Kylie Kwong is an amazing chef, and I love her cookbooks. I haven’t even cooked a lot of her recipes, simply because they usually require a bit more planning than I put in for dinner. Chinese cooking, both traditional but with all kinds of amazing twists.

Here’s what I love from this book –

Crispy-skin duck with blood plum sauce

Stir-fried mussels in oyster sauce

Italian mushroom ragout

Moroccan-style meatballs with sour cherry and cream sauce

‘Radical’ roast chicken 

Roast duck with figs, shitake mushrooms and lime

Mussels in white wine, orange and saffron

Braised chicken with vibrant flavours – veg, ginger, fish sauce, dates, red wine, etc.

“Heart and Soul“. 203 pages. Recipes with fish, prawns, duck, chicken, beef, quail, squid, pigeon, pork, offal. Sensational flavours.

“Made in Italy” is the Italian Food Bible. Locatelli is the Stephanie Alexander of Italy. His book was recommended by my friend Rob who is co-owner of The Bunyip Scenic Rim Resort and an excellent cook. I bought the 600+ page hardcover version and I’m glad that I did.

Locatelli’s book is part biography, part food history, part food science, and a lot about the art of preparing and cooking Italian food. For me it was worth it to really learn about risotto, pasts and gnocchi for starters! The section introductions in themselves are terrific insights into the nature of Italian food in relation to culture and geography, and how to do the basics really well.

So what do you get?… 

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