A Look at Some of the New Cookbooks On My Desk

If it’s new cookbooks you’re after, I’m your girl. Check out some recent publications that have sparked my interest.

Now that I’ve truly found my tribe of fellow cookbook addicts at my Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club (come and join in, you know you want to ?) I have even more excuses to share my delightful addiction. Here’s a glimpse of a few of the new cookbooks that have come my way of late.

It doesn’t seem so long ago, but I reviewed Sophie Hansen’s gorgeous first book, A Basket By the Door, back in 2019, and her newest cookbook has already hit the shelves. In Good Company is another selection of heartwarming and belly-filling dishes perfect for sharing – with neighbours, at a family feast or with friends on a casual summer picnic.

Full of truly reliable recipes and special dishes that you will want to cook again and again (her orange honey melt-and-mix cake is on regular rotation here), Sophie has done the thinking for you and designed menus featuring 120 recipes that are simple and tasty. She also includes ideas for creating a memorable atmosphere for any gathering, large or small, plus advice on how to embrace shortcuts to take the pressure off, so you can focus on enjoying the good times rather than stressing in the kitchen.

Orange and Honey Melt-and-Mix Cake

Buy this for delicious, authentic food that you will want to eat and share often.

In these terribly interesting times in which we live we need to get our travelling jollies where we can, and I suspect that any new cookbooks featuring interesting destinations will be pretty popular. Amber & Rye, by Zuza Zak, will take you to the Baltics – a richly historic part of the world where the Baltic Sea joins Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, and where culinary influences and cultural exchanges have flowed for centuries.

Zak explores this exciting part of Eastern Europe, guiding you around the capitals, sharing stories and discovering a dynamic, new style of cooking. This food is grounded in Baltic tradition, but inspired by contemporary trends, making the recipes modern, unique and easy to recreate at home. With a deep interest in culinary history, Zuza’s food is both authentic and deliciously accessible – it’s a fascinating a doorway to a deeper understanding of this region and what makes it tick.

Buy this as a cultural reference point to an exciting region, and for a showcase to a vibrant culinary tradition.

I think it’s fair to say that back in the 70’s and 80’s vegans had less interest in great food, and were prepared to forgo the pleasures of the table for wider ethical concerns. Well those days are gone.

Today, vegan food is accessible, deliciously exciting and an inspiring contributor to modern cuisine, with a wealth of great cookbooks available to help those who want to reduce their carbon footprint while still enjoying great food. The No-Waste Save-the-Planet Vegan Cookbook by Celine Steen, offers not just more than 100 delicious earth-friendly recipes, but also practical guides and tips on shopping, saving and storing food with little to no packaging and zero non-recyclable, non-biodegradable packaging. No stranger to vegan cooking, Stern is the co-author of at least eight other cookbooks – so you know you’re in deliciously safe hands.

Buy this if you’re keen to expand your vegan repertoire while minimising waste.

While not technically one of the new cookbooks on my desk, How Food is Made by Ayla Marika is a book that anyone with even a vague interest in food should have on their shelf. Many of us buy and eat convenience food every day, yet how these foods are created is a mystery to us. For most, mass food production is an unspoken fact of life, a secret locked behind factory doors. Not anymore. In this easy-reading graphic book, Ayla shows us how industrial food production really works.

Making informing yourself irresistibly simple, this book unravels 60 common factory foods, using plain language and illustrations to answer the big question of how is food made on an industrial scale, step-by-step, in an entertaining comic book format. Next time you bite into a hotdog, enjoy some bacon, or smear that chocolate spread on your bread, you won’t have to wonder what’s in it – this book will show you in a simple, easy to follow format.

Anyone who eats probably needs this book.