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My Favourite Cookbooks : Pip Lincolne

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March 6, 2012
Be Creative
22 Comments

Did you know that I post about food here very often? And did you know that quite a  few of the JustBees are crazy about food and cooking. Well. That is a bit of an understatement.   All of the JustBees are crazy about food and cooking, in fact. My foodie posts are nothing out of the ordinary for this blog which may soon be titled JustB Plumper if we keep posting recipes for lamingtons and pies and cakes!

That aside, I thought it might be good to follow on from my post yesterday about Jamie Oliver and talk about some great cookbooks to further your own personal Food Revolution.  A lot of people chatted in the comments of that post and on Facebook about how much Jamie means to their own culinary journey, and about their favourite Jamie tomes, so I thought we could extend that conversation and talk about cookbooks and food in general.

I have hundreds of cookbooks at my house. I know.  Slap me now.  That was a bit boasty. I’m really NOT trying to boast, rather I’m trying to assure you that I am completely qualified to recommend cookbooks. I’ve read LOTS of cookbooks (as though they were the daily newspaper!) and I have been a caterer and even owned a cute cafe, so I know a BIT about food. In a non boasty way.  Those are my cookbookery qualifications.

I tried to choose five. I really did.  And then I tried to choose ten.  But in the end I’ve narrowed down my favourites to a teensy 14 and even that was super difficult. I feel a bit sad that I left a lot of my faves out.  I feel they will never let me turn their pages again! Already I can see my Ottolenghis, Bills, Elizabeths, Claudias and Stephanies getting all surly. Le sigh.  Sorry dudes.

I love different cookbooks for different reasons and these ones are full of great recipes, great stories and interesting, inspiring people.  These are just the tip of the ice berg in terms of my favourites. These are my favourites for today. Tomorrow there may be 247 more on this list. I am a bit like that. I am a cookbook skank.

Top : The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver : How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson : Maggie’s Farm by Maggie Beer : The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser
Middle : Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros : Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers : Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson : Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook by Sarah Raven
Next Middle : India Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant, South East Asian Food by Rosemary Brissenden, The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater
Bottom : Stir by Christine Manfield, River Cottage Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Everday Harumi by Harumi Kurihara

Do you have any of these books, JustBees?  I’d love to know YOUR favourites.   And I am totally challenging my adorable JustB colleagues to make their own lists and post them on JustB too.  I can’t wait to get inside everyone’s bookshelves and see what they love to cook from.  Which cookbooks do you love, JustBees?

xx Pip

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Featured image of Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day is via The Hungry Australian (and this recipe is SO SO SO delicious!)

 

  • http://twitter.com/ruthbruten GourmetGirlfriend

    of course we share a few faves Pip.
    of course. 
    xx

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      LIKE! I feel sad that I didn’t put Ottolenghi up there now. I’m having a little cookbook sob on his behalf!

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Crawford/722309910 Michelle Crawford

        Poor Yotam!

        • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

          Sob!

  • Clarissa

    I have borrowed some from the library!
    My fav cook book that i own is Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen garden companion.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh that is a WONDERFUL book! Yes!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Crawford/722309910 Michelle Crawford

    So many good ones Pip!  I have a few of them.  I’m such a Nigel fan, I recently bought Tender Volume 1 and 2, i love his beautiful prose as well as his recipes.  

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      He’s not great on TV, but he writes SO well and he knows about food, doesnt he? x

  • http://twitter.com/meliss_n Mel

    This is a topic I love! The NYT is my most recent purchase. I love the history at the start of each chapter. While I don’t own the book, I do love Swanson’s blog 101 Cookbooks. I adore Nigella – Domestic Goddess and Kitchen are my absolute favourites. The last one continues to inspire even over a year after the purchase!

    Also I adore The Cooks Companion. It’s my go to when I am at a loss of what to cook with one ingredient, or want to learn a new technique!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Ah yes! The ORANGE DOORSTOP = Cook’s Companion. It has got EVERYTHING hasn’t it?! I really love the intros on each recipe in the NY Times Cookbook. It’s so fantastic and entertaining. And there are so many UNIQUE recipes in there. LOVE. Thanks for commenting!!! So great to hear YOUR faves! x

      • http://twitter.com/meliss_n Mel

        My pleasure! I love reading JustB!

        I love the timeline at the start of each chapter which show the evolution of recipes, as well as the trends that emerge during periods. It appeases both my love of history and my love of cooking!

        The Cooks Companion is so aptly named. It’s perfect!

        I also own Apples for Jam and love how each chapter is categorised according to colour!

        I also have to say, a recent favourite is the My Kitchen Table 100 Trays and Bakes by Mary Berry. Small and cheap (less than $5 from Target) and the recipes are fantastic. (I may be biased I loved Mary Berry from the Great British Bake Off).

        • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

          I am going to add that to my ‘Must Buy’ list, Mel!!! Thank you for the tip!

  • Reannonhope

    I’m like you Pip, I find it hard to choose! I share some of yours ( Jamie , Nigella & Tessa ) but I also love Bills Food, Country Classics, Nigellas Kitchen, Jamie’s America, Baking Bible & of course I have 3 folders full of recipes I pulled from magazines, the net ect…

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh YES! There are a lot of Women’s Weekly ones that are great, I think! Yes!  And of course we could add Karen Martini and Campion & Curtis too!

  • gayle hannah

    Geez I have almost a metre of cookbooks but NOT ONE of these – I am vegan though.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      A lot of these would be good for you, Gayle! Esp the India one, the River Cottage Veg one, Super Natural every day and maybe even everyday harumi! xx

  • Kate

    I have a few the same as you.
    I am obsessed with the River Cottage books.
    I use at least one of them most days.
    And I just bought the Sustainable Table yesterday which looks amazing. I am making a lentil and haloumi salad from it for dinner tonight. Yum! 
    But I have to admit I do google ingredients often and see what recipes are out there.
    I have found some family favourites like that.
    x

  • Gillian Sansom

    I own every Nigella Lawson cookbook, and I would cook at least one of her recipes every week.  I have a major crush on her I think…

  • Ros

    Yep the orange door stop! Love it when I get a glut of something from the veggie patch. I have made a scrap book of my faves that is pretty ragged around the edges – it gets used a lot.  I also love an old Family Circle one that Mum gave me years ago -lots of good basics in there. Secrets of the Red Lantern is beautiful too, the recipes are great but the story of the Nguyen family is fascinating and quite moving.

  • Tracey_challis

    My husband is a fan of the Movida cookbook and Turquoise by Greg and Lucy while I use Jamie Oliver’s a lot during the week because the kids will eat the food that I prefer. An old favorite for Thai cooking is “Spirit House”

  • Catie

    I grew up cooking from the NMAA spiral bound books- they’re ace! I adore Jill Dupleix’s Old Food & I think I cook more from The Return of the Naked Chef than from the original. Stephanie’s orange oeuvre was my first wedding anniversary present & it’s been a staple. I love Donestic Goddess, Apples for Jam & Ottolenghi too, and anything by Elizabeth David! Oh, and Karen Martini’s books are fantastic- I use the first one more than the second. I am a frequent library borrower & op shop purchaser of cookbooks but I must admit that I find more and more recipes online (there are some brilliant ones on a beautiful blog called Meet Me at Mikes!).

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