Editors’ picks: The cookbooks to gift, cook with and cherish forever

Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, Anthony Bourdain

A manual of French cuisine by the original bad-boy chef, this is an entertaining and practical today as when it first hit shelves two decades ago. Based around the menu at the Manhattan brasserie where Bourdain made his name is the 1990s, it’s a kitchen essential.

Something from Nothing, Alison Roman

Time poor and heavily into efficiency, New Yorker Alison Roman’s cooking style revolves around a well-stocked pantry. Fill it with hard-working ingredients, and you’ll be ready to conjure up flexible, off-the-cuff meals for any occasion, whether to feed yourself on a busy weeknight or to host an impressive, last-minute dinner party.

Linger, Hetty Lui McKinnon

Hetty Lui McKinnon has always been fond of a salad. Far from a side dish or a hurried after-thought, hers are the centrepiece, to be savoured. For this, her sixth cookbook (the previous five have been bestsellers) she welcomes friends into her home to share salads, desserts and stories, inviting them to linger – hence the name for this clever collection of recipes.

Padella, Tim Siadatan

A London institution since setting up shop in 2016, Padella still attracts legendary queues, despite an apparently simple concept: fresh, hand-rolled pasta with delicious sauces and fillings. Now we can all try it out for ourselves, “to create pasta at home that would make an Italian mamma smile,” as it says in the book.

Vietnam: The Cookbook, Anaïs Ca Dao Van Manen

Encompassing a staggering 450 recipes, this hefty tome is the definitive guide to Vietnamese cooking, going well beyond the phở and bánh mì that have become a fixture of everyday dining in Australia. Including history of the region, vibrant photography, and a whole chapter on preparing your own pantry staples, this is one for the committed home chef.

Good Cooking Every Day, Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Busuttil Nishimura’s reputation precedes her. When her fourth book landed on our desk, we knew to expect everyday recipes to inspire and delight. Working our way through, we also discovered a celebration of the seasons. From winter’s excess of greens (potato and silverbeet al forno) to summer’s zucchini flowers (stracci with zucchini and their flowers), mid-week meals get a delicious upgrade.

Chae, Jung Eun Chae

Melbourne chef Jung Eun Chae believes patience is a virtue. You’ll need it when faced with the 8000-person waitlist to dine at Chae, the micro-restaurant she runs from home. And you’ll need it to master the ferments in this slow Korean cookbook. The rewards are worth waiting for.

On Sundays, Dave Verheul

From Monday through to Saturday, Verheul sets the standard at his excellent Melbourne wine bar, Embla. On a Sunday, the New Zealand-born chef relaxes into a long lunch. Organised into seasons, this is a blow-by-blow account of what and how the chef cooks when he entertains at home.

Love Crumbs, Nadine Ingram

A birthday, a heartbreak, a rite of passage; these are the reasons we bake. For Flour & Stone’s Nadine Ingram, cake is also a love language. In this “meaningful memoir of cake”, as she describes it, Ingram documents the recipes she has developed to bring sweetness into people’s lives.

Italian Coastal, Amber Guinness

Dreams of moving to Italy will be bolstered by this swoon-worthy book. In her follow up to A House Party in Tuscany, the focus shifts from farmhouse to the Tyrrhenian Sea. And it’s a marvellous place to summer.

A Fish For All Seasons, Sydney Fish Market

Consider this your sustainable seafood roadmap. The Sydney Fish Market is on a mission to put under-utilised seafood species on our menus. It starts here with a stunning sea urchin taglioni and a barbecued redclaw with brown butter among the 100-strong recipe collection.

Easy Wins, Anna Jones

When simple ingredients come together as more than the sum of their parts, it’s an easy win. In this weeknight cooking bible, best-selling British author Anna Jones zeros in on 12 hero ingredients across a dozen chapters. The result? 125 recipes to cook on repeat.

Eat NYC, Yasmin Newman

Proving New York isn’t just a city, it’s a mindset, Newman gets us into a Manhattan mood with this recipe compilation. An everything bagel, pizza by the slice, a Reuben worthy of When Harry Met Sally are among the highlights.

Ho Jiak, Junda Khoo

The chef and owner behind the Ho Jiak empire shares his origins story in recipe format. From his amah’s (grandmother’s) congee to the juicy Hainan chicken he learnt from his favourite street vendor in Malaysia, this volume is a tasty tribute to the influences that shaped him.

Arabesque, Claudia Roden

It’s almost impossible to choose a favourite cookbook. Over the years, I’ve pored over hundreds of them — losing hours immersed in their pages and studying the styled images. But the first book I couldn’t put down, and the one I set out to cook from cover to cover (though I’m not there yet), was Claudia Roden’s Arabesque. As a late teen, I was captivated by the vibrant cuisines of Morocco, Lebanon, and Turkey; their perfect balance of sweet and sour, aromatic and fresh. Many of my earliest dinner parties were planned from this book. Claudia’s recipes laid the foundation for my understanding of flavour and were instrumental in shaping my formative years in the kitchen.

– Maxwell Adey, Senior Food Editor

Bill’s Basics, Bill Granger

The late Bill Granger‘s Bill Basics was the first cookbook I “borrowed” from my mum when I needed to become an adult and start cooking. I inherited it with dog-eared and food-splattered pages, and I’ve made my own marks over the years since. His baked orrechiette with sausage, cavolo nero and ricotta has become a comfort food favourite, as has the lemongrass and ginger chicken curry served with vermicelli.

– Cordelia Williamson, former Digital Editor

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Samin Nosrat

As much a fantastical science-edged tome as it is a storybook and cookbook, Nosrat’s debut delivers not just a set of recipes but a simple and elegant philosophy for all home cooks. Find out about the role of salt (osmosis!), bake the perfect focaccia, peruse illustrations of the elements in Caesar salad and so much more. A modern day cook’s must-have.

– Jordan Kretchmer, News Editor

Ester, Mat Lindsay with Pat Nourse

I have an emotional attachment to this book; it symbolises the lazy, long weekends and good times spent feasting with great friends. There was one weekend in particular when this cookbook was the central theme. Standout recipes include the shallot and Sichuan pepper tarte Tatin and my ultimate favourite, the Bullet tart with its malted tart shell blanketed in a thick and glossy liquorice ganache. Bullet fanciers will understand.

– Jacqui Triggs, Creative Director

The Cook’s Companion, Stephanie Alexander

This is my go-to when I need to bake a cake or cook a traditional casserole. The way the cookbook is broken down into ingredient chapters is very user-friendly.

– Sam Yates, Senior Designer

Food from Many Greek Kitchens, Tessa Kiros

Tessa Kiros’ Food from Many Greek Kitchens is a classic that I keep coming back to for its beautiful culinary journey of Greece. I use it every New Year’s Eve for its foolproof vassilopita cake. Her briam (mixed roast veggies), bamies (baked okra) and fasolakia yachni (stewed green beans in tomato) are almost as good as my Mum’s – and that’s saying something. The best collection of Greek home-style cooking recipes.

– Suzanna Chriss, Senior Sub Editor

Italian Food, Stefano Manfredi

As the weather cools, I instinctively turn to the warmth of hearty Italian food — from broccoli, anchovy and chilli orecchiette to warming sausage minestrone to slow-braised duck ragù on pillowy gnocchi. My guide through this craving has always been Stefano Manfredi’s Italian Food: a hefty, region-by-region compendium that captures the soul of Italy’s culinary traditions. It’s taught me time-honoured classics, the beauty of seasonality and the diversity woven through each family table.

– Maxwell Adey, Senior Food Editor

Appetite, Nigel Slater

Appetite by Nigel Slater is a perfect fit for the colder months. He’s a British national treasure and a witty writer, as well as an excellent cook. What makes this book especially winter-friendly is that it was published in 2000, several years before Slater graduated to much healthier cooking, so it’s full of lovely buttery comfort food, my favourite being an enormous rectangular mushroom and thyme pie.

– Ceri David, Deputy Editor

Saturday Night Pasta, Elizabeth Hewson

For me, making pasta from scratch is therapeutic, and Elizabeth Hewson’s Saturday Night Pasta was a key player in keeping me sane during pandemic lockdowns. Each week, I’d thumb through the recipes, picking one that suited my mood — pappardelle with Bloody Mary lamb ragù for a slow weekend session; broccoli and feta orecchiette for a midweek boost; or chicken meatballs with cavatelli in tomato and lemon broth when I was in need of serious comfort. Now, as the days get shorter and the temperature cools, I am reaching for it once again and selecting new recipes, making it my mission to cook every dish.

– Cordelia Williamson, former Digital Editor

A Year of Simple Family Food, Julia Busuttil Nishimura

While I pick this recipe repertoire for winter, Busuttil Nishimura’s generous second book is a year-round companion. It’s seen me through varied seasons of my own life: I distinctly remember making her piadina dough, a soothing distraction during a difficult personal time; while the lamb ragù is the recipe I’ll be batch cooking ahead of my maternity leave stint.

– Jordan Kretchmer, News Editor

Ottolenghi Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi

While I pick this recipe repertoire for winter, Busuttil Nishimura’s generous second book is a year-round companion. It’s seen me through varied seasons of my own life: I distinctly remember making her piadina dough, a soothing distraction during a difficult personal time; while the lamb ragù is the recipe I’ll be batch cooking ahead of my maternity leave stint.

– Jordan Kretchmer, News Editor

Falling Cloudberries, Tessa Kiros

This is a beautifully diverse cookbook filled with heartfelt family stories and multicultural influences. Tessa Kiros blends recipes with memory, drawing from Finland, Greece, South Africa, and beyond. Her Finnish meatballs with allspice, sour cream and lingonberries make for the perfect comfort dish.

– Lana Telford, Editorial Coordinator