I know I’m excited about baking some true comfort food from Sally Wise in April, and May in the cookbook club will be full of more comfort with authentic traditional Italian cuisine.
Welcome to May in the cookbook club, my fellow cookbook addicts – I think you’re really going to love getting into some great comfort food, as winter in Australia starts to bite.
Firstly, for April and the early days of the cooler weather, we are heading deep into some splendid baking territory with the new cookbook by Sally Wise, The Comfort Bake. The title of this one says it all, and as something of a home cooking institution, Sally provides some wonderful remedies for our stressful times.
I’ve been thrilled to see so many of you enjoying Claudia Roden’s fabulous food from either of her books on Middle Eastern food, in March. And there’s been a bit of ‘throw-back Thursday’ action on our Facebook page too, which is great to see. I know I’m still cooking some of my favourites from Lucy Tweed’s Every. Night. Of. The. Week (I made the Very Basic Biryani for some houseguests last week, who loved it) and Nigella, and Annabel Langbein have been getting a run too.
I’ve been dying to share one of the world’s great cuisines with all of you, and now that winter is on the way I’m thinking that it’s seriously time for some warming Italian food.
For May in the cookbook club I decided to offer two selections – one for the purists who want to really dig deep into this hugely popular and enormously versatile cuisine, and one for those who love a slightly more accessible, but still authentic, version of Italian food.
First up I offer the late Marcella Hazan’s The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Like Roden, Hazan is universally considered to be one of the most respected writers in English of Italian food. She was one of the greatest Italian cookery writers ever, and is credited with introducing the wider English-speaking public to the finer points of traditional Italian cuisine.
Originally published in 1992, and republished in 2011, this cookbook is still available. Aimed at every level of cook, it is still considered to be the authentic and comprehensive guide to Italian food and an essential handbook for anyone looking to master the art of Italian cooking.
For a slightly more contemporary taste of the Italian food tradition, many have known and loved Jamie’s Italy, by Jamie Oliver. Guided by his close friend chef Gennaro Contaldo, this was Oliver’s first, and very successful, attempt to capture and share the essence of Italian cooking in a simple cookbook for everyone to enjoy.
Both books celebrate the joy of this heartwarming traditional food equally generously – its entirely up to you which you choose for your exploration of Italian cuisine in May in the cookbook club.
So, to recap the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club so far in 2022 –
Our year-long cookbook is Neil Perry’s Everything I Love To Cook.
May – The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan
or
Jamie’s Italy, by Jamie Oliver
April – The Comfort Bake by Sally Wise
March – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
February – Bella (or anything from any of her previous works) by Annabel Langbein
January – One Pan Perfect by Donna Hay
YOU CAN BUY ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS AT ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS, OR ONLINE AT BOOKTOPIA USING THE LINKS IN THIS POST. (IF PURCHASED VIA THESE LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE AND I WILL RECEIVE A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE COST.)
If you would like to join us in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club, check out my original post here, or just click on the “Cookbook Club” link at the top of the page.
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