MIXED BREW OF RECIPES

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 17

MIXED BREW OF RECIPES

Cooking the Lebanese Way. By Cedar Hashashe. Reed. 112 pp. $3.93 (paperback). The Cook and Carry Book. By Lynette Wenham. Reed. 154 pp. $5.95 (paperback). The Parnell Cook Book. By Terence Cooper. Collins.. 67 pp. $6.95;

(Reviewed by.

Lorna Buchanan)

Three recent New Zealand cook books demonstrate _ the variety of interests in food in New Zealand today. Cedar Hashashe, born in New Zealand of Lebanese extraction, plays with the theme that “Middle East .cookery is ideal for the cook who takes pleasure in experimentation and adaption.” For the author, cooking is a hobby, and a way of life. She has opened a restaurant and a bakery, and in her first cook book she describes variations in food between different Middle Eastern countries, including the rituals of eating and the ingredients used. She has limited ingredients, in her recipes to those generally available in New Zealand. For adventurous palates there- are instructions for rawliver or meat pasties in yoghurt soup; for more cautious eaters her egg ■ recipes are equally interesting. “The Cook and Carry Book” is • especially suitable for a cook who lacks confidence, or who still needs careful guidance and occasional hints. There are plenty of ideas for impromptu :■ snacks, for desserts, and an - . extensive selection of ideas lor lunches and-suppers. Instructions are clear and footnotes give variations to the standard recipe. The suggestions for the safe carrying of prepared food, from which come the book’s/title, are generally based bn common sense. ■They could be useful to a cook who has not before had. to consider ways of moving prepared foods for picnics, parties, or “bring your own” occasions.

“The Parnell Cook Book”- is a

mixture of recipes and sketches from the inner Auckland suburb of Parnell. Ail are packed into small compass and attractively presented. This is more a book for the coffee table than the kitchen. Some recipes require expensive and less readily available ingredients. Unwary users could be frustrated by ' finding additional ingredients mentioned in the text, rather than listed in the appropriate places. In all, a book useful for sharpening ■ the appetite by its suggestions, rather -than a book to use for cooking.