Books: Food journeys

Garden peas, cultured butter, sea salt, crisp pea blossoms from Peter Gilmore's Organum. Photo / Brett Stevens

Linda Herrick delves into four new cookbooks that transport the palate around the globe

Organum
by Peter Gilmore
(Murdoch Books $130)

What an extraordinary book: large format, with a slip-case, black velvet cover, beautiful engravings and photography, a leisurely, space-filled layout - all to showcase the skills of Australian chef Peter Gilmore, who runs Quay in Sydney, named one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.

For him, "organum" means using multiple ingredients to achieve harmony, managing nature's diversity to push his cuisine forward, a principle which has developed since he began growing his own vegetables and herbs nine years ago. The chapters have unusual titles: Cultural Osmosis, Texture & Sculpture. This is high-end food writing (at a high-end price) but it also offers a multitude of ideas for average foodies to lift their game. Wild sea prawns, cured mullet roe, salted egg yolk, sea urchin custard and dried evening primrose, anyone?

Movida Solera
by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish
(Lantern $70)

Camorra, the chef-owner of the MoVida restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, and Cornish, who writes for The Age's Good Food guides, have collaborated on this collection of traditional recipes of Andalusia in Spain's sun-drenched south. Lengthy on-the-ground research was required, resulting in colourful descriptive writing in each section, which proceeds town by town.

Each chapter ends with a guide to where to eat in each city "so if you feel inspired to explore Andalusia and its food for yourself you can follow in my footsteps". After reading this and looking at Alan Benson's fabulous photos: the sooner, the better.

Roast Figs, Sugar Snow
by Diana Henry
(Mitchell Beazley $55)

Sunday Telegraph writer Diana Henry has updated the 2005 edition of this, her second book (she has written six). The "sugar snow" of the title is inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House In The Big Woods, describing the boiling down of maple syrup and pouring it on snow to make toffee. Henry salutes the food of northern climes, including Russia, Scandinavia, Italy, France and America.

"Food is the Scandinavian antidote to darkness," she writes. "I hope the dishes in here will become yours."

The first chapter deals with recipes using cheese, then she moves on to the versatility of nuts, pumpkins, beans, lentils, game, pork, smoked food and so on. Heavy fare for us at this time of year, but a worthy contender for what we don't need to think about right now: winter.

Greens 24/7
by Jessica Nadel
(Murdoch Books $36.99)

Canadian blogger Jessica Nadel is a vegan but, as a child, didn't like eating her greens unless they were swimming in her mum's cheese sauce. Now she is a complete convert, believing that they boost vitality and decrease the risk of health issues such as diabetes and obesity.

She starts with a fact file: highlighting common greens and their health benefits then pointing to the recipes that follow in the book. These, for meals as diverse as a sweet potato and greens burger, egg-free breakfast burrito or courgette noodle bolognaise, wind up with a range of green cakes and desserts. She makes brownies with spinach, a birthday cake iced with avocado and kiwifruit, and cabbage strudel, which may be a step too far for some. But overall, plenty of inspiration for those wanting to introduce more greens into their diets.