5 Of The Best Cookbooks For A Cosy Autumn

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Snuggle up with a tahini-based vegetable curry from The Magic Of Tahini cookbook. Photo / Supplied

Tel Aviv - Food. Stories. People
Discover the cuisine and community of Tel Aviv in this vibrant cookbook by Haya Molcho. The chef and owner of Mediterranean and Levantine restaurant Neni which has locations across Europe returns home to revisit the recipes of her childhood: knafeh, green shakshuka, sarma, Israeli paella, pickled lemons and much more. Along the way, she brings to life the stories of local chefs and storytellers in the book. Find Neni restaurants in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Zurich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Mallorca and Paris, as well as a cooking school and product lines. $55 from Allen and Unwin 

Learn the culinary secrets made simple behind famed New York Restaurant Estela. Photo / Supplied
Learn the culinary secrets made simple behind famed New York Restaurant Estela. Photo / Supplied

Estela 
Learn the secrets to what makes acclaimed New York restaurant Estela tick inside the long-awaited debut cookbook. The neighbourhood restaurant features on the World's 50 Best Restaurant list and owner Uruguay-born Ignacio Mattos is famed for his innovative yet simple cuisine informed by his time spent across Italy, France, Spain, South America, and California. The book includes 133 recipes, ranging from the Estela classics such as endive salad with walnuts and sticky lamb ribs with chermoula to snacks, salads, seafood, and dessert. There's also versatile sauces and condiments and an excellent guide to essential kitchen tools and ingredients. Despite the esteem of the restaurant, the recipes in Estela are delightfully straightforward to make with nothing overly fussy involved. $80 Bookreps NZ Ltd

Shake up boring meals with the vibrant and flavour-packed Filipino food. Photo / Supplied
Shake up boring meals with the vibrant and flavour-packed Filipino food. Photo / Supplied

I am A Filipino 
"Sour, sweet, funky, tangy, bold" is how Filipino food is described in the cookbook I am A Filipino, and made up of a vibrant mix of cultures; Malay, Arab, Chinese, Spanish and American. The book takes on a manifesto form with thoughtful essays and background history dotted throughout, along with recipes for soups, salads and vegetables, noodles and dumplings, coconut dishes, tomatoes and tamales, snacks and street food, and sweets. $80 from Bookreps NZ

This cheese-filled cookbook is really grate. Photo / Supplied
This cheese-filled cookbook is really grate. Photo / Supplied

The Modern Cheesemaker 
For all the fellow cheese lovers out there, this is the cookbook to gobble up. Life-long cheese lover Morgan Mcglynn shares her expertise and knowledge of how to make your own cheese at home including cheese; fresh, cream and soft, goats, hard and blue, and a collection of classic cheese recipes, such as Cheese Fondue, ultimate Mac and Cheese, and Welsh Rarebit. $50 from Allen and Unwin 

Over 65 vegan and delicious tahini-based recipes. Photo / Supplied
Over 65 vegan and delicious tahini-based recipes. Photo / Supplied

The Magic Of Tahini
Not just for hummus, tahini is popping up in almost everything and there are few limits to what you can do with it, be that savoury or sweet. The sesame-seed paste known as "white gold" in Middle Eastern cuisine has a sweet, nutty taste, and is popular for enhancing vegan recipes. The creamy texture and high unsaturated fat levels make it great when mixed with water for dairy-like qualities that are hard to re-create on a plant-based diet. A cutie of a cookbook The Magic of Tahini (pictured) by chef and health food expert Dunja Gulin is a great introduction with more than 65 vegan and tahini-rich recipes, from buddha bowls, pad Thai, falafels, soups and dressings, to sweet truffles, fudge, brownies, and black tahini and coconut icecream. $25 from Bookreps NZ 

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