News from Australia and New Zealand

March 23, 2021 by
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We are delighted to welcome Roberta Muir to the EYB Blog. Roberta will be doing a weekly post with news from Australia and New Zealand on cookbooks, cooking, restaurants, and all things food. David Chang’s only restaurant outside North America, Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney’s The Star casino, is closing permanently on 26 June, after almost 10 years as one of… read more

My Big Fat Cookbook Purge of 2021

March 23, 2021 by
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I am, and will always be, a lover of cookbooks. There are several thousand (estimated) - that I will not part with and hundreds that I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for their release. That being said, this last month I've had to do the unthinkable (again) purge my collection. There comes a point where I… read more

A cocktail fairy godmother

March 22, 2021 by
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During the pandemic, a few of my friends and I started exchanging old-fashioned handwritten letters. It was such a joy to spy an envelope in the mailbox bearing familiar handwriting. In her most recent letter, one friend lamented that while she had enjoyed learning about cocktails before lockdown began, it was difficult for her to continue this quest since she… read more

Food news antipasto

March 21, 2021 by
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Unfortunately we start the week with news of the passing of two influential culinary stars. The first is Laura Mason, a food historian who composed a detailed compendium of the traditional foods of Britain. Mason worked as research assistant to Alan Davidson, where she wrote scores of articles for the Oxford Companion to Food. The second passing of note is… read more

The therapeutic effects of baking

March 20, 2021 by
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Even before the pandemic, I was keenly aware of how baking can help buoy your mental health and can also relieve stress, and how the act of baking for others can likewise be good for you. Since lockdowns began over a year ago, this act of self-care has proved even more important, and I am far from the only person… read more

What’s wrong with following a recipe?

March 17, 2021 by
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Last week I wrote about Sam Sifton's The New York Times Cooking: No-Recipe Recipes, which has a lofty goal of freeing people from the drudgery of relying on recipes to get dinner on the table. While I understand Sifton's arguments for the idea of no-recipe cooking, I noted that I would not be buying this book. Today I found an… read more

Ottolenghi finally embraces shortcuts

March 15, 2021 by
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In 2019, Yotam Ottolenghi pared down his notoriously long ingredient lists to write Ottolenghi Simple, and it seems like the chef is further embracing this relaxed, 'less-is-more' philosophy. In his latest NY Times article, Ottolenghi admits that he is embracing all sorts of ingredient shortcuts, an admission that seemed impossible just a few years ago. Part of his new found… read more

Food news antipasto

March 15, 2021 by
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We have sad news to report this week: Sydney chef and restaurateur Amy Chanta has died at age 63 following a two-year battle with cancer. Chanta built an empire of Thai restaurants that shaped the city's love and understanding of Thai food. She opened her first Chat Thai restaurant in 1989, to be followed by more locations and other outposts… read more

Pi(e) Day is almost here

March 13, 2021 by
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March 14 (3.14 if you use the month-first convention as we do in the US) is the perfect day for bakers to celebrate both pi (the mathematical constant) and pie (the tasty food with endless variation) because of the natural synergy between the two. Bakers use pi when scaling recipes to determine the proper pan size, and of course bakers… read more

Bon Appétit controversy heads to the small screen

March 12, 2021 by
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We have previously reported on the Bon Appetit controversies that involved allegations of inequitable treatment of BIPOC staff members in the BA Test Kitchen, and charges of cultural appropriation. As Grub Street reports, the drama surrounding the real-life story is now headed to HBO Max, which is planning a half-hour scripted comedy featuring elements of these controversies. Bon Appetit Test Kitchen (YouTube)… read more

Mother’s Day recipe ideas

March 10, 2021 by
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Mother's Day is this Sunday in the UK (it's May 9 in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand). A great way to honor the person who likely did most of the cooking for you during your childhood is to make a special treat for her on this special occasion. Whether that means a full meal (if you are able to… read more

Rare Andy Warhol cookbook headed to auction

March 9, 2021 by
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Did you know Andy Warhol had written a cookbook? Apparently some of our members did, because the book, Wild Raspberries, appears on a handful of bookshelves in the EYB Library. Not very many copies of this cookbook exist, but you have a chance to buy one of them at an auction in NYC later this month. The story behind the… read more

What does a ‘no-recipe cookbook’ look like?

March 8, 2021 by
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The idea of a 'no-recipe' recipe is not exactly new. At various points over the years I have seen dozens of articles with the premise of 'how to cook X without a recipe', but an entire cookbook that is dedicated to the concept is another story. That is exactly what the debut cookbook from NYT Cooking is all about. Simply… read more

Food news antipasto

March 7, 2021 by
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Last year the 2020 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (MFWF) had to quickly pivot to an online format due to the coronavirus outbreak. Despite a recent scare with a snap five-day lockdown, the 2021 MFWF will happen in person, from March 12 to 31. Head over to Australian Gourmet Traveller to learn more about the event. Many of the festival's… read more

2020 André Simon Food and Drink book awards

March 5, 2021 by
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Cookbook award season has launched with the March 3 announcement of the André Simon Food and Drink book awards for 2020. Simon was the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years. In 66 years of authorship, he… read more

The story of our pandemic kitchens, as told through cookbooks

March 4, 2021 by
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During 2020, cookbook sales - which were already a bright spot for publishing houses - continued their upward trend, with sales up 17 percent from the previous year. This should not surprise anyone; people have been cooking at home in numbers not seen for several generations and the inspiration well was pretty quick to run dry for all of us.… read more

The rapid rise and fall of Recipeasly

March 2, 2021 by
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Both Jenny and I have written before about the constant criticism aimed at food bloggers who pen a lengthy introduction or indulge in a personal story before reciting their recipe. I wrote about 'How much story do you want with that recipe?' a couple of years ago, and recently Jenny returned to the subject with 'Order up: one recipe, hold… read more

Food news antipasto

February 28, 2021 by
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I am always delighted to learn new ways to use a kitchen tool I already own. This week's lesson in that regard involves the humble grapefruit spoon. Obviously it works well to section grapefruit (although I struggle with not squirting myself in the eye with the juice), but there are other tasks that it handles with ease as well, such… read more

Food, times are changing and the importance of our words

February 25, 2021 by
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For me, and many others like me, food and cooking has been the great equalizer. Bringing folks of all ethnicities and beliefs around the table to share experiences and build a bridge to better understanding and acceptance of our differences. In doing so, we may learn that we aren't so very different after all. But it seems, especially in the… read more

The mystery of Canada’s hard butter

February 22, 2021 by
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Canadian food writer and cookbook author Julie Van Rosendaal started a minor firestorm recently with a tweet about butter: "Have you noticed it's no longer soft at room temperature? Watery? Rubbery?" she asked. People chimed in with their own observations - yes, butter does seem different these days, more difficult to spread and remaining hard even when the kitchen is not… read more

Food news antipasto

February 21, 2021 by
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We've all been there: gravy that is runny, sauces that lack gravitas, and watery stews. There are ways to fix these culinary mishaps, and The Washington Post shows us three different techniques for how to thicken gravies, sauces, and stews. You may be familiar with the terms 'soul food' and 'Southern food', but do you know the differences between them?… read more

DIY fine dining

February 17, 2021 by
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With most restaurants either closed or operating at reduced capacity, the state of eating out remains in flux. While getting takeout from most places is a fairly easily achieved substitute, fine dining restaurants are another story. It is not easy to duplicate the elaborate serving vessels, complicated dishes, and precise plating. This has not stopped them from trying, however. The… read more

Food news antipasto

February 14, 2021 by
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Food definitions can be tricky things. At what point does a flatbread become a pizza, is cheesecake a cake or a pie, and what is the difference between chowder and soup? For the last one, Taste of Home weighs in, providing their take on the differences between soups and chowders. Nadiya Hussain's series Nadiya Bakes is now available for streaming… read more

Food news antipasto

February 7, 2021 by
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Arranging books by color is a common, although controversial, method of organizing one's library. It's one thing to choose that aesthetic for books you already own, but some people are taking the concept a step too far, says Arati Menon over at Food52. You can buy entire sets of books that are grouped only by color, not by subject or… read more

Understanding food grammar

February 4, 2021 by
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Learning a new language can be a challenge, especially when the language's grammar differs significantly from your native tongue. When translated literally, idioms can sound absurd, but if you think about the overarching meaning the phrase will eventually make sense. Just like language, food has grammar, and learning the rules of another culture's eating etiquette can be nearly as confusing… read more
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