Author(s): Jo Seagar

Cooking | New Zealand

A good solid family cookbook - recipes that you can use over and over again in everyday cooking plus some that are a bit more special. Include a lot of classics, but with a twist eg Breakfast spuddy fry-up, fresh bay and manuka honey cake, lamb cutlets with fesh mint and chilli chutney and 'gooey in the centre' molten chocolate pud...At least 100 recipes. Jo's personality comes through with a bit of a chat about the recipes when appropriate. Includes atmospheric shots of the Canterbury countryside and interiors shots of stylish country locations to give it an aspirational feel. Jo has established a cooking school/shop/accommodation in Oxford, Canterbury (see www.joseagar.com for details) and her image is moving more upmarket but still remaining middle of the range. The food however is middle class rather than celebrity chef recipes. She will have an Aga stove (as well as a conventional oven) and will do cooking classes especially for this. This is a departure from Jo's usual style - it's bigger and more substantial and more mid-market than most of her previous books. I want it to be an essential cookbook, one that works for home cooking and home entertaining, not too hard but not too basic. The feel country and homey but stylish in a warm and inviting way. It appeals to the mainstream but its also aspirational - the perfect home and perfect food we all want.