Mum's the word: 5 books for mums who love to cook

Does your mum like to cook? Or does she simply enjoy the pleasure of flicking through cookbooks dreaming of her fantasy life as a competitor on the SBS series, The Chef's Line? Here are a few of my favourite cookbooks that will make great gift ideas for Mother's Day. Earn a few extra brownie points and present mum with a book and a dish you've created from it. Oh and don't forget to wash up. She'll be even more smitten with the gift if she is not the one wearing the oven mittens.


For the mum who is dreaming of a sea change ... 
This beautiful 206-page cookbook includes stunning recipes and photographs from the region's finest producers, caterers, restaurants and cafes. Now in its third edition, this taste of the region invites readers to weave their way around three distinct routes - starting in Byron Bay then venturing south over the hills to the west and finishing up in the north of NSW. It's in your interest to get mum up to speed with Quattro's fisherman's stew or soft tacos with spiced eggplant from Zest Byron Bay. If you're feeling generous, buy mum a weekend away at the inaugural Byron Bay Fine Food and Beverage Festival on Saturday June 3.  Byron Bay: A Taste of the Region, (Nelly Le Comte and Remy Tancred, ($35 available from Beach Byron Bay).

For the love of the location shots ...

Coastline explores the legacy of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Vikings who left the gift of a 'cuisine of the sun'.  It's a book to drool over and will either be an inspiration to grab a bulb of garlic, fresh herbs and seasonal vegetables and get in the kitchen or make you want to throw in the tea towel and move to Italy. This is a beautiful book that goes a long way to show how important simplicity is with tips for mastering the "perfect pesto, best boullaibaisse, and purest paella". Flick straight to page 128 for my personal fave: cappon magro (Riviera seafood spectacular).Coastline: The Food of Mediterranean Spain, France and Italy. By Lucio Galletto and David Dale (Murdoch Books, $59.99).

Lettuce eat: for those who love to #eatclean
This is for the mum who never orders takeaway and wants a bit of inspiration in the kitchen. This book contains 100 recipes for salads, sides and dressings that will ensure she will eat well - even if she only has 20 minutes to spare. This book reflects a global trend that sees more and more individuals looking to extend their #meatfreeMondays into the busy working week. Mums who love their salads will delve into this book with gusto for quick and easy comfort food that doesn't involve loading up on carbs. Here, the comfort factor is about enjoying deeply satisfying salads as a main. Salads All Year Round, Compiled by Makkie Mulder (Murdoch Books, $35).


For those partial to fasting ...
Lee Holmes presents a simple, supportive and sustainable approach to intermittent fasting. This is the kind of book that will do wonders for mums who eat out at a lot. Fast Your Way to Wellness is based on a 500-calorie restriction for women, which helps the body shift into a fat-burning machine. Inside this practical book are tips for starting your first fast, incorporating exercise into your routine and a calorie calculator designed to help you curate your own dishes. The inclusion of a shopping list makes this book very user-friendly. Fast Your Way to Wellness: Supercharged Food (Murdoch Books, $29.99)



For the matriarch who likes to keep entertaining easy... 
This book is for mums who have mastered the classics and want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time around the table with family and friends. This will be a well thumbed-through book with recipes such as broccolini and anchovy pasta, and lamb cutlets with zucchini and quinoa salad shoehorning mum out of the food rut she's been complaining about. It's difficult to pick a favourite dish in A Simple Table but if I was pressed to, it would have to be Gran's spring chicken casserole, which is an altogether heartier dish than your mum's famed chicken soup. The fact that the author has worked as a food stylist means your mum will take her presentation up a notch. A Simple Table: Fresh and Fabulous Recipes for Every Day by Michele Cranston ($39.99, Murdoch Books). 

Seven last-minute ideas for Mother's Day

Most mums would probably be happy with a warm hug and a cup of tea in bed on Mother's Day. But what the day does do is bring families together and provide an excuse to celebrate the special mum, aunt or grandmother in your life. If you want to pamper your mum this year, Carla Grossetti suggests seven places to take mum on her special day.

For creative mums: Hazelhurst Cafe
This year Hazelhurst Gallery will celebrate Mother's Day with a Mother Goddess of the Earth 2017 theme in the cafe designed to tie in with the final day of the Dinosaur Designs' exhibition. The cafe will be borrowing a Dinosaur Designs' crown and other pieces that mum can wear to have her photo taken in front of a floral background that has been months in the making. There will also be a pop-up florist with flowers to buy for mum. Breakfast is from 8am and there will be live music from noon. Hazelhurst Cafe, 782 Kingsway, Gymea, www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/Community/Hazelhurst/Cafe

Take Mum to Hazelhurst Cafe to get her photograph taken with the family. Image: Supplied

For the fashion-forward mum: Lunch at Riley's Garage
Nothing says I love you more than a nine-dish set menu with a complimentary glass of Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Better still: all mums will receive a Versace Eros Pour Femme perfume as a Mother's Day gift from Riley's. Versace are also offering one lucky Mum the chance to win a hamper containing more than $800 worth of Versace goods. Winning your fashion-forward mum a fantasy wardrobe would make you the favourite child. 55 Riley St, Woolloomooloo, 02 9326 9055, rileystgarage.com.au

Forget tea and toast in bed; think Scotch eggs and drams of Dewar's Scotch Whisky instead. Image: Supplied

For wild whisky-loving mums: Dewar's Scotch Egg Club
For those not in the know, a Scotch egg is a portable British delicacy that involves a boiled egg being wrapped in meat, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. Oh and it's just like what Mother Used to Make only much better when paired with whisky at the Dewar's Scotch Egg Club pop-up bar. Dewar's Brand Ambassador Andy Wren will take the flavours of Dewar's 12 and create a series of cocktails that pair perfectly with Scotch eggs moulded by ACME head chef Mitch Orr. The pop-up is not open on Mother's Day, but you can surprise Mum with a Saturday night booking followed by a sleep-in on her special day. Dewar's Scotch Egg Club, Laneway between 152 and 156 Clarence St (directly across from Baxter Inn) From May 3-27 (open Wednesdays to Saturdays).

Oh Catalina! This is an extremely well-run restaurant presided over by Michael and Judy McMahon.

For Mums who want to feel like they are on the A-list: Catalina's 
Lunch at Catalina's is not for little people with limited finances. It's for grown-ups who want to spoil their mum with a special occasion experience. While the Rose Bay institution is the place to go to sign off on a big business deal over a bottle of pinot noir, it's also the perfect waterfront spot to pamper a loved one. As well as the spectacular views, the service is sensational and the cooking extremely nuanced. Executive chef Mark Axisa has created a special three-course set menu with plenty of choice for mum priced at $160 per person. There is also a special kids' menu at $80 per person and mum will receive a Mother's Day cocktail on arrival. Dress to impress. Lyne Park, Rose Bay, 02 9371 0555, catalinarosebay.com.au

Invite mum to get her glam on at Doltone House Sylvania Waters. Image: Supplied

For Mums partial to a bit of posh nosh: Doltone House
Show your mum some love this Mother's Day with lunch at Doltone House. The mother of all Mother's Day luncheon menu includes entrees such as mushroom and ricotta ravioli, braised lamb shanks and pavlova to finish. The children's menu is as it should be -- penne napolitana and ice-cream with chocolate topping -- and tastes as good as it looks. Doltone House is built around the picturesque Gwawley Bay in Sydney's south. BYO hiking boots as mums will enjoy a post-prandial bush walk. Adults: $65 per person; children $35 per person per child (3-12 years). 223 Belgrave Esplanade, Sylvania Waters, 02 8543 6000, doltonehouse.com.au

Enjoy a feast just like Yia Yia used to make at 1821. Image: Supplied

For mums who like to dress up to dine: 1821, Sydney CBD
1821 is a great Greek restaurant turning out classic rustic Mediterranean fare to a consistently high standard. This is a genuine high-end Greek hospitality experience from David Tsirekas. Save space for his set menu, which starts at $55 per person, and includes delicate dips and bread, Yia Yia's handcut chips, and meltingly tender BBQ lamb shoulder. Save room for the caramel baklava ice cream, which is like crack for sweet-tooths. 122 Pitt St, Sydney, 2000 www.universalhotels.com.au/1821restaurant  

Ooh-la-la: Bistro Moncur is a an elegant restaurant serving French bistro classics. Image: Supplied

For metropolitan mums: Bistro Moncur, Woollahra 
Bistro Moncur is an elegant food haven in the heart of Woollahra in the Woollahra Hotel.  The relaxed atmosphere fits well with the cooking, which is imaginative without being over-the-top. The washing up will be well and truly out of your Mum's mind as she is treated like royalty with the special Mother's Day menu at Bistro Moncur. The set menu includes three courses for $150 per person and mums will also receive a complimentary Bougies De Luxe Candle as a take-home gift. 

116 Queen St, Woollahra, 02 9327 9777, www.woollahrahotel.com.au 

Mum's the word: books for cooks

Does your mum like to cook? Or does she simply enjoy the pleasure of flicking through glossy cookbooks? Here are a few of my favourite cookbooks that will make great gift ideas for Mother's Day. Earn a few extra brownie points and present mum with a book and a dish you've created from it. Aim high with Organum, by Peter Gilmore or keep it simple with Neil Perry's Easy Weekends and whatever you do, don't forget to wash up. She'll be even more smitten with the gift if she is not the one wearing the oven mittens.

For the joy of cooking …  Having Margaret Fulton in her test kitchen made Kate Gibbs the envy of cookbook authors around the country. This is the sort of cookbook that will be passed down through the generations, just like the recipes it contains. Margaret and Me brings the Fulton family's recipes to life by sharing some of the history behind them. With retro baking on the rise, Fulton - who has been nominated by the National Trust as a National Living Treasure - has clearly passed down her love of cooking to her grand-daughter who presents her modern take on comforting classics. Part cookbook, part memoir, the book is a personal account of growing up attached to the apron strings of one of the matriachs of Australian cooking. Nothing says 'I love you' like slow-roasted lamb shoulder or custard-filled profiteroles.
Margaret and Me is published by Murdoch Books ($39.99).


For mums who aim to outdo the neighbours …  
Peter Gilmore is executive chef of the three-hatted Quay restaurant in Sydney, included in S. Pelligrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list five years in a row. In Organum, Gilmore explores the idea of modern Australian cuisine with style and substance in a book that will make lovers of books for cooks purr with pleasure. With its sexy pseudo-suede cover, the book is literally bound to impress and, while many of the dishes sound simple, they are, in fact, complex creations that rely on flavour, texture, technique, aroma and innovation. Test your mettle in the kitchen with pork belly, milk curd, roasted koji, sesame, kombu and smoked pork rib broth. Alternatively, offer your mum a corner to curl up in while she strokes the pages filled with stunning food photography.
Organum by Peter Gilmore is published by Murdoch Books ($100).

For mothers who are partial to a food safari ... 
Enjoy a magic carpet ride around the world, exploring the diverse ingredients of 44 cuisines with more than 400 recipes.  Fans of Maeve O'Meara's TV shows should treat this re-released book like their culinary bible as the TV host and cookbook author takes readers around the globe to visit some of the most vibrant food cultures. In Complete Food Safari, O'Meara will take readers on glorious culinary adventures with dishes such as Peruvian humitas, pork knuckle with potato dumplings, and Hyderabadi chicken, which are just a few of the standouts. If you want to make your mum feel really special, book one of Maeve's magical safaris to Vietnam, the Greek Islands, Sardinia and Corsica.

Complete Food Safari, published by Hardie Grant. ($59.95)

For well-travelled matriachs …  

Same Same But Different presents a range of signature recipes and family classics that all tell a story about Poh Ling Yeow’s life growing up in Australia with Chinese-Malay heritage. The book, which has been shot entirely on location in Poh’s own kitchen, is also a personal account of Poh and the real food influences in her life. Featuring recipes such as mussels with tomato and white wine and spaghetti puttanesca, Same Same But Different is a true reflection of how Australians eat and the way we might whip up a Greek dish one night, Italian another, Japanese the next night. This is for mums who love a table laden with offerings from many nationalities. Menikmati makanan anda! 
Same Same But Different is published by ABC Books ($39.99).

For women who enjoy wielding a pair of tongs ... 

King of the Grill is not just for those new to the art of no-nonsense barbecuing. This bumper collection by Ross Dobson, which draws on culinary influences from around the globe, celebrates that classic Aussie attitude to the barbecue that goes beyond the hiss of fat on the grill and cements this backyard ritual as a social occasion. As well as advice on temperatures and cooking times, techniques and utensils, the book contains recipes that are a step up from snags. If you thrill on the grill, step up to the hotplate and impress your mum with prawn and chorizo skewers, seared tuna with bay leaf and lemon or brined roasted chicken. Mums will approve that vegetables also share the spotlight.
King of the Grill  is published by Murdoch Books ($39.99).

For those with allergies ...
One in 20 children and two in 100 adults in Australia suffer with food allergies. Let Them Eat Good Cake is for Mums who must avoid gluten, dairy, egg and nuts or have someone close to them who fits into that category. The Good Cake Co's Corry Altclass and Nicole Amdur both have family members and close friends who suffer from allergies and struggled to find food that tasted good. Together, the pair have created a recipes that range from baked doughnuts to chocolate and beetroot cake. 'Cause if you're going to eat gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free cake, you want it to taste good, right? An excellent addition to the bookshelves for those that must follow strict diets but don't want to miss out on the occasional guilt-free treat.  Let Them Eat Good Cake is available from www.thegoodcakeco.com.au. 

A book for the hostess with the mostess...  
Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to cook under the command of one of the country's best chefs without the pressure-cooker heat of working in a restaurant kitchen? Sepia is for those who want to take their culinary feats to the next level. Benn is justifiably famous for his restaurant, which won Restaurant of the Year 2015 and was awarded three chef's hats in The Good Food Guide. This book includes 66 of the chef's defining dishes which are based around four degustation menus. As well as testing your technical mastery, the book is an insight into Benn's background and includes stories from the culinary frontline. Experiment with magic elements such as beetroot glass, rhubarb gel and goat's milk foam. Sepia by Martin Benn is published by Murdoch Books ($75). 


Mum's the word for easy entertaining...
Necessity is the mother of invention. Acclaimed chef Neil Perry clearly saw a need for an essential entertaining cookbook with Easy Weekends. If you want to be in the good books, buy this cookbook for mum on Mother's day, which aims to inspire you not just to create meals but shared moments. The book progresses from Friday to Sunday and includes everything from a family stir-fry on a Friday night to lazy Sunday breakfast ideas. It is also the sort of tome that can be used as a blueprint book for those who want to expand the repertoire of dishes they cook for family and friends. It's a guidebook for all occasions.
Easy Weekends is published by Murdoch Books ($39.99).



For mums who plan dinner while enjoying breakfast...
This is a book for well-travelled mums who want to relive the days when they were backpacking through Turkey. Arranged in the form of a typical Turkish eating day, the book by Somer Sivrioglu and David Dale takes readers to the heart of a cuisine that is still evolving to this day. This is a cookbook that has a lot to teach us - from the tradition and diversity of Turkish cuisine to the rituals, myths and folklore that lies behind 3000 years of Anatolian cooking. With more than 140 traditional and modern recipes, the book is for armchair travellers, too, as it was shot on location in Istanbul around Turkey.
Anatolia is published by Murdoch Books ($79.99).

For mums who like to plan ahead... 
Best-selling children's cookery writer Annabel Karmel is the queen of fuss-free tasty recipes for the whole family. In her latest cookbook, Karmel makes mealtimes a cinch with everyday ideas for light meals, snacks and lunch box treats. Those of us in a rut with their repertoire will appreciate the foolproof 'prep ahead' recipes that can be frozen, as well as ideas for leisurely weekend lunches. Favourites include chicken Karmel, nasi goreng and her best-ever banana cake. If you want to totally spoil your mum, take her out to the nearest InterContinental near you and have all the work done for you. Karmel consulted on the InterContinental's Planet Trekkers menu, which is exclusively for children. Annabel's Family Cookbook is published by Random House Australia ($45).

Something your nonna will treasure... 
Luca Lorusso and Vivienne Polak have been very generous in sharing Puglia. You see, the locals have been very protective about sharing cooking secrets from the region nestled in the heel of Ital. But as this beautiful book shows, it's no wonder the Pugliese have been protective about their sharing the food of Puglia. The book is divided into chapters marked antipasti, pasta, pesce e fruitti di mare (fish and seafood), carne, insalate, pane (bread), verdure (vegetables) and dolci e bevande (desserts and drinks). For food-focused travellers, this is the sort of book that will inspire a trip to Italy. It will also open your eyes to a whole new world of Italian cooking. Sharing Puglia is published by Hardie Grant ($49.95).


WIN A PRIZE 
If you’d like to win a copy of Poh Ling Yeow’s book Same Same But Different, simply subscribe to www.carlagrossetti.com and, in 100 words or less, tell me what your signature ‘same same but different’ take on a family classic is. Email entries to carlagrossetti@optusnet.com.au with Same Same But Different in the subject line. Winners will be notified by email.