Below is a collection of cooking books adored by members of our team that will help you on your food waste journey.
Mine at home are dog eared and fringed with torn pieces of paper to mark both my go-to recipes as well as my to-make-in-future ambitions. The internet is drowning in this kind of content and it can be hard to know what to trust or even, where to start. The books we’ve chosen below give you a trusted base to grow from. They are fail-safe journeys put together by their authors to help guide us on our path to reducing food waste.
Books are great for passing on to friends, curling up with in front of the telly and pencilling in notes. They never run out of battery and are ready to get the job done even if the internet is on the blink. This collection is tried and true. The recipes have yet to fail me and I have learnt more about reducing my food waste in those pages than anywhere with the practices inside becoming second nature.
Use It All
I would have to say this is the most used cookbook in my shelf. I have 2 copies in fact. One that can get dirty in the kitchen, stuffed full of book marks and another for perusing on the couch in front of the telly!
Everything we’ve cooked from Use It All has been a resounding success. My favourites include the potato and silverbeet curry, magic poached chicken and The Most Delicious Way To Cook Tired Celery. Each section is based on what a basket of fresh food might look like each season. A really helpful guide to review before you head to the market.
Written by Alex Elliot-Howery & Jaimee Edwards
Grown & Gathered
This book is an all-rounder and covers a lot of bases. I’m talking DIY natural wines, edible weeds, cheats ricotta, animal keeping, seasonal planting guides etc. Fair to say it is a bit of a bible, a holistic look at the food system that is your home. I’ve had this book for a long time and still pick it up regularly as a reference guide. I’m a coeliac and Lentil has created a book that is heavily gluten free and all other dietaries are clearly labelled.
Grown and Gathered is a really great place to start if you have some space at home and are keen to get your hands dirty.
Written by Matt and Lentil Purbrick
The Food Saver’s A-Z - The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion
I only bought this book last month and since then I have turned to it every few days when searching for inspiration. This book is by the same wizards who made Use It All. The main reason I love this one is the Kitchen Companion style of alphabetical recipes so I can head straight to the ingredient that I have left over and find exactly what I’m looking for.
Written by Alex Elliot - Howery & Jaimee Edwards
The Noma Guide To
Fermentation
The most phenomenal part about this cult favourite is the breakdown in steps through pictures. As a visual learner this was brilliant for me because the road to fermentation can at times, be overwhelming. Noma’s book reminded me a lot of another cult classic, Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat which really breaks down the science behind cooking. That deeper understanding of the how and why can go a long way in fermentation, giving you the confidence to experiment safely.
By René Redzepi & David Zilber
Preserving The Italian Way
This book covers everything from preserving fish and curing meats to bottling wines and liqueurs. It’s a cookbook perfect for helping you convert seasonal gluts into year-round staples. Peak summer when the tomatoes are abundant is the perfect time to make passata that you’ll be using in the depths of winter. I loved learning how to properly dry and process chillies as they are something that I use daily. Great tip - every second recipe goes perfectly on a charcuterie board!
Written by Pietro Demaio
Love Your Leftovers
This book is brilliant for a few reasons. The first is the “Christmas Leftovers” Section. What day in the calendar are we left with more kitchen waste than Christmas Day? The recipes in this section cleverly reincarnate the classics so you’d hardly know its yesterday’s turkey or Christmas pud.
The “Storecupboard Leftovers” section is brilliant as I’m definitely guilty of forgetting what’s lurking in the back of the shelves. Think Coffee Spice Rub for pork or flapjacks made from various breakfast cereals!
Most of the food saving books focus primarily on fruits and vegetables but Love Your Leftovers does have chapters for dairy, meat and fish - helpful if you like to err on the side of caution.
Written by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall