bunyip's Profile

From: Melbourne, VIC Australia

Joined: December 27th, 2009

About me: I've been cooking for over thirty years, and I can remember the days before EVO, couscous and (ghasp!) microwaves. My cookbook collection reflects this personal and national gastronomic history. My own cooking has actually got simpler over the years, and I can do much of my repertoire without looking at a recipe. But I still love collecting cookbooks, although these days I'm a bit over food porn with great big colour photos - I really prefer food writing to recipes.

Favorite cookbook: The Cook's Companion


Latest review:

December 13th, 2015

Salmon with macaroni from A Year of Good Eating: The Kitchen Diaries III

Simple but delicious. Poaching the fish in 600 ml of cream (that's two bottles), which is then poured over the fish and pasta, sounds richer than it is. This is partly due to the dill in the crumb topping. I... read more >


recipe reviews (225)
book reviews (106)
useful review votes (103)

bunyip's Reviews


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Cookbook Reviews

Complete Perfect Recipes

By David Herbert
Penguin Global - 2008

January 19th, 2010

A splendid range of recipes for what Herbert calls "classic" but I would call "basic" dishes. The sort of thing you actually cook regularly, nothing too exotic or difficult; quiche lorraine, rice pudding, Nigel Slater's recipe for macaroni cheese.

The recipes tend towards anglo family/comfort food. Some of them are not really recipes but rather guides to how to boil an egg or make a pot of tea, basic skills which some of us take for granted but are a mystery to others.

This book would be an excellent gift for somebody just setting up on their own for the first time. Smaller but less expensive and more conveniently sized than Stephanie.