Food - Autobiography
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Books – Food – Autobiography

Books 1 to 20 of 93 – Autobiography

Valvona and Crolla  by Mary Contini and Philip Contini
Valvona & Crolla has been described as ‘the Sistine chapel of continental delis’. Founded in 1934 by the Continis’ ancestors, the Italian shop and restaurant is legendary in food circles for its excellent food and drink. Now, co-owners Mary (author of the bestselling Dear Francesca and co-author of the Easy Peasy cooking series) presents 200 delicious and authentic recipes. Organised season by season, the book offers a year of sumptuous delights from around Italy with recommendations for wines to match them. This beautifully written and evocatively photographed book adds up to a food diary of stories, history, anecdotes and recipes, all imbued with the warmth and local knowledge of an Italian family.

,  320 pp,  $62.95. Buy now

Cravat-A-Licious  by Matt Preston
Here are MasterChef judge Matt Preston’s best stories and columns. This book will take you from the best restaurants in the world to grungy hole in the walls on the wrong side of town; from the ritual of a traditional pig annual kill to lunch at a Sikh temple in the suburbs; basically wherever the world’s best food can be found.

Paperback,   $34.95. Buy now

Tree to Table  by Patrice Newell
Tree to Table: Cooking with Australian Olive Oil is a beautifully produced book from Hunter Valley olive farmer and producer Patrice Newell. She takes us around the farm with insights into harvesting techniques and inside the kitchen revealing how to purchase and store olive oil, the different flavours of oils and tips on tasting oils. Her many recipes are joined by those of some famous names in Australian cooking – Kylie Kwong, Janni Kyritsis, Tobie Puttock, Holly Davis, Serge Dansereau, Greg Malouf, Stephanie Alexander, Stefano Manfredi, Tony Bilson and others. The photographs by Simon Griffiths bring to light the beauty of the Valley, the splendour of the trees and pleasures of the table. A great gift for the cook in your life.

Hardback,  224 pp,  $59.95. Buy now

Sacre Cordon Bleu  by Michael Booth
Michael Booth has had his fill of celebrity chefs and their recipes. He wants to know how to cook, not just to follow recipes. So, he burns his cookery books and, together with his young family, heads for a new life in Paris – reasoning that, if anyone can be trusted to make food complicated, it’s the French. He embarks on the ultimate foodie fantasy, enrolling at the world’s most famous cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, whose wise and cranky French chefs begin to transform him into a professional, tutoring him in the fascinating, bizarre and occasionally arcane ways of classical French cooking. Meanwhile, he and his family try to adjust to the challenges of life in Paris: dealing with the park Nazis, sweet-talking the Metro police and trying

Paperback,  336 pp,  $35.00. Buy now

My Life in France  by Julia Child and Alex Prud’homme
Julia Child singlehandedly created a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, but as she reveals in this bestselling memoir, she was not always a master chef. Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, who was to work for the USIS, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. Julia’s unforgettable story – struggles with the head of the Cordon Bleu, rejections from publishers to whom she sent her now-famous cookbook, a wonderful,

Paperback,  368 pp,  $22.95. Buy now

Kitchen Con  by Trevor White
Kitchen Con is like no book that has ever been written before about restaurants. Intelligent, funny and stylish, it tells the story of a food critic who never quite learned to cook – the perfect emblem, as it transpires, for a culture in which most people read more menus than recipes. Trevor White worked as a food critic in great cities across the globe before sitting down to write this memoir of life as a judge of the world’s most expensive cooking. But Kitchen Con is not just a list of very good meals: it lifts the lid on the culinary cartel – celebrity chefs, guidebooks, odorous waiters – in a way that is both highly amusing and very brave. If you have ever wondered why they call it the hospitality business, this is the book for you

Paperback,  272 pp,  $24.95. Buy now

Life on a Plate  by Sid Owen
From everyone’s favourite Eastender comes a surprising departure: a cookbook, filled with lip-smacking recipes lovingly learned, created and developed over years of harbouring a serious passion for good food and seasonal cooking. While most of us associate Sid Owen with Eastenders, I’m a Celebrity…and Bad Girls, what is little known is that, since childhood, Sid has been dedicated to expanding his culinary repertoire and learning as much as he can about food and cookery. This journey has taken him around the world, and even led him to buy and manage a restaurant in the south of France. Here, Sid presents a collection of mouthwatering and inspiring recipes made from the freshest ingredients – and all easy to prepare. Sid also tells us why

,  288 pp,  $59.95. Buy now

The Devil in the Kitchen  by Marco Pierre White
When Marco Pierre White’s mother died when he was just six years old, it transformed his life. Soon, his father was urging him to earn his own keep and by sixteen he was working in his first restaurant. White went on to learn from some of the best chefs in the country, such as Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc and Pierre Koffmann. He survived the intense pressure of hundred-hour weeks in the heat of the kitchen, developed his own style, and then struck out on his own. At Harveys in Wandsworth, which he opened in 1987, he developed a reputation as a stunning cook and a rock ‘n’ roll sex god of the kitchen. But he was also a man who might throw you out of his restaurant, and his temper was legendary, as younger chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Heston

Paperback,  336 pp,  $27.00. Buy now

NEW FLAVOURS OF THE LEBANESE TABLE  by Nada Saleh
The food of Lebanon has long been rated as one of the great cuisines of the world. Healthy, simple to prepare, full of fresh flavours and sensual aromatics, it makes great use of grains, vegetables, pulses, fruit, nuts, grilled mead, fish, olive oil and yoghurt. In this evocative new book, Nada Saleh, a trained nutritionist and talented cook, presents 200 imaginative recipes from her native Lebanon. Throughout, she draws upon her many happy memories of a vibrant and sun-baked land – the family occasions when they ate in the shade of the poplar trees, enjoying mezze (traditional appetisers), meshwi (grilled meat) and locally grown fresh fruits of the season alongside delicate sweet dishes, washed down with Turkish coffee. From tempting veget

Paperback,  320 pp,  $34.95. Buy now

French Women for All Seasons  by Mireille Guiliano
‘Who can resist a book that recommends love and chocolate as part of a balanced diet?’ asked Allison Pearson in the Daily Telegraph about Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat, a mould-breaking book that unlocked the secrets of ‘The French paradox’ and sold well over a million copies worldwide. By letter, by email, in person, readers have inundated Mireille Guiliano with requests for more advice. Her answer is: this buoyant new book full of advice, ideas and fresh, French recipes for each season. Elaborating on the wise counsel of her first book, but with many more easy-to-make recipes, anecdotes, tips and a wealth of global experience, Guiliano talks us through food and dining, from her childhood in Alsace-Lorraine, renowned for its cuisin

Paperback,  400 pp,  $24.95. Buy now

Extremely Pale Rose; A Very French Adventure  by Jamie Ivey
The true story of a hunt for the palest rose wine in France

Paperback,  352 pp,  $24.99. Buy now

Randy Wayne White’s Gulf Coast Cookbook; With Memories and Photos of Sanibel Island  by Randy Wayne White and Carlene Fredericka Brennen
A memoir-cookbook from one of the nation’s top adventure writers

Paperback,  222 pp,  $23.95. Buy now

A Taste of the Past; The Daily Life and Cooking of a 19th-century Hungarian-Jewish Homemaker  by Andras Koerner
A Taste of the Past is an entertaining reconstruction of the daily life and household of Therese (Riza) Baruch (1851-1938), the great-grandmother of the author, Andras Koerner. Based on an unusually complete cache of letters, recipes, personal artifacts, and eyewitness testimony, Koerner describes in loving detail the domestic life of a nineteenth-century Hungarian Jewish woman, with special emphasis on the meals she served her family. Based on Riza’s letters, part one offers an imaginative sketch of growing up in a religious middle-class family in the 1860s and 70s in an industrial town in western Hungary. Part one also describes Riza’s reactions to the dilemmas posed by the early signs of Jewish assimilation. In part two, the heart of the

Paperback,  440 pp,  $36.95. Buy now

Dear Olivia; An Italian Journey of Love and Loss  by Mary Contini
In her fascinating follow-up to “Dear Francesca”, the author writes to her other daughter, Olivia. Through letters, anecdotes and the occasional recipe, she tells the story of what happened to the Contini and Crolla families after they emigrated to Scotland between the wars

,  416 pp,  $50.00. Buy now

Amaretto, Apple Cake and Artichokes  by Anna Del Conte
A collection of the best of the author’s delicious recipes along with tips, anecdotes and reminiscences about her life in Italy and London. Packed with information from the best way to make a tomato sauce and a tiramisu to more unusual dishes such as nettle risotto and chestnut mousse, each chapter is devoted to a different ingredient

Hardback,  500 pp,  $39.95. Buy now

A Man & His Meatballs: The Hilarious But True Story of a Self-Taught Chef and Restaurateur  by John Lafemina
John LaFemina is one of New York’s most talked-about chefs, earning rave reviews from fans and critics. In this memoir/cookbook, he describes how he used his Brooklyn street smarts to deal with a colourful, and often shady, cast of characters while opening his restaurant. He tells of his staff, the press, and unexpected disasters and finally, the glory of a popular restaurant. And he shares recipes from his restaurant and his Italian family heritage, including: Meatballs with Ricotta Filling Red Pepper and Fresh Basil Soup with Crispy Shallots Mushroom Risotto Open Ravioli with Roasted Butternut Squash White Chocolate Bread Pudding. A book to charm readers eager for great storytelling and delicious recipes.

,  225 pp,  $39.95. Buy now

Never Eat Your Heart Out  by Judith Moore
Recollecting the good, strange and terrible dramas of her life, the author relates them to food. Here, are the mud pies she made as a toddler, suppertime stories with her father, the pig killings of her grandmother, the monthly potluck supper in a middleclass township, and the gourmet glories she concocted during the year she became an adulteress

Paperback,  256 pp,  $23.95. Buy now

The Fish Store  by Lindsey Bareham
Contains lists of favourite ways of cooking mackerel, monkfish and sole and how to make mayonnaise to go with the gift of a handsome crab or crayfish. This book also features the author’s recollections and anecdotes, and holiday food

Hardback,  416 pp,  $49.95. Buy now

Eating My Words  by Mimi Sheraton
A top restaurant critic discusses such topics as the origins of her passion for travel and food writing, her career with The New York Times and other respected publications, her efforts to balance her work and family responsibilities, and her battle with weight. By the author of From My Mother’s Kitchen. Reprint. 10,000 first printing

Paperback,  240 pp,  $27.95. Buy now

Reflexions  by Richard Olney
Begins in New York in 1951 where Olney, a struggling artist, waited tables in Greenwich Village, then moves to Paris and weaves a description of food that becomes so real – as if you were actually there with Olney. This book offers a story of the man who brought the simplicity of French cooking to the United States.

Paperback,  415 pp,  $27.95. Buy now