Christmas Cook books for 2018

There is still a week to go so there is plenty of time to get some cook books ordered for your friends or family. Here is our top 12 for this year, some of them published this year and a few of our favourites. In no particular order we have:

Snowflakes and Schnapps by Jane Lawson. Join Jane Lawson as she takes you on a culinary journey through the magnificent cuisines of the snow cloaked regions of Northern Europe. From the seaside towns of Scandinavia, the Alpine villages of Switzerland and Austria and the fairy tale castles of Germany to the ski fields of France and Italy and the snow-laden cities of Russia and beyond, comes this enticing collection of traditional recipes with a contemporary flair.  The Tartiflette recipe is the one we always use £17.99 on Amazon here.

Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi. Anyone who follows Yotam will know he is the king of ingredients, his mantra is one day to shop, one day to cook and one day to wash up. His latest book has simply stripped this right back, the emphasis is still on flavour with minimal ingredients and minimal time but still keeping with the Ottolenghi way. Currently £15.99 on Amazon here.

The Japanese Larder by Luiz Hara. We fell in love with Luis when we got his book Nikkei Cuisine, Japanese food the South American Way. The Japanese Larder introduces us to all of the basic Japanese ingredients required to cook some amazing Japanese dishes, some of which also include ingredients you wouldn’t expect to find such as Marmite Chicken. Roast duck in clementine teriyaki glaze is on our to do list for this xmas. Available on Amazon here.

Slow by Gizzi Erskine. This is the perfect book for those of us who’s favourite time of year to cook is autumn and winter. Full of delicious comfort food to indulge in and take your time over this is by far one of our favourite Gizzi books, the lamb hot pot was taken to another level and if there was only one reason to be introduced to this book it’s for the confit garlic, why was this not introduced into our lives before? If you want to try it, then you can get it here.

Eating well everyday by Peter Gordon. I’ve been a follower of Peter for many years, known as the king of fusion he has introduced me to so many ingredients and combinations I never knew existed let alone possible. He has taught me not to be shy about trying this ingredient with that ingredient and experimenting with different flavours, This book is all about Peter at home, delicious and easy to make, perfect for the home cook.

Twelve by Tessa Kiros. This is one of my all time favourite Italian cook books and what better region to concentrate than Tuscany. This book was published in 2003 and has been my go to book for Italian inspiration ever since, the Tuscan ragu is probably the dirtiest cookbook page in all of my books, splashed with red wine, tomato and love. Twelve months in Tuscany here.

How to eat by Nigella Lawson. Celebrating 20 years since its initial publication how could I possibly miss this off? I can never answer the question ‘What was the first record you ever bought?’ but I can always remember the first cookbook I ever bought. How to eat is a timeless classic that deserves to be passed down from generation to generation. I would not be where I am today in the kitchen without this book, I am eternally grateful to Nigella for the inspiration and instruction to be confident with food. 20th anniversary edition.

Honey & Co. at home by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich. Middle eastern cuisine has gone crazy over the last few years, introduced to us in the UK by people who have left their own homelands and move to England such as Sarit and Itamar moving from Israel to London in 2004. Their love of food and the success of their restaurant has led to a number of books, this is their collection of recipes from their home, their happy place full of flavours they and also us adore, get it here.

Season by Nik Sharma. This has to be our stand out cookbook of the year. We had never heard of Nik until we started seeing lots of references all over social media about his first cookbook, once I started to investigate we were instantly hooked and why would you not be? A gay immigrant to America and a story told through food, it is possibly one of the most emotional debut cookbook books I have ever purchased. This book is not only about food, it’s a story, a journey, a journal, a statement and a testament that you can achieve something amazing when you have your heart and soul in the right place. Nik, I thank you for the inspiration, you can also get some here.

Casablanca by Nargisse Benkabbou. Recipes for modern and traditional dishes from Morocco. The Observer rising star in food for 2018 and rightly so. This book is full of simple, ingenious, traditional and contemporary recipes invented to fulfil your home with the smell and taste of North Africa, if you fancy a trip then here is your plane.

Mowgli Street Food by Nisha Katona. How much we love Indian food is an understatement. We have been lucky to meet Nisha and what an inspiration this women is, she has turned a dream into a business and shared her recipes and life in her restaurants. The passion she puts into it her dreams and beliefs is unbelievable and is a true inspiration to women and anyone who has a dream and making those dreams come true, we love this book, we would of paid millions (maybe not) for the Yoghurt Chat bomb recipe, you can of course visit the restaurants or make them yourselves from the book here.

Dogs’ Dinners by Debora Robertson. The healthy happy way to fed your dog, how to feed your dog s practical, nutritious and balanced diet. Our Viv loves homemade food and when we started introducing it into her diet we were confused about what was right and wrong and then along came this book. Viv’s favourites are the liver brownies, meatloaf and sardine and sweet potato bake. Your dogs can eat just well as well you know, for doggie recipes click here.

Happy Christmas everyone xx

 

 

 

 

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