HOW TO CHEAT AT COOKING

Author: Delia Smith
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Ebury Press (February 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0091922290

Delia Smith has more claim than most to being the person who taught the British how to cook. For 20 years or so, between the 1970s and the 1990s, she reigned supreme. The secret of her success: her no-nonsense approach; the lack of absurd ingredients. Delia recipes always work. Her new book is an update of her first cookery book, published 1971. It shows us how to bend the rules by using freezer and ready-made ingredients to create tasty, healthy, uncomplicated meals in a trice. “I have written this book for people who are afraid to cook and those who love to cook but don’t always have the time”, she says. “But cooking needn’t take much time or effort at all. To fry calves’ liver with sage and butter takes three minutes. Roasting a joint of meat requires 30 seconds worth of preparation”. Whether classic dishes like Shepherd’s Pie or more contemporary Seafood Linguine   – Delia Smith suggests tricks and short cuts. “Invest in Asian store cupboard products”, she advises for example. “You will then always be able to transform ordinary ingredients very swiftly into something really special, such as Vietnamese Spring Rolls”. Supermarkets have reported rocketing sales of instant mash potatoes and other key ingredients featured in her new book. It is set to become one of the biggest-selling publications of all time.




FASHION DESIGNERS AT HOME

Author: Marie Bariller
Photographs by Guillaume de Laubier
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson (February 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0091922290

Is dressing a home the same as dressing a body? “Fashion Designers at Home” attempts to answer this question by looking inside the homes of 21 prominent “makers of style”. The book reveals that some of the world’s most famous clothing and accessories couturiers – Diane von Furstenberg and Escada-Designer Damiano Biella among them - have also created lavish and inspiring interiors.  Shoe designer Patrick Cox’s London house displays his passion for the neo-classical period of the French Empire.  Christian Louboutin’s Parisian apartment has an Oriental atmosphere that reflects his love of Egypt. Loulou de la Falaise (jewellery designer and Yves St Laurent’s muse for over 30 years) lives in artist’s studio perched under the rooftops of Paris and combines elegance and off-beat originality in her own unique,  natural way. The book includes a foreword by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbano and interviews with each designer in which they describe their vision and design philosophy.




AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 GARDENS

Author: Monty Don
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (January 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0297844501

Monty Don, gardening journalist and presenter of BBC2’s Gardeners’ World, travelled 18 months around the world to visit eighty of the planet’s most celebrated gardens. His tie-in book to a visually stunning BBC television series shows some world-famous tourist attractions  such as Sissinghurst in Kent, Monet’s Giverny, the Villa d’Este in Italy, the gardens of the Taj Mahal and Alhambra. But there are also surprises,  the colourful meadows of Norway and modest domestic gardens in Havana and Bali among them. “No garden is an island. ”, says the author. “Context is everything”. A Mexian cactus garden,  the tropical planting traditions of Thailand, indigenous and colonial garden cultures in Australia – all play their part in Monty Don’s mission to present a thorough perspective of the world’s horticultural heritage. He concludes that nature doesn’t make gardens. “People make gardens. The story of a garden is always the story of a person”.