Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #510629 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
On the cover of Donna Hay's The New Cook is a photograph of a stack of white plates and on the top is a bowl of wok- fried salted chilli crab--very chic. It sets the tone for what you'll find inside: modern food layered with contrasting flavours which is beautifully presented. In a word, it's very Australian. And it should be as Hay is the food editor of Australian Marie Claire magazine. The book will provide inspiration for accomplished cooks and easy-to-follow recipes that begin with the basics for those who are less assured in the kitchen. The basics are pretty similar to Delia Smith's, with instructions on how to scramble and poach eggs. Hay moves on quickly to Caramelised Onion Frittata and Roast Pumpkin and Soft Quail Egg Salad. Similar examples follow with pasta and rice--after mastering a basic risotto, Hay offers several variations like Miso and Shiitake Risotto and Saffron Porcini Risotto Cakes. Noodles, vegetables, poultry and meat follow. You will learn how to make a delicious-looking Grilled Chicken and Fig Salad as well as Steamed Pork Buns.

The final three chapters describe the most wonderful desserts using fruit, butter and milk. The book is lavishly illustrated with top-class food photography. It's a work of art, but would be wasted on a coffee table. It's a perfect example of how Australian cooks have masterfully fused Mediterranean and Asian cuisine to create clean, crisp tastes that are astonishingly good.--Dale Kneen

Customer Reviews

Simple to make, heart racing photographs, inspiring fusion food adventures
bought both The New Cook and soon after, Entertaining, during the same month due to the interesting food pairings and fusion of different ethinic cooking styles. I have not been dissapointed. Most of the recipes are extremely SIMPLE to make yet real crowd pleasers! I feel confident enought with this cookbook to make a recipe for a dinner party, without taste-testing it first! (Not many cookbooks inspire me to do this!) I am an avid cook and have a library of cookbooks. I've had this one for years, and while I leave it for awhile while I drool over my latest book, I always come back to it. The variety and richness of the flavors in this book continually inpsire my desire to create in the kitchen. The photograhs get your heart racing, and i really enjoy just browsing through it to learn about interesting food pairings and get inspired about the unusual flavor combinations I'll be making for dinner. If you'd like a little food adventure, this one's for you!

Simple, straight forward and always successful
Donna Hay could turn the most reluctant cook into a food guru.

The picture per recipe layout makes your mouth water before you've even looked at the ingredients list and gives you the inspiration to make the simplest of food look like it's been cooked my a masterchef. All the recipes are quick and easy and I haven't discovered one recipe yet those instructions have caused me to throw down my spatula and charge out of the kitchen in despair.

I always refer to this book as my food bible, though it's helped me amaze so many friends that it's a religion I'm not too willing to share.