by Alice Zaslavsky
SYNOPSIS
Better cooking is a lifelong journey. It's the flick of a wrist, pinch of the fingers, the whiff of a waft. It's intuition. It's flying hours and muscle memory, from childhood, through school and young-adult years, to bring-a-plates and dinner parties where you learn to keep things simple ... eventually.
But what happens when we miss a stage? Or three?
The Art of Better Cooking is an instruction manual, but you'd never know it. Alice Zaslavsky, master-mind behind the colourful debut (and award-winning) cookbook, In Praise of Veg presents a collection of 100 recipes (plus countless riffs) that you'll want to cook, on a weekly basis, with tips and tricks scribbled in the margins, and explanations where need be, so that by the time you're finished (never!) you'll have tripped over technique to a point where if feels second nature.
Starting with chapter one, entitled Really Outstanding Things Simply Thrown Together (hello All-seasons Avo Half and Wedge Caesar), through to Never Going Back (Fava Bean Felafel, Hubbababaganoush) and Making the Most of It (delicious ideas with leftovers, saggy bits and preserves). Then it's Loosen the Shoulders Time (Onion and Tomato Pie) and building up to Showstoppers and Centrepieces (yes you can make Salt and Pepper Creme Caramel).
All recipes are naturally veg-forward, with countless suggestions for making adaptations, spotlights on favourite produce and kitchen gadgets galore.
You are a better cook than you know. Here's the book that builds your confidence.
REVIEW
I approach cookbooks in a slightly different way to most people. In 2009 I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease and have been on a strict Gluten Free diet ever since. To begin with, like many Coeliacs, I felt the need to buy books or search for recipes that were specifically written for Gluten Free cooking or baking. Over the years as I have become more confident with cooking, I have gradually switched to using normal cookbooks and just make any adjustments needed to make the recipes work for me.
This isn't always easy and does involve some trial and error, and this brings me on to my favourite thing about this cookbook - The Joy Of Better Cooking. In the photos below you can see my attempt at the One-pan golden angel hair pasta. The recipe was written in full and my first thought was to just replace the angel hair pasta with Gluten Free spaghetti. Then I noticed the genius 'Subs' boxes - at the end of many of the recipes there was a box with tips on how you could substitute certain ingredients in the recipe. In this case, it actually recommended that for a Gluten Free version, you should cook the pasta separately instead of everything together in one pot. It then suggested that because of this it would be better to halve the amount of stock used which I wouldn't have thought to do. The pasta was delicious and I was very impressed with the results!
One-pan golden angel hair pasta
The second recipe I tried was the Bus stop peperonata burrata tarta. I honestly had no idea how this one was going to turn out but I was thrilled with it. My partner shared this one with me and actually said it was his new favourite meal! The recipe highlighted another of my favourite things about this book - The Ingredient Spotlight. In some of the recipes there was a box with extra information about one particular ingredient, in this case it was puff pastry. There was some general information, alternatives, tricks and shortcuts which were really useful for this recipe but will also be helpful to know for future use in lots of other cases.
Bus stop peperonata burrata tarta
I also cooked some amazing pancakes from the book, but my daughter was too impatient to wait for me to take photos so you'll just have to take my word for it!
The Joy Of Better Cooking is honestly one of the best cookbooks I have read and used in a long time. The design and food photography are just stunning and made me want to try every single recipe in the book. I do sometimes get drawn in by nice images but then never end up trying the recipes because when I read through the ingredients or method, there is either an ingredient I don't like or can't have, or they are overly complicated and I don't have time to make them. That is not a problem here. The author has gone to a lot of effort to create some gorgeous meals but also make sure that they can be adjusted and be suitable for lots of different needs (whether this is for medical reasons or just personal taste).
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking and in the meantime I will be spending my spare time happily working my way through every recipe. I'm going to have to have lots of people around for dinner as an excuse to try more!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alice Zaslavsky is an Australian food writer, Culinary Correspondent for ABC News Breakfast and ABC Radio, and creator of Phenomenom, a free digital toolbox helping teachers slip more serves of fresh food into every subject.
She can be found online as @aliceinframes.
Thanks to Anne Cater @RandomTTours, Murdoch Books UK @MurdochBooksUK and Alice Zaslavsky @aliceinframes for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Murdoch Books
Fiction: Cookery
ISBN: 978-1911668558
Pages: 312pp
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