Food News

Winter reads

Winter is here, so we’re cracking a bottle and settling in with a new book. Fireplace optional. Here are our picks.

By Maggie Scardifield
Tartine All Day
Elisabeth Prueitt (Penguin Random House, $64.99)
Bread pudding with bacon and wild mushrooms. Slices of caramelised apple stacked to form a beehive. Bring a little of San Francisco's Tartine Bakery to your home with the help of co-founder Elisabeth Prueitt. The cookbook reads like a conversation you'd have in a friend's kitchen - unfussy, comforting and memorable. You'll want to cook from it cover to cover.
Around the World in 80 Cocktails
Chad Parkhill (Hardie Grant Books, $29.99)
Melbourne bartender Chad Parkhill has nailed cocktail-hour. Winter got you down? Mix a jug of Agua de Valencia, or the shouldn't-work-but-does Jungle Bird from Malaysia: dark rum with Campari, pineapple juice and lime. There are 80 libations, each with its own history and graphic illustration by Melbourne's Alice Oehr.
Feast for the Eyes
Susan Bright (Aperture, $90)
If you're a fan of Irving Penn - or you take great joy poring over the pages of 1960s cookbooks - this smorgasbord of food photography is for you. Fine art, fashion and advertising photos all have a seat at the table, giving great insight into styling and snacks over the years, and the politics around our need to consume.
Uncle Dysfunctional
AA Gill (Allen & Unwin Canongate, $24.99)
"Matching his and hers tattoos - ever acceptable? Only if you're Danish bacon." While late GT contributor AA Gill was best known for his food and travel writing, he was also the "Agony Uncle" for Esquire until his death in December last year. This collecton of his hilarious columns covers etiquette, dating, bad neighbours and more.
A History of the World in 500 Railway Journeys
Sarah Baxter (Australian Geographic, $39.95)
After inspiring many to don hiking boots with The History of the World in 500 Walks, Sarah Baxter turns her attention to train travel. This clever compendium charts the world's epic railway journeys, from the first train, in ancient Greece, to present-day Shinkansen, and trains that chase the northern lights.
The Ivy Now
Fernando Peire (Quadrille, $45)
To celebrate The Ivy's 100th birthday, Fernando Peire, former maître d' of the London restaurant, gives us a peek at the glamorous goings-on behind the famous stained-glass windows. Part-history book, part-cookbook, part theatreland tell-all - there's shellfish cocktails and shepherd's pie next to musings from the likes of Barry Humphries, Tracey Emin and Sadie Frost.
Out of Line
Barbara Lynch (Atria Books, $52)
In her début memoir, Boston chef Barbara Lynch (who has eight eateries under her belt) recounts her rise from crime, drugs and hardknocks to the James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur she is today.
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  • undefined: Maggie Scardifield