Recipes are organised by occasion - Weeknights: quick, simple and often one-pot; Weekends: when you have more time to cook and enjoy food; Occasions: for celebratory meals with family and friends; Breakfast: recipes but obviously not for weekdays; baking and basics such as breads, pates, dips, dressings and chutneys.
There are several variations on burgers and pizzas, ideal for feeding hungry teenagers.
I was intrigued by a recipe for chocolate parsnip cake which she says is dense and moist, a panforte recipe without chocolate, and a colourful energy salad with grated beetroot, carrot, feta, seeds of various types and raisins.
Like Alison Holst in New Zealand, she taught generations of Australians how to cook and introduced them to international cuisine.
First published in 1983 and revised since, this encyclopaedia has entries arranged from abalone to zwieback with recipes in most of them, and many recipes for some (there are 14 for zucchini, 20 for pork and 26 for lamb).
Although unillustrated, it is both a reference book and a cookbook, the sort you give to someone setting up their own flat or household.
However, I did note a couple of omissions of things I expected to find as it has been revised for this edition - biscotti and quinoa - so it's not quite exhaustive, but perhaps that's being picky for such an otherwise comprehensive tome.
Her thoughtful short articles and stories, often with a twist in the tail, explore subjects like ageing, both of wine and people and our attitudes to both; or blending, illustrated with a little story about team-work; or musings on the missed opportunities and the esoteric rituals of sniff, swirl, taste, spit at cellar doors and the difference between tasting and drinking, which after all is the whole point of wine; or the contrast between the hardship and sadness of Champagne's history that lie beneath the glamorous, celebratory image of its most famous product.
There's no pretension or affectation in this delightful little book. Pick it up and browse through it, read a story or two in a quiet moment with a glass of wine in your hand and share the author's love of wine in all its aspects.
Reissued with a new cover, its recipes blend Mediterranean and Asian flavours, and include unusual ingredients like kuzu, sea vegetables, and umeboshi vinegar, as well as lots of tofu, miso, vegetables, whole grains but no sugar, which he replaces with rice syrup, maple syrup, or apple juice concentrate.
They use alternative flours - spelt, rye, chickpea - or nuts and seeds, lots of seasonal vegetables and fruit.
There are unusual things like a pizza base made with cauliflower, ground almonds and eggs, as well as a number of delicious-looking vegetable tagines and stews, things to take on a picnic, a twist on traditional Scandinavian cardamom buns, and an interesting selection of drinks, from elderflower lemonade through juices, smoothies, lassis and chai and, of course, desserts.
Their Swedish background brings an exciting flavour to this sumptuously illustrated cookbook.
With historic influences from the Romans, Arabs, Normans, Sicily, the Turks, Spaniards and British retirees, its cuisine is nevertheless based on simple, homestyle cooking using local ingredients: fish, lemons, herbs, vegetables, pasta, bread and cheese. A coffee-table book that may tempt you to take it into the kitchen.
