A Great Recipe

I have been meaning to write this post since the start of New Zealand Book Month, but somehow there was never enough time to do it justice. Which is why I find myself on the last day of October, at work on a lovely clear (but crisp) Saturday morning, but determined to find the time to write about the one Kiwi type of book (well one of the types of Kiwi books) that tumbles from my cupboards and book shelves.

My name is Kowhai Reader and I am a ... Recipe Book Junkie. I have recipe books, both new and old, secondhand, handed down, clean and in most cases somewhat food soiled. Working in a library has meant that I am able to restrict my purchasing somewhat. And I do also have to admit that while I love the books, I am less likely to be found toiling over the stove and oven trying out the recipes. From experience, there was always one ingredient that I didn't have in the pantry when the urge to cook or bake came upon me.

Which is one of the reasons why Kiwi Cook Books are best. I am far more likely to have the ingredients when I open a Kiwi recipe book, than any of the international ones. Here are a few of my favourites.

I was expounding to my mother the fantastic new recipe book that had just come into the library, when she went to her recipe draw and pulled out a very battered and stained little blue cookbook that I remembered from my childhood. Recipes from the Heartland from the CWI was simply a refresh and reprint of one of my favourite when growing up and learning how to bake. It had the Never Fail Toffee recipe in it that never failed me as a kid (but went badly wrong the first time I tried it as an adult).

Of course the Edmonds cookbook was a staple in most homes. I have three now. My grandmother's, my own which Mum gave me when I left home and a microwave version. If you get out the latest one and compare it with my grandmothers, it makes fantastic (and nostalgic) reading. Which is one of the reasons that the Edmonds Classics edition is one of the most popular in the library.

Names such as Alison Holst, Alison Gofton, Sophie Gray, Jo Seager, Aunt Daisy, Julie Le Clerc, Lauraine Jacobs, Peta Mathias, Garth Hokianga and Richard Till are all represented, as well as many others. We have at least 173 different Kiwi Cookbooks in the library (and several copies of most of them). Just do a subject search for Cookery New Zealand to find the list.