The Retro Cookbook ~ ACP Books

'Ahh, retro cooking, that's a bit of a throwback' I can hear you thinking, 'full of ghastly dishes that should have been left in the seventies'. In answer to your question (yes, I know you thought you were making a statement, but we all know that you really wanted to find out if that statement is true), the answer is both yes and no. Yes, there is the odd recipe here and there that you may have hoped would never again see the light of day, a la Devilled eggs, but no, that's not really the essence of the book and I think you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.
What this book is about is renewing and revitalising the classics, the kinds of dishes our mothers and grandmothers made, with a fresh take or sometimes just a fresh feel to them. There is a reason that dishes like Eggs Benedict and Caesar Salad have stood the test of time, that Pork loin with apple sauce will always see the plate licked clean, and that the good old Classic Trifle still features at every family christmas. Retro isn't about old and dated, it's about taking the best forward with us. This is simple food, cooked well, and cooked with heart.

The book is delightfully kitsch, its pages peppered with just the right mix of modern takes on the traditional, reproductions of pages from older cookbooks, and some funky 1950's advertisements. It is divided into themed chapters such as 'The milk bar' and 'Dinner with the Joneses', and most delightfully 'Here comes Santa', though the recipes stand alone and are suitable for a myriad of purposes. Breakfast in bed for that someone special, how about the Raspberry hotcakes with honeycomb butter. The girls are coming by for lunch - how about the Chicken burger with avocado and bacon, and for the vegetarians the Chilli and mint eggplant burgers with some Quince and Rhubarb pie for everyone to finish with. The recipes are well constructed, straightforward and accessible, and most of all generally very tasty.
This review resulted from a phone call from the lovely April, so I have been thinking about which recipe most suits her, if I had to pick a single recipe from the book that reflects how I see her, which would it be? Now this is something that I have been mulling over for some time now, how do you find a recipe that reflects a person? I was tempted by the Coffee creme caramels, very tempted in fact, however they are just too smooth, too simple and lack both depth and substance. The Limoncello meringue pies are close, so very close, but ultimately too cloying and sweet. No, for April I have chosen the Lemon Creme Brulee Tarts. Robust, complex, sweet but with a sharp tangy edge, textured and layered and protected by a crust of golden toffee. That is the recipe that best reflects April.
This is a cookbook for everyone, and by everyone I mean everyone who enjoys cooking and having a bit of fun at the same time. Possibly not one for the reluctant retiring BBQ manly type of bloke, but girls go for your life. Recommended for lovely ladies who get off on dressing up in frocks and for the odd psychologist or two.

- Kath

Practical Cookery ~ Victor Ceserani, Ronald Kinton and David Foskett

This book has had a home in my bookcase for many years and is indeed as practical as the title suggests. It was my bible while studying cookery way back in the mid 90's, the standard text which all aspiring chefs lugged around from class to class, and it served me well in the kitchens at East Sydney Tafe. Whilst I never went on to continue the professional journey as a cook, I have held onto this gem and courted its' pages periodically since then, with a fondness that comes from our shared passion for cookery.
Perhaps passion isn't the word that would automatically spring to mind when you start flicking through the 700 plus pages of recipes, indeed there are no seductive menu suggestions, no tantalising double page photographic spreads of delicious treats. What this book gives you instead are recipes for consommé, for Gnocchi romaine, for chicken vol-au-vent. "Passion my arse," I can hear you think. But passion is what this book is all about. It is about helping those with a love of cooking develop their skills, learn the very fundamentals of the craft, and begin at the beginning. It is about making accessible very simply the traditions of the profession. It is about food and about cookery and about the people who choose to make this their life's work, and it doesn't get much more passionate than that.

So with recipes so basic (so very fundamental), what practical purpose does a book like this hold for the more experienced cook? I'm glad you asked ~ it is a treasure trove, it holds little keys to the wider world of cookery, and while you may want to let your creativity flow and impress the world with your deft combination of flavours and textures, you cannot go past this book for the basic starting blocks. You can work with the basic bavarois and give it a little tweak, you can make your own puff pastry for creating something decadent, or you can simply make a fresh egg pasta dough to accompany with something fresh and delicious. More simply though, this book is a resource, it is comprehensive in covering the basics of cookery methods, it is well structured and simple to follow, and best of all has a fantastic index. It is not pretty, nor does it pretend to be, but it is practical and hidden within its' pages is passion.
Recommended for apprentice chefs and for those who studied cookery and look back at it fondly as one of their happiest times.

- Kath