The Craft of Cooking
By Bella Pallett
When a recipe changes and evolves but still holds the very same essence as when it was first created, there is an undeniable sense of craft and heritage. Crafting delicious and mouthwatering dishes that accredit tradition is an art that is globally recognised and loved by many families and businesses.
One food that is meticulously crafted to perfection is the Japanese delicacy, sushi. Often thought to be too challenging to make at home, successful Japanese chef Yuki Gomi has crafted a book to help teach you everything you need to know about how to make delicious and perfectly crafted sushi at home.
The beautifully designed recipe book, Sushi at Home, is not only filled with tips and tricks to help you learn but is also filled with illustrations and photography showcasing the tasty outcomes of your craft.
Including clever alternatives to traditional sushi styles such as handball sushi, vegetarian sushi, and even soba sushi, Yuki Gomi has insured everyone can enjoy the delicacy, no matter your dietary lifestyle. By helping you to develop a new skill of culinary craft, you can enjoy the much loved Asian delicacy from your very own kitchen.
There is a strong sense of a celebration of heritage and the craft of cooking that can come along with it, passed along through generations and stories. The Book of Jewish Food by Cladia Roden traces the story of Jewish people through cuisine.
Claudia Roden spent her childhood in the Jewish quarter of Cairo and later lived in a vast majority of places around Europe, Asia and the Americas. By exploring the incredible story of Jewish cooking and its people, this book captures the treasures gathered by Roden as she travelled the world gathering stories and tasting wonders that celebrate Jewish heritage.
Including over 800 recipes ranging from Challah bread to falafel and succulent lamb with prunes, this recipe book is cleverly interwoven with Roden’s charming asides as she explores the history of certain foods as well as ways of preparing them.
There are detailed sections on Jewish history that remark on the craft and heritage, as well as beautiful illustrations of not only the mouth-watering food but the families and towns where the dishes originate from.
Want to craft delicious homemade pasta like nonna used to? Vicky Bennison has gathered tips and generational secrets of craft from kitchens all across Italy from grandmothers who have perfected the craft of traditional and fresh pasta dishes.
The recipe book Pasta Grannies tells of extraordinary tales of ordinary women to show you that with the right know-how, truly authentic Italian cooking is not only beautiful and delicious but entirely achievable in your kitchen at home.
Highlighting the regional diversity of pasta and acknowledging the heritage that the craft contains, this book holds a huge breadth of recipes. Pasta styles range from pici, a type of hand-rolled spaghetti that is simple to make, to lumachelle della duchessa, which are tiny, ridged, cinnamon-scented tubes that take patience and dexterity.
So whether you want a challenge or a quick delve into the craft of pasta, this book ensures you will be creating dishes like nonna used to in no time.
Yet to be released, The Latin American Cookbook by Virgilio Martinez demonstrates the craft of cooking through the use of traditional ingredients and methods passed down through generation and tradition.
By exploring a variety of social dynamics and culinary preparations, the ingredients and recipes included in the book have their very own origins and histories that predate us and are constantly evolving.
Using a hugely diverse range of ingredients that make these recipes unique, the culinary heritage of the people who crafted them is highlighted and appreciated through generations.
The book is filled with endless surprises that are aimed to transport you to each destination of the dishes origin, and encourage you to learn more about them. By including categories such as recipes that only need 5 ingredients or less, and cooking times of no more than half an hour, it has never been easier to craft delicacies from Latin America in your own kitchen.
Martinez says that his goal for this cookbook is to bring people together through the craft of the cuisine and that the very act of cooking helps keep the richness of Latin American food alive and relevant. Whether you are reviving the flavours of a favourite dish or making a recipe for the first time, you are bound to be transfixed by the beauty of the craft of this cuisine and its heritage.
Transport yourself into a world of delicious smells and taste, whether that’s by hand-making pasta dough, crafting a perfect sushi roll, or immersing yourself in Jewish or Latin American heritage and culture, all through the incredible craft of cooking at home.
If you enjoyed reading The Craft of Cooking, read Sweet Support here.
Pre-order The Latin American Cookbook here.