Cheaper meals, new food ideas

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 20

Cheaper meals, new food ideas

(Reviews by Lorna Buchanan). New Zealand authors are producing a wide variety of cookbooks. Among the more interesting recent offerings, from familiar authors, are: Alison Hoist’s Dollars and Sens® Cookbook. Edited by Kirsten Holst. Inprint, 1985. 112 pp. $11.95. Alison Hoist’s daughter was in her high-chair when her mother produced her first cooking book. Now, 21 books later, daughter Kirsten has edited a collection of her mother’s recipes, especially for budget-conscious cooks. . The collection grew out of recipes offered by Alison to Kirsten when daughter went flatting. Most are for sensible, basic family cooking with the object of keeping down the cost of ingredients. Of special interest is a list of the cost of typical servings of a wide variety of foods — from instant soups to curry powder. Unfortunately, it is a list that is quickly out of date.

Many of the recipe ideas are helpful and sufficient advice is given to aid the most inexperienced cook. The ■ book is handicapped by the page shape and layout which sometimes makes for confusion in sorting out instructions and ingredients. Still, at the price, it performs what it promises — plenty of advice on cheap, healthy eating. Summer Food. By Jan BUton. Lansdowne-Rigby, 1985. 80 pp. $14.95. A book of summer food that does more than re-run old salads is very welcome. Presentation and illustrations are attractive. Among the ideas are pawpaw with ouzo, peanut pie, summer lamb with garlic, and zucchini pancakes. Fifty per cent of the food described would be suitable to take on picnics. Especially helpful, too, is a section on summer dinner parties with refreshing ideas for a menu on hot nor’west Canterbury evenings.

The New Zealand Crockpot Cookbook. By Joan Bishop. Whitcoulls, 1985, 94 pp. $13.95. There are said to be more than 150,009 crockpot households in New Zealand. Most would find new ideas in this helpful book — steamed puddings, or bacon-and-egg brunch, for instance. Or for more exotic tastes there are recipes for crockpot yoghurt, and pork and kiwifruit casserole; and for drinks such as spiced coffee and mulled wine. The book is clearly laid out, lies flat, and is a mine of sensible advice. Lifting the lid on a working crockpot, for instance, costs 30 minutes cooking time; a pot cooks a casserole using about one-fifth as much electricity as an oven. Definitely a money saver.

Defectable Fruits Cookery for New Zealanders. By David Burton. Reed Methuen. 1985. 157 pp. $24.95. Fruits are listed alphabetically with a page of history and general information for each, followed by recipes that include advice on freezing, bottling, drying and crystallising. Among the oddities are babbaco, casimiroa, persimmon, and mango. Sometimes the author admits the unique flavour of a fruit means it can be enjoyed best of all without adornments. The author has a personal interpretation of what is delectable, and what is a fruit. Some of the most common — apple, orange, lemon, banana, and pear — do not appear. In all, a refreshing treat of ideas, especially for warmer days.