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Under the Walnut Tree: great recipes from our kitchen by Anna Bergenström and Fanny Bergenström

15/9/2012

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Picture
Under the Walnut Tree by Anna Bergenström and Fanny Bergenström. Image courtesy Hardie Grant.
Cookbooks can sometimes be equated to old fashioned LP vinyl albums, I feel. Allow me to elaborate. There were times when you would buy an album, only to discover there were just a handful of songs on it that you really liked and wanted to play over and over. Similarly, with some cookbooks, (unless you happen to be blogging your way through a particular book),
you add only a few of the recipes to your repertoire, while the rest hold little or no interest to your tastebuds.

This cannot be said for a beautiful new book titled Under the Walnut Tree: great recipes from our kitchen, compiled by Swedish born mother and daughter team, Anna and Fanny Bergenström. With 400 recipes spread over seventeen chapters, the book embraces a wide variety of recipes based on ingredients that come with the changing seasons.

Avocado, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs, chillies, horseradish, ginger, citrus, nuts and seeds, coconut, cardamom, pears, mango, raspberries, vanilla, tea, and chocolate are the chapter headings. How's that for a refreshing and interesting range of topics!?

The writers explain this diversity in the introduction: 'Since most of the ingredients can be used in so many different ways, you will find recipes for savoury dishes, desserts and baked goods within the same chapter. You may also find a recipe from Provence on one page and something from India on the next, or a hint of Sweden alongside South American flavours; all reflecting our  family's culinary influences and the way we like to cook.'

There's also the philosophy of enjoying the seasons and cooking with newly harvested fruits and vegetables; and choosing organically grown 'mainly sustainable' produce, and free range meat and poultry from animals that have been raised with care. 'Using beautiful, seasonal ingredients inspires our cooking and gives us a more rewarding overall experience', they say.

The recipes are inspiring and easy to follow, and cover everything from simple avocado or tomato soup, to fresh mint labneh, through to lentil salad from Arlesin France, mojo rojo from the Canary Islands and berbere from Ethiopia, and pad Thai. There's also renklämma wraps made with smoked reindeer meat (Ikea, perhaps?), Swedish cardamom tea ring, pear marmalade, and chocolate cake with walnuts. Definitely an eclectic assortment and something for every cook.

The final chapter is devoted to menu ideas for all kinds of occasions and the book is embellished with deliciously styled photography by Fanny Bergenström.

Under the Walnut Tree by Anna Bergenström and Fanny Bergenström (Hardie Grant Books) $49.95. A splendid book, copies of which will be going into my loved ones' Christmas stockings. Sssh!

With sincere thanks to Anna and Fanny Bergenström and Hardie Grant for giving me the opportunity to review this title.
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    Cookbook reviews and interviews with food writers and chefs.



    Titles/Authors

    All
    101 Cookbooks
    5:2 Lifestyle
    Adam Liaw
    Adrian Richardson
    Almond Bar
    Almonds : Recipes
    Ancient Grains
    Annabel Crabb
    Anna Bergenström And Fanny Bergenström
    Anna Gare
    Annie Rigg
    A Passion For Fruit
    A Story Of Seven Summers
    Australian Vegetable Garden
    Bake
    Catherine Saxelby
    Charmaine Solomon
    Chefs
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    Coffee Trails
    Complete Food And Nutrition Companion
    Cookery Book
    Country Womens Association Classics
    Crust
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    David Thompson
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    Delicious Every Day
    Delicious. Home Cooking
    Dish It Up
    Doggylicious
    Dominique Rizzo
    Eat
    Eat In
    Eleanor Ozich
    Elizabeth David
    Emma Galloway
    Farmers Market Family Cookbook
    Food Markets Of The World
    Frances Mayes Edward Mayes
    Francis Van Arkel
    Fried Chicken & Friends By Gregory Llewellyn & Naomi Hart
    Growing Your Own Fruit And Vegetables
    Guy Mirabella
    Hayden Quinn
    Heidi Swanson
    Hilary Burden
    History
    Home Baking
    Home Cheese Making In Australia
    Hungry
    Ian Hemphill
    In A Glass
    Indochine
    Italian Food
    Jane Grover
    Johnnie Mountain
    Jo Wheatley
    Kate Walsh
    Limoncello And Linen Water
    Lorenza De'Medici
    Love
    Love Aimee X By Aimee Twigger
    Luke Mangan
    Luke Nguyen
    Maggie Beer
    Maggie's Christmas
    Margaret Fulton
    Marie Claire Summer
    Marion Grasby
    Marion's Kitchen
    Mark Jensen
    Matthew Evans
    Maximum Flavour
    Monday Morning Cooking Club The Food
    Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food
    My Darling Lemon Thyme
    My Family Table
    My Kitchen Year
    My Petite Kitchen
    My Taste Of Sicily
    Naked Food
    New Vegetarian Kitchen
    Nicola Graimes
    Nigel Slater
    Pauline Nguyen
    Pies And Tarts
    Pig
    Real Food Projects
    Rediscover Australian Pears
    Richard Bertinet
    Ruth Reichl
    Salmon Cookbook
    Salt Grill
    Same Same But Different
    Secrets Of The Red Lantern
    Sharon Salloum
    Signature Dishes
    Simply Gluten-free & Dairy-free
    Simply The Best
    Slow Cooking
    Special Delivery
    Spice Notes
    Stephane Reynaud
    Super Natural Every Day
    Sweet Things
    Tessa Kiros
    Thai Food
    The Australian Vegetable Garden
    The Complete Asian Cookbook
    The Diggers Club
    The Dinner Ladies
    The Dirty Chef
    The Feast Goes On
    The Food Of Vietnam
    The Gentle Art Of Preserving
    The Good Life
    The Sisterhood
    The Stories
    The Tuscan Sun Cookbook
    Toby Smith
    Two Asian Kitchens
    Under The Tuscan Sun
    Under The Walnut Tree
    Valerie Pearson
    Veganissimo!
    Winter On The Farm


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