PHAIDON Australia: The Cookbook

I loved the style. Yes as some people have commented their are limited photos of some recipes but that's not what it's really about. The one thing we laughed at was the description of scallops as an Australian dish. Certainly common where we grew up in the UK.

All the staples are here and it's an incredibly comprehensive book. I love the dishes from the 70s, takes me right back!

Forgive me but I don’t actually think that this book is made for Anglo Australians, at least those of my age. I am old, Anglo and heir to my horrible grandmother’s and my nice mother’s interwar and 1950s cookbooks whose recipes resonate throughout this book. For this is the stuff (more or less) that we grew up eating and speaking for myself, ran away from. Having said that of course I still make regularly roast dinners, cottage pies and v reluctantly, casseroles. As my husband knows I shall NEVER make silverside with cabbage and white sauce so don’t ask. So why would I with my history and hostility even contemplate this book. Firstly, recipe books are a good marital aid. They are soothing whereas I don’t recommend reading feminist theory in bed unless you actually want to get divorced. It is particularly interesting to find all of these recipes combined in a single volume and to contemplate what is/was Australian. No it’s not eating chokos; as if...Rather definitions and tastes have fluctuated across time and waves of immigration: from damper to green curry and don’t forget the pav; from Mrs Beeton to Adam Liaw. Nostalgia plays a powerful role too. I could have cried when I found the peach blossom cake. I hate it. It has a slimy texture because of the cornflour but it was my late sister’s favourite. Improved recipes: these are better versions of the classics. They are updated in places and more suited to a contemporary palate. Lastly, it is a beautiful book with good cover and great photos (albeit uncaptioned). It has weird paper but I think that’s about keeping a limit on its size. As other reviewers have commented: it makes a great gift whether you know a little or a lot of our culinary heritage.

First of all, this book in stores is plastic wrapped, so you can't just flick through it. I had seen it but had no interest in it until I saw the reviews here. This is a massive collection of not necessarily Australian recipies, but recipies for foods loved Australians. This book contains many of Australias favorite Italian and Asian recipies along with local classics. The paper used in the book isn't the thickest (as mentioned by another reviewer) but I think there was no option to keep this many pages in the book. This is incredibly comprehsive and I will be buying a copy for each of my children. My only wish is that this was also available in a Kindle version - I'd like to have both.

Very interesting, I didn't realise how many recipes really were Australian. Provides so much interesting context, it's basically a history book with recipes littered in, yet there are still hundreds of recipes. Very valuable to an Australian cook or someone interested in Australian cuisine. I can see this lasting a lifetime and generations to come. Only downside is that the paper and book aren't kitchen proof like some other cook books, you wouldn't want to spill a bunch of sauce on this.