Recent Cookbooks on My Shelf - August/September 2026

Recent Cookbooks on My Shelf was a regular feature of my newsletter, predominantly shared with my paid subscribers. Since I have taken a step back from writing my newsletter as regularly and no longer have a paid newsletter, I thought it was high time to bring more of my work back to my original internet home, this blog.

I have a little backlog of cookbooks to tell you about, August onwards seemed to bring many new titles to my shelves, so I will bring you another of these soon, along with the last instalment of Cookbooks Worth Waiting For, for 2026.

These four books are all a little different, though there is clearly a slightly Italian theme for a couple of them, and one isn’t a cookbook in the traditional sense! All but one are new releases, so I hope you enjoy hearing a little more about them.

Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide by Debbie Berne (Hardie Grant) - Not a cookbook itself, but a book about cookbooks, their history, style and trends. Cookbooking has a very US focus so many of the books mentioned, especially the early ones, may not be familiar. It is still interesting to see the history, and understand why cookbooks came about, and how they have changed over time. I liked Debbie’s, categorisation that most cookbook lovers conversation about cookbooks falls into either “childhood nostalgia and early adulthood discovery, triumphs and failures, discovery and devotion”. I thought that was a nice succinct way to explain how cookbooks may fit into our lives, and what they can mean to us.

Debbie’s background was in design, and she worked on many cookbooks which is how she was able to look at them in this holistic way and create this cookbook centric book of her own. It’s also clear Debbie was a designer since this book has excellent design features of it’s own. I really like the photos of other people’s bookshelves, and then the focus on the cover or inner pages of individual books too. Very sadly, author and designer Debbie died late last year before this book was published. I found an interview with her publisher, which provided more insight into the making of this cookbook and how Debbie focused on this project until the end - you can read it here.

Weeknights with Alice by Alice Zaslavsky (Murdoch Books)* - Fun, colourful and veg forward, as we’ve come to expect from Alice, are top of the list features of the recently released Weeknights with Alice by Alice Zaslavsky. Alice is consistent in her enthusiasm for veg, making cooking as fuss free and fun as she can, all with organising this book (as she has in her previous books) in a visual and practical way for ease of use - all part of the fuss free weeknight mantra of Weeknights with Alice. While all recipes are veg forward, some recipes have meat or seafood in them, many utilise cheese, but all have veg/vegan options available so basically everyone could use this book to help solve their weeknight dinner dilemmas. A few recipes lean on Alice’s Georgian heritage which is great to see as Georgian cuisine isn’t widely known (yet) in Australia. Alice seems to be inspired by many cuisines around the world though, and the recipes in her latest book swing from Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, Italian inspirations, and more. So if you are interested in variety of flavours and options, all with the promise of helping make weeknights easier and tastier, this is one for you.

*Thank you to Murdoch Books for gifting me a copy of Alice’s new book.

Sicily, My Sweet by Victoria Granof (Hardie Grant) - Unlike the other books in this list, this is not a new release, just new to me. I found it on the sale tables at GleeBooks in Blackheath, and it caught my eye because it has such a bright cover. The knowledge that a book about the sweets of Sicily would likely contain many pistachio recipes encouraged me to buy it. Sicily, My Sweet is an exploration of Sicily and the sweets that make up the island influenced by the climate, traditions and the many occupiers over the centuries. It is also a personal reflection on the author’s ancestry, with a connection to Sicily dating back many many centuries, and the connection Victoria feels she has from this. Victoria’s career in food and this personal connection, culminate in many traditional Sicilian sweet recipes in this book, and some inspired by the flavours and ingredients of the island. Almond and to a slightly lesser extent, pistachio, feature heavily in this book, along with rosewater, orange blossom water, and many fresh and dried fruits.

While there isn’t a photo per recipe in Sicily, My Sweet the photography taken in Sicily itself that features in the book really helps bring the feel of the place to the book. I’ve already made the Blood Orange and Rosewater Marmalade (pp.196-197) as my acquisition of this book coincided with blood orange season here and my usual yearly intensive marmalade making endeavours. I have also bookmarked a lot of the pistachio based recipes to try. I also enjoyed seeing that Victoria included a cake recipe using bergamot (Lemon Bergamot Olive Oil Cake pp.140-142). I love bergamot, but it is very rare to find recipes in cookbooks using this still relatively unknown citrus, so it was nice to see another of my favourite flavours in one book - between the pistachio recipes, use of rosewater and then bergamot, so many of my favourites are covered in one cookbook!

Tramontana by Simon Bajada (Hardie Grant) - The thing I really enjoy from the books I have by Simon, is his ability to really showcase a particular location and it’s food. I always enjoy cookbooks that have a limited focus, with the author researching stories and recipes, that are tales that could only be told of that particular place. In Tramontana, Simon focuses on Northern Italy, specifically Liguria, Piedmont and Acosta Valley. While many of us might have a few Italian cookbooks already, those like this one that focus in on one area always bring out recipes we’ve never seen before, or might not even have thought were from Italy at all. We often hear of Italian food and cuisine as a monolith, however it does vary region by region, and books like Tramontana showcase this well. As with other cookbooks I have of Simon’s (Malta comes to mind first), the location photography in this cookbook is really stunning. It highlights the beauty of these places, and also showcases the differences between them. All while making me feel like I am doing a little cookbook related armchair travel.

Only a few recipes have stood out to me so far, not as many as I would have expected, but despite that I’m sure others will stand out to me when I pick this book up again another time (and maybe in a different season). If you are looking for a bit of food related travel via your kitchen, Tramontana could be a good place to start.

The Best Cookbooks of 2022

Fortunately for people like me (and maybe you too if you are reading this?!), 2022 was another great year for cookbooks. I have created a slightly more succinct list this time to round out what I thought were the best cookbooks of 2022. This list is by no means exhaustive, and is very much based on my personal opinion right now. 

I toyed with adding more books to the list, but if I didn’t give myself a limit I’d never finish writing it. 

So below are my top four. A diverse selection, but all ones I think would make great additions to your cookbook shelf (or shelves… let’s be honest here!). 

As always the links to the books are not sponsored, just for your reference. Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.

Let me know in the comments what you think of my selections, and what books would be on your personal list for the best books of 2022?

1. The Joy of Better Cooking by Alice Zaslavsky - How could I not include this book on this list? It delights and surprises in the best possible way, and maybe one of the few books I genuinely think would delight the majority of people regardless of their cooking abilities. It’s bright, colourful and joyful - just like Alice seems herself! So it really feels like you are getting Alice in your kitchen explaining things and encouraging you to be an enthusiastic cook and eater.

2. Mabu Mabu by Nornie Bero - When I first mentioned this book on my blog, I said after reading this book Nornie’s restaurant was on my list of placed to go whenever I next went to Melbourne. I ended up going to Melbourne in December of 2022 and unfortunately a migraine attack thwarted my attempt to eat there (as so often happens). So now it’s still on my list for next time which is disapointing, but ‘Mabu Mabu’ the book can certainly keep me company until then. It looks like lots from the restaurant is in the book, and coupled with the really informative ‘The Native Pantry’ section which helpfully explains many Indigenous ingredients and the list of where such ingredients may be found, ‘Mabu Mabu’ really gives a great experience of what (I imagine) eating at Nornie’s restaurant would be like. I also really enjoy the colourful design of the book and the images are glorious as well.  This is definitely a cookbook for every Australian kitchen. 

3. A Good Day to Bake by Benjamina Ebeuhi - I know I’ve sung Benjamina’s praises for this book already, but I really do love it. I am still so enjoying the use of flavour in this book and I really just love that it stands out from many other baking books because of that. Sometimes when I get a new book that is just about baking, I feel it gives me a sense of de ja vu to many other baking books I already own or have seen. ‘A Good Day to Bake’ doesn’t do that at all (even when I already own Benjamina’s first book) and it’s just so refreshing to see something a bit different, a bit interesting, yet not overly complex or intimidating. This book has a really calm vibe and it, along with the lovely photography, makes me lose time wandering through the book and contemplating what I could bake next. 

4. Nistisima by Georgina Hayden - I think only Georgina could make me like a book essentially about vegan food, and it be so good, I would have to include it on this list. Georgina’s enthusiasm for food is infectious and the research behind this book really makes it shine. This book isn’t just about vegan cooking for the sake of it, but documents the recipes and traditions from many countries when those following the Orthodox Church observe much time during the year where they fast and abstain from foods using animal products (thus they are eating vegan). I found this perspective a really interesting way to view a particular diet, as to me, it looks like those engaged in this form of eating enjoy everything, just not all at once, so their diet would probably end up quite balanced overall rather than constantly restrictive. And based on the recipes in this book the potentially restrictive nature of eating nistisima food (fasting foods) is not obvious at all. If you saw the recipes without knowing the context of the book, I doubt it would be obvious at first glance that it was a vegan book. As Georgina says in her introduction, this book isn’t a religious or diet book, and she’s not interested in telling anyone how to live or eat - “this book is for everyone…Why and how you use this book is up to you.” 

Cookbooks Worth Waiting for in 2022 Part Two - A Recap

These were the new release cookbooks I was most looking forward to in the second half of 2022, you can read the original list here. Now that I have (almost) all of them, and had some time to read through them, it’s time for a recap of the list.

Just a note - The links to the books are for reference only and are not sponsored, I’ve just included where I bought them from or where I wish I had bought them from! Though its always best to search around for the best price as it can vary depending on when you are buying as well. Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.

Did any of these books get a place on your bookshelf last year? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments below. 

1. Pasta Grannies Comfort Cooking by Vicky Bennison - If you loved the first Pasta Grannies book, or just love pasta this is the book for you. This time Pasta Grannies ventures into some rice based dishes, pizzas and desserts too, so there is slightly more variety in the recipes compared with the first book. The stories of the grannies are just as heat warming as the first book, and the photography is just as excellent too. I realised when reading this book, that is one of the few I have looked through of late that isn’t focused on the author themselves. Vicky Bennison is showcasing the food of others, preserving recipes and writing down the history of peoples everyday lives. There is something genuinely comforting about that, and by the success of Vicky’s first book (she won a James Beard Award for it!), and the popularity of the related Pasta Grannies You Tube channel, many others must feel the same.

2. Home Is Where The Eggs Are by Molly Yeh - the Australian release of this book has been very delayed, and I still don’t have my preordered copy :( I will add my thoughts here once it arrives!

Update (May 2023) - I have now had Molly’s book for a little while, and it is pure joy which is what I have come to expect from her. I love the colour scheme, and the fact that this book feels typically ‘Molly’ but has just evolved to suit her different phase of life (in comparison to her first book which was pre kids for her and her husband). The focus on family food and things that can be made more quickly is noticeable, but not in a way that excludes people who don’t relate to that part of Molly’s life. The illustrations scattered about the book are delightful, and I really like the food photography as well. Molly’s style of cookbook is very different to the usual American style cookbook, that always feel very different to their European, British and Australian counterparts. I’ve noticed many US based cookbooks utilise a really different style of food photography that looks like artificial light and flash is used and everything can be quite intensely bright and over exposed. Molly’s aesthetic is the total opposite to this. It is calm, yet vibrant, and the images have noticeable shadow creating depth and clearly utilising natural light that really makes the food sing.

3. Home Food by Olia Hercules - When I first got this book, I wasn’t super impressed with it. Looking back I think it was more because I had preordered it from Booktopia, then once the book was released it took them ages to actually ship it to me. It was annoying, and I think it created more frustration than excitement around getting a new book. Now it’s been a few months since then, and I can see it really was the general frustration impairing my view of Home Food. At first I struggled to find recipes I wanted to make, now I’m not sure how all the recipes I’d like to try didn’t stand out to me back then. Many recipes are influenced by Olia’s Ukrainian heritage, and others from her time living in Cyprus, Italy and the UK. This book encapsulates what comfort food means to Olia, and she explains it so well in the longer form writing in the book. The photography by Olia’s husband Joe Woodhouse is also excellent and combined with her writing makes a wonderful book to pursue through (once you’re over the initial frustrating shipping delays of course!). In terms of cover design for once I think the US cover is nicer than the UK/Australian one, but really, that doesn’t detract from all the goodness that is inside.

4. Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour- As I expected these recipes look like they are flavourful and will bring a bit of Persian cooking to your kitchen. In the introduction Sabrina, says her style of cooking has changed more recently as she is now married with two step sons. She says she now gets the need for quick tasty meals and this book is a product of that. I think this is a good book for those looking for a different take on the meals you might want to make midweek, as the recipes don’t look overly fussy and you might try a few new flavours along the way. The photography is also nice in this book, with an image per recipe, plus I just really enjoy the vibrant cover design and the embossed pistachios on the cover.

5. The Joy of Better Cooking by Alice Zaslavsky - This cookbook really is joyful, and as I’ve said before it is just trademark Alice. This book positions itself to help you in the kitchen, but it also has things for those more experienced too. It seems to be able to cater for everyone, I think because Alice really walks the reader through each recipe is very generous with her cooking knowledge and explanations, but the recipes themselves aren’t those super basic things that more experienced cooks may wonder why they bothered with the book at all. The recipes are interesting, and might even challenge the generally favoured flavour and technique profiles of more experienced cooks. For some more info about the book and Alice’s cooking style more generally, you can check out the her segments on ABC News Breakfast (on iView or have a look at Alice’s Instagram as she shares them there as well). 

Recent Cookbooks Worth Chatting About - October 2022

I’ve added a few new cookbooks to my shelves recently and I thought I would share my initial thoughts about them with you.

There are so many new cookbook releases at the moment, it’s hard to keep up! And I think it’s always nice to hear what others thought of cookbooks and recipes. I know it helps me decide whether I actually want to purchase them or give them a go. 

If you like me, love cookbooks I recommend following a few accounts on Instagram (in addition to mine!) - @shipshapeeatworthy, @coffeecanelescookbooks & @lambsearsandhoney - which in addition to my thoughts below (and more cookbook chat here on the blog), should provide lots of cookbook reviews and recommendations to help inspire your cookbook collection or live vicariously through someone else’s!

1. From Scratch by Fiona Weir Walmsley - I like the sheer breadth of recipes in this book. If you want to make something from scratch (e.g. red wine vinegar, harissa or ghee) you’ll probably find it in here. I am really liking the look of the baking chapter, it’s not filled with the same old recipes, yet somehow covers the classics as well. I’m not loving the writing in this book so much, however and as long as the recipes have been well tested and work, I think this book will probably be worth it for the recipes alone.

2. Off to The Market by Alice Oehr - This is actually a children’s book not a cookbook. It’s a sweet story about shopping at the markets and of course the illustrations by Alice are excellent. I think it would make a great gift for any young child in your life.

3. Pasta Grannies Comfort Cooking by Vicky Bennison - This second instalment of the Pasta Grannies books is as heart warming as the first. The photography also stands out in this book, as while the recipes are the focus the human element of this project is also captured in a lovely way too. This book still has pasta recipes but also a few other bit and pieces like rice dishes and pizza recipes. I’ve already earmarked The Butterfly Pasta with Peas and Sausage from Romagna (page 116) to make ASAP.

4. The Joy of Better Cooking by Alice Zaslavsly - Released just last week, this book is just trademark joyful Alice. With its focus on creating more confidence in the kitchen, I wasn’t sure this book would hold recipes that I would actually want to make, I was worried they might be a little basic or simple. I am happy to say I was really wrong to worry about that, as there is not a boring or basic recipe in sight! There are lots of detailed explanations about substituting ingredients and things like that, which I think would be helpful for any level of cook. Definitely a book for everyone!

5. Around The Table by Julia Busittil Nishimura - When I heard Insta buddy Amy (@amy_minichiello_) say this book was Julia’s best yet a few weeks ago I knew this book was actually worth checking out. I had held off purchasing this one as I haven’t loved Julia’s second book and wasn’t enthralled with her first either. After ordering a copy on online, I started with the Spaghetti alla puttanesca (page 130), which with a combination of anchovies, garlic, olives and capers would never be short on flavour. I will have to try a few more recipes to really gauge how much I like this book, but it’s been a good start!

Have you added any cookbooks to your collection recently? Let me know in the comments below.

Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.