Have lunch with Stephanie Alexander at the Grand View Hotel, Cleveland when she talks about her Cook’s Companion from noon on Friday, November 9.
With more than half a million copies sold in Australia, Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion is an iconic Australian cookery book. The definitive guide on ingredients, cooking techniques, kitchen equipment and recipes, it has often been referred to as the kitchen ‘bible’, and is a staple in home and professional kitchens all around the country.
The Cook’s Apprentice is the essential teaching cookbook for anyone just starting out in the kitchen, whether children, teens, adults leaving home for the first time, or anyone learning to cook.
Where The Cook’s Companion outlines produce in Australia, The Cook’s Apprentice has an emphasis on techniques and is packed with advice to ensure new foodies are relaxed and confident in the kitchen.
In The Cook’s Apprentice, Stephanie introduces the new foodie to everything they need to know about the kitchen, from utensils and how to use them, how to handle chilli, using a mortar and pestle, how to whisk eggs into soft peaks, to why it’s important to rest meat, how to test if a cake is properly cooked, and removing stones from olives.
Ms Alexander also explains measurements, weights and volume, and even how to pronounce tricky ingredients.
Across 54 chapters , there is information on each ingredient’s seasonality, how to prepare it, its varieties, other ingredients it pairs well with and how to pick the optimal produce at the supermarket. The Cook’s Apprentice contains more than 300 recipes.
Stephanie Alexander AO is regarded as one of Australia’s great food educators. Her reputation has been earned through 30 years as an owner-chef in several restaurants, as the author of 16 influential books and for her groundbreaking work in creating the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Everything she has achieved and worked towards has been driven by her desire to break down anxieties about cooking, to emphasise the beauty of produce fresh from the garden and to promote the pleasures of sharing around a table. She believes children should learn about food through example and experience,
The book is available through Penguin for $45. It will be sold at the lunch and Ms Alexander available to sign personal copies.
The cost of the book lunch is $45 pp (GV members $40) which includes a two-course meal. Book on 3884 3000 or functions@gvh.com.au