Cookbooks on our radar this month

SPRING by Skye Gyngell (Quadrille, R499)
Skye Gyngell, who won acclaim at Petersham Nurseries in England, has opened her own restaurant, Spring, and published
a book to go with it. After searching for a space for over a year,
she fell in love with Somerset House in London. A revamp transformed it into an elegant, light-filled space where she serves modern English fare. The book is divided into starters, bread, dairy, salads, pasta, seafood, meat, vegetables, fermented foods, desserts, ice creams and drinks. Think spice-roasted quail with celeriac and walnuts, a salad of beetroot, tomatoes, goat’s curd and radicchio, and burnt caramel, ginger and chocolate ice cream.

ROSA’S THAI CAFE by Saiphin Moore (Octopus, R320)
The subtitle of this book, “Born in the East. Raised in the East End” refers to the owner and author’s journey from the hills of northern Thailand to Hong Kong and London. Saiphin Moore started cooking and selling noodles to farmers as a teenager and progressed to owning and running a takeaway and restaurant in Hong Kong, before moving to London and opening Rosa’s Thai Café. The book explains Thai flavours and essential ingredients and includes chapters for small bites, salads, soups, curries, stir-fries, grills and marinades, noodles and rice, sweet things and basics, which entails curry pastes, stocks, sauces and dressings.

COOKING WITH GAS by Jean Nel (Russel Wasserfall Food, R175)
The author of Braai the Beloved Country returns with a book devoted to getting the most out of your gas braai. From unpacking it from its box and some basic recipes to get you started, to cooking the likes of caramelised pork neck and pulled beef with passata long and slow, as you would in an indoor oven. He also covers more advanced techniques such as cooking with a rotisserie, on a salt block or wooden plank, smoking food in a gas braai and cooking under a brick. There are even a few recipes for vegetarians, too.

SHOKU-IKU! by Makiko Sano (Quadrille, R325)
Shoku-Iku means “food education” in Japanese and, as this book’s subtitle states, aims to promote “Japanese conscious eating for a long and healthy life”.The principle is based on the “power of five” – five colours, tastes, senses, food groups and cooking methods to ensure you get the most out of the food you’re eating. The book is divided into chapters for each cooking method, namely simmer, steam and microwave, grill and fry, no-cook and five-senses sushi, plus a section on foundation dishes, which includes stocks, dashis, sauces, dressings, and how to roll sushi. Most of the recipes are gluten- and dairy-free with many vegan options.