Cooking the books

A Good Year by Lois Daish.

Every year New Zealanders whip up a batch of cookbooks for their compatriots to enjoy. Here's a sampling of some of the best.

A Good Year by Lois Daish, $36.95, Random House

This collection of recipes derives from Lois Daish's columns in The Listener. I have always found her writing joyful, insightful and inspiring. Seasonal produce is highlighted by the monthly focus of the book; winter months show robust slow-cooked dishes such as beef with pickled walnuts, while the summer months emphasise fast and light fare. Her work has a straightforward approach; she covers the basics of cookery while allowing the ingredients to shine. The focus is on simplicity and clarity; everything that good home cooking should be.

Cibo: Food with Attitude by Kate Fay and Jeremy Turner, $49.99, Hodder Moa

Much loved by media types, Cibo has long been one of the darlings of the high-end Auckland restaurant scene. Flair, continuity and consistency have been its hallmarks. Kate Fay has been its head chef since 1999 and it is the playful twists that she brings to otherwise standard dishes that make this book worthwhile. This is very much a restaurant cookbook and you'll need an army of minions to cook from it. If you like your food rich, stacked high, with classical overtones (duck confit, caesar salad and pannacotta) this is for you. Enthusiasts aside, it will, for many, linger on the coffee table.

A Cook's Tour of New Zealand by Peta Mathias, $59.95, Penguin

Peta Mathias has travelled the country for more than a decade with her Taste New Zealand series and in this book she writes with exuberance about ingredients, suppliers and their produce.

Listings are alphabetical, and Mathias provides lovely anecdotes about people and places. The recipes sound delicious and the photography by Laurence Belcher is wonderful. It's crammed with information, and my only quibbles lie with the fussy and distracting layout and a rather sloppy index. A detailed supplier list of each region would have been helpful for those planning their own tours of the country.

Taste: Baking with Flavour by Dean Brettschneider & Lauraine Jacobs, $39.95, Random House

This is the third book that Brettschneider and Jacobs have collaborated on. Previous efforts concentrated on bread-making; here they have expanded to include pastry-making, cakes and other baked goods.

Recipes move from simple pies and tarts to more elaborate cakes and biscuits. In each section the basic techniques are covered comprehensively with clear instructions and valuable tips.

The bread-making section includes some excellent notes on New Zealand flours. The huge variety of recipes ensures there is a bread or cake for every level of competence and to tempt every palate. Incredibly good value.

Fit Food for Winners, Millennium Institute of Sport and Health, $19.95

The Millennium Institute promotes nutrition and healthy eating to help improve the performance of sports people and this book takes that message to the wider community. Prominent New Zealand athletes have provided recipes for meals, snacks and sweet treats. The food looks delicious and the instructions are clear and simple.

A nagging impression is of food as fuel. Part of the joy of eating and sharing food is about the process of cooking; creating fast and tasty food shouldn't have to rely on packet sauces and flavour enhancers even if your major sponsor is Nestle.

The pantry list, food-safety notes, and food labels are mostly excellent. There is very little information on sodium (salt); disappointing given the links between salt intake, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease (the leading cause of death in this country).

* For Julie Le Clerc fans vivafood, $39.95, Penguin, a collection of some of her favourite recipes from her weekly Viva column is a must.