 recipes that star seafood in dishes like pasta, tacos, pies and more.
When:
July 2024
Where:
Adriatico: From Puglia to Venice and Trieste, Recipes from Italy's Adriatic Coast by Paola Bacchia
Who:
Creator of the blog Italy on My Mind Paola Bacchia, who was born in Melbourne to Italian migrant parents.
What:
The west coast of Italy – including the Amalfi Coast – and the Italian Riviera are hogging a lot of limelight these days. Paola Bacchia wants to change that, with this tome that pays tribute to Italy’s Adriatic Coast and its centuries-spanning food history. This 1200-kilometre-long stretch of coastline stars destinations like Puglia and Venice, and Bacchia’s book celebrates their cuisines via recipes for everything from pasta to polenta, seafood and meat, all accompanied by gorgeous photos that’ll have you switching the Amalfi for the Adriatic, stat.
When:
October 2024
