Penguin Books Australia

'The Georgian essayist, tender and puckish, with a weakness for oddity and alcohol'   Observer

A rapturous appreciation of pork crackling, a touching description of hungry London chimney sweeps, a discussion of the strange pleasure of eating pineapple and a meditation on the delights of Christmas feasting are just some of the subjects of these personal, playful writings from early nineteenth-century...

'An absolute delight to read' India Knight

Whether extolling the merits of a cheerful breakfast tray, conjuring up a winter picnic of figs and mulled wine, sharing delicious Tuscan recipes, or suggesting a last-minute pre-theatre dinner, the sparkling writings of the society hostess and philanthropist Agnes Jekyll describe food for every imaginable occasion and mood.

'Roden's great gift is to conjure up not just a cuisine but the culture from which it springs'   Nigella Lawson

Award-winning food writer Claudia Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East with her bestselling Book of Middle Eastern Food . Introducing millions to enticing new scents and flavours, her intensely personal, passionate writings conveyed an age-old tradition...

Elizabeth David's . . . makes you want to cook'   Terence Conran

Travelling physician, salesman, author and self-made man, Dr Chase dispensed remedies all over America during the late nineteenth century, collecting recipes and domestic tips from the people he met along the way. His self-published books became celebrated US bestsellers and were the household Bibles of their day.

If you're bored with your usual culinary creations, get into the kitchen with your child and put the fun back into cooking!

From cool fruit lollies to tasty cheese tarts, create 50 nutritious and mouth-watering recipes together, including Upside-Down Cake, Perfect Pasta and Pick and Mix Soup. Easy-to-follow step-by-steps show exactly how to whip...

'Marvellously funny and horrifyingly mouth-watering'   Rolling Stone

'The first domestic goddess'   Clarissa Dickson-Wright

Writing for domestic servants in a conversational, accessible way, eighteenth-century housewife Hannah Glasse disapproved of French terminology and fussiness, instead favouring simple dishes that are still cooked today .

'The fountainhead of modern Italian cookery'  Gastronomica

Pellegrino Artusi is the original icon of Italian cookery, whose legendary 1891 book Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well defined its national cuisine and is still a bestseller today.

Are you a 'foodie' looking to take eye-catching photos of your culinary concoctions?  Do you have a food blog that you'd like to enhance with better visuals?  Do you want to create photos that conjure up the flavors of your favourite foods but lack the photographic technique to make it happen?  Then this book is for you!

'The cook book as literature'   Guardian

'I've wanted to write a cookbook for many years . . . chock full of great restaurant recipes, of course—but ones people can duplicate at home without taking the day off.'
— Mark McEwan

'Poet of the appetites' John Updike

M.F.K. Fisher's personal, intimate culinary essays are well-loved American classics, combining recipes with her anecdotes, reminiscences, cultural observations and passionate storytelling.

'It will be the fiercest Francophobe who can read Alice's recipes and not hanker for a taste'   Time

In this memoir-turned-cookbook, Alice B. Toklas describes her life with partner Gertrude Stein and their famed Paris salon, which entertained the great avant-garde and literary figures of their day.

'His recipes are so meticulous and clear, that the absolute beginner can follow them'   Elizabeth David

'Alice is the queen of simple, healthy, tasty food'   Jamie Oliver

A champion of organic, locally produced and seasonal food and founder of acclaimed Californian restaurant Chez Panisse, Alice Waters has recently been awarded the Légion d'honneur in France for her contributions to food culture. In this book, she explores the simplest of dishes in the most delicious of ways, with fresh, sustainable...

'Racily written'   Alan Davidson

William Verral, the redoubtable eighteenth-century landlord of the White Hart Inn in Lewes, Sussex, trained under a continental chef and was determined to introduce the 'modern and best French cookery' to his customers. Gently mocking Englishmen who eat plain mutton chops or only possess one frying-pan, he gives enthusiastic advice on must-have kitchen gadgets...

'Sublime . . . A Victorian gem'   Julian Barnes

Firmly of the belief that a home should be run as an efficient military campaign, Mrs Beeton, the doyenne of English cookery, offers timeless tips on selecting cuts of meat, throwing a grand party and hosting a dinner, as well as giving suggestions on staff wages and the cost of each recipe.

'The first celebrity chef - a kind of Anglo/French Jamie Oliver'   Peter May

The flamboyant Frenchman Alexis Soyer was the most renowned chef in Victorian England. This is his colourful account of his time at the front in the Crimean War, where he joined British troops in order to improve the quality of the food they were eating.

'The best writer of recipes in the English language'   Delia Smith

Before Mrs Beeton there was Eliza Acton, whose crisp, clear, simple style and foolproof instructions established the format for modern cookery writing and made her one of most influential English food writers of all time.