lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on chefs and the art of cookery

Click on the small images at right to see a larger picture

201275 Adria, Ferran, with Juli Soler & Albert Adria (Equipo de Edicion & Cillero and De Motta, trans.) A Day at el Bulli An Insight into the Ideas, Methods and Creativity of Ferran Adria Phaidon, London, 2008. Large quarto hardcover; lime boards with gilt and black upper board and spine titles, lime endpapers; 528pp., colour illustrations. Minimal wear; fine in like dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. With two million requests for reservations every year, elBulli was notoriously difficult to get a table at. A Day at elBulli, opens the doors to everyone and reveals the inner workings of the kitchen and the gastronomic innovations that have helped create the spectacular food. Illustrated with over 1,000 colour photographs, the book includes recipes and innovative inserts explaining the creative methods and food philosophy, the reservations policy, the history of elBulli and the life of Ferran Adria. Aimed at all food enthusiasts as well as industry professionals, the book starts with daybreak at 6.15 am, then shows visits to the local markets to source ingredients, Ferran's arrival at the workshop, his morning creative experimentation session, the arrival of the rest of the brigade at 2.30 pm to begin the mise-en-place for the evening, the daily tasks of the front of house team, and the arrival of the first guests for dinner from 7.45 pm until the last guests' departure by 2.00 am. With its innovative structure and striking design, A Day at elBulli provides a fascinating insight into the rare and magical experience of dining at the renowned establishment. Click here to order $65

206536 Alexander, Stephanie A Cook's Life - signed Lantern/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2012. Octavo; hardcover, with decorative boards and upper board titles; 362pp., with 32pp. of full-colour and monochrome plates. Mild wear; board edges lightly scraped; text block edges lightly toned and spotted with small stain to lower corner; inked inscription by the author to the title page. Dustwrapper is rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $30

94778 Alexander, Stephanie Stephanie's Feasts and Stories Susan Haynes Books/Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., North Sydney NSW, 1988. Quarto; hardcover; 305pp., with many monochrome and full-colour illustrations and 8pp. of full-colour plates. Minor wear; some marks to the text block edges. Dustwrapper slightly sunned along the spine panel; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $25

90488 Alexander, Stephanie Stephanie's Seasons - signed, limited edition Rathdowne Books/Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., St. Leonard's NSW, 1993. Quarto; hardcover, quarter-bound in calf with gilt papered boards; gilt spine-titles, decorated endpapers and a navy blue ribbon; 316pp., on laid paper, with many monochrome and colour illustrations. Very minor wear; signed and numbered in ink to a bookplate on the first page. No dustwrapper as issued. Fine in like illustrated slipcase. "Stephanie's Seasons" is a seasonal account of Alexander's culinary year. Taking the form of a personal diary of her food adventures in 1992, it covers a wide range of ground. There are accounts of a trip to New Orleans, making thousands of jars of produce for the annual Harvest Picnic, the passing of Elizabeth David and her contribution to food writing, cooking during the Los Angeles riots, running a restaurant in a tough recession, spending a month in a beautiful old farmhouse in flood-ravaged Provence, and constant adventures in the quest for new and superior produce. "Stephanie's Seasons" is a food book seeking to entertain and enthuse the reader about food. It contains 80 recipes as well as hand-coloured photographs. This is number 48 of a limited, signed edition of only 150 copies. Click here to order $130

210226 Alexander, Stephanie (Simon Griffiths & Mark Chew, illus.) Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion News Ltd./Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2009. Royal octavo; hardcover; illustrated black boards and endpapers; 771pp., colour plates; red cloth wrap with green and white titles and decoration, red and green ribbon markers. Minor wear only; near fine. Click here to order $65

201400 Alexander, Stephanie (Simon Griffiths, illus.) Cooking and Travelling in South-West France - signed copy Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2002. Quarto hardcover; blue boards with ochre spine titling and decorated endpapers, 392pp., colour illustrations. Mild wear to board edges and corners. Inscribed in ink by the author to the owners. Near fine in like dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Join Stephanie Alexander to walk through green forest, linger in tiny villages, shop in the markets and experience the sights, smells and flavours of this most beautiful and gentle part of France. Click here to order $55

58208 Alexander, Stephanie (Simon Griffiths, illus.) A Shared Table Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Ringwood Vic., 1999. First edition: quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titling and illustrated endpapers; 248pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; some light scraping to the board lower edges and spine extremities. Dustwrapper slightly faded along the spine panel; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Like no other book about food in Australia, a fresh approach to the culture, the landscape, the people and the produce. Buffalo-milk mozarella from the Western District in Victoria, freshly caught rock lobster from Kangaroo Island, wine and cheese from Tasmania' north-east, saucer scallops from Fremantle, rare gingers from Noosa, vibrant market produce from Melbourne, and dishes for a special Easter celebration in Sydney. Click here to order $30

210207 Beer, Maggie Maggie's Orchard Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Ringwood Vic 1997. First edition: octavo; gatefold paperback; 330pp. Toned text block edges with a few spots; mildly sunned spine panel and very slight wear to cover edges. Very good. Hand picking from her own orchard has been a passion of Maggie's from her very first days in the Barossa; the literal fruits of heartfelt labour, seasonally driven and nurtured over months to morph into something far greater than the sum of its parts. From trees over 80 years old, Maggie's heritage orchard offers her the chance to share old fashioned flavour beyond her own table, and that is something very dear to her. Click here to order $35

212477 Beer, Maggie (Sharyn Cairns, illus.) Maggie's Verjuice Cookbook: signed Lantern/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2012. Quarto; flexibound paperback; with decorative endpapers; 202pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Inscribed in felt pen to owner on title page. Minor wear only. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $30

67368 Beer, Maggie (Simon Griffiths, illus.) Maggie's Table - signed Lantern/Penguin Group (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2005. Square quarto; gatefold paperback; 345pp., with a full-colour frontispiece and many colour illustrations. Moderate wear; cocked; covers rubbed and edgeworn; promotional sticker to the front cover; inscribed to person by the author in ink to the verso of the frontis. Very good. Click here to order $35

85130 Beeton, Mrs. Mrs Beeton's Cold Sweets Jellies, Creams, Fruit Dishes, Cold Puddings, and Ices Ward, Lock, and Co., London, 1925. Octavo; hardcover, with illustrated endpapers; 128pp., with many monochrome plates and illustrations. Rubbing and some marks to the boards; a heavy bump to the top edge of the lower cover; some softening to the spine extremities; text block edges lightly toned. Lacks dustwrapper. Application forms for a position as temporary cook laid in. Very good. 'Something quickly and easily prepared, but which will at the same time help to decorate the table is the need of almost every housewife in these days of bustle and shortage of domestic help. Cold sweets admirably meet this requirement. The making of nearly all of them is very simple a knowledge of the many little subtleties of flavouring and decoration is, however, essential to the success of these dishes, and makes this book a necessity to every housewife valuing her reputation for her selection and preparation of attractive, but at the same time economical, sweets.' Click here to order $25

92473 David, Elizabeth (Christine Perers, illus.) Elizabeth David on Vegetables Viking Studio, New York NY, 2013. Hardcover, small quarto, 191pp. Colour plates. Dustwrapper. New. Remainder. Published on the centenary year of her birth, Elizabeth David on Vegetables is a celebration of the beloved writer and a compendium of her vegetable-centric recipes. Having travelled extensively in the sunnier climes of southern Europe she was unabashed about sharing her love for fresh, unusual produce and a Mediterranean sensibility towards simple but sensual food. Her cookery books, which from 1950 to 1960 focused on Italian and French food became bibles for a generation of cooks. They introduced a certain rustic, seasonal, Mediterranean approach to eating which is still - arguably - the dominant approach to cooking to this day. The importance of good olive oil, pasta and pesto, how not to be afraid of garlic, what to do with an aubergine - all these David gave us. This new book, compiled by Jill Norman (literary trustee of her estate), features soups and dips, main meals and side dishes - but what's delightful, particularly delving into it when you are a vegetarian, is that the distinction is often vague. A stuffed aubergine can happily be a main dish or a starter or a lively side; potato pie or veggie tart or courgette gratin can stand alone, rather than coming second to a slab of meat. Many of David's long-standing fans enjoy her books for their travelogue style, vividly evoking foreign markets and restaurants, painting word pictures of vegetables in an unusually eulogising manner: in Venice, "cabbages are cobalt blue, the beetroots deep rose, the lettuces clear, pure green, sharp as glass". Norman has included her digressions - mini-essays or travel sketches - on everything from the truffle season to the history of the spud to Venetian markets (featuring exotic salads, 'quite unfamiliar to English eyes,' such as radicchio, lamb's lettuce and rocket. David's book encourages you to really think about vegetables and how you treat them, but also to be a bit more imaginative. This is rather pleasing for the haphazard cook. And with David's brisk but enthusiastic rough guide to all things fresh and vegetable, everything from courgettes to watercress can confidently take centre stage. - Holly Williams Click here to order $25

40560 Ehlert, Friedrich W., Edouard Longue, Michael Raffael & Frank Wesel Pates and Terrines Lansdowne, Sydney NSW, 1984. Quarto hardcover; Illustrated boards and endpapers; 192pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; mild wear to dustwrapper edges. Otherwise very good to near fine with wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. The definitive work on one of the finest of the culinary arts superbly illustrated in colour. Shows how to make forcemeats, pates, terrines, aspics, galantines, and meat pies, discussing ingredients, utensils, and special cooking techniques. Click here to order $50

211255 Fulton, Margaret I Sang for My Supper: signed copy Memoirs of a Food Writer Lansdowne, Sydney, 1999. Hardcover, octavo; yellow boards with pale yellow spine and gilt titling; 288pp., monochrome illustrations. Signed in ink by the author. Minor wear; very slightly rolled; mildly rubbed and faded board edges; toned text block and page edges. Illustrated dustwrapper, faded spine and adjacent; mild edge and corner wear. Very good. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Click here to order $32

214478 Gopnik, Adam The Table Comes First Family, France, and the Meaning of Food Quercus, London, 2011. Octavo; hardcover, with metallic-red spine titles; 294pp., with some monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; spine heel softened; text block and page edges lightly toned and spotted; some minor spotting to the preliminaries. Dustwrapper a little rubbed and edgeworn with some spotting; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $25

85396 Groundes-Peace, Mrs (Zara Groundes-Peace & Robin Howe, eds.) Mrs Groundes-Peace's Old Cookery Notebook David & Charles, London, 1971. Large octavo hardcover; red cloth boards with gilt titling; illustrated beige endpapers, top edges dyed red; 127pp., monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few random spots on prelims and browned text block edges. Illustrated card dustwrapper with tape on upper and lower edges of verso. Otherwise near fine and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Click here to order $17

32634 Johns, Leslie, & Violet Stevenson (Marianne Yamaguchi, illus.) The Complete Book of Fruit Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney NSW, 1979. Quarto; hardcover, with upper board titles and illustrated endpapers; 309pp., with 32pp. of full-colour plates and many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; spine extremities and lower board edges scraped; text block edges toned. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed and edgeworn; sunned along the spine panel. Very good with wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Every kind of fruit - from Akebia to Zabala - is described in detail: where it comes from, what it tastes like, how different varieties occur and are cultivated to advantage. For the home gardener the authors give practical advice on the choice of the best varieties to suit climate and soil conditions, on pruning and fertilising techniques, pest control, on training methods and on when to harvest and how to store the crop. Finally they give a guide to preserving and the use of fruit in jams, chutneys, sauces, desserts etc. Click here to order $23

84501 Jones, Marian Australian Sugar Artistry Fairfax, Rushcutter's Bay NSW, 1995. Quarto hardcover; illustrated pink boards with decorative pink endpapers with flower motif; 200pp., colour illustrations. Minor wear; tiny tear on upper front corner of dustwrapper. Near fine and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Creating wonderful things for our family and friends is one of life's pleasures but sometimes it's hard to come up with the ideas. "Australian Sugar Artistry" is a catalogue of sugar pieces made for celebration, fun and fantasy. Click here to order $25

84657 Kiros, Tessa Apples for Jam Recipes for Life Murdoch Books Pty. Ltd., Millers Point NSW, 2006. Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards, decorated endpapers and a pink ribbon; 430pp., many full-colour and monochrome photographic illustrations. Some marginal notations in ink. Dustwrapper. Very good to near fine. Tessa Kiros has circled the globe working in restaurants in Australia, Greece, Mexico, and London. Her extensive travel and multicultural background lend authenticity to more than 200 recipes, which are grouped by colour and presented alongside vibrant photographs, sound cooking advice, and heartwarming anecdotes about friends, family, and the whimsies of childhood. Kiros shares a bevy of diverse and easy-to-prepare dishes playfully themed in coloured chapters. An index references both specific foods and recipes. With memories of daisy chains, ice cream cones, circuses, and four-leaf clovers, Kiros shares her belief that good food sparks cherished memories that intensify life's melting pot of flavour. Click here to order $30

83005 Kiros, Tessa Falling Cloudberries A world of family recipes Murdoch Books Pty. Ltd., Millers Point NSW, 2004. Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards, decorated endpapers and a grey ribbon; 397pp., many full-colour photographic illustrations. Minor wear only; very good to near fine in like dustwrapper. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. The New York Times calls Tessa Kiros's work "exuberant and colourful." And that is just what her gem, "Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes", is. The book is full of personal touches and stories. It is a beautiful collection of family anecdotes, history, and traditions, all documented with stunning photography, unique illustrations, and a warm dialogue that will simply pull you in. You'll find "Falling Cloudberries" in the Cookbook section, but it could also easily be found in the World Cultures or Travel sections because the recipe collections give a unique taste of Finland, Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, and Italy all in one. This is possible because of Kiros's life. She takes us on a global journey of taste and experience with her eclectic compilation of 170 simple and delicious recipes that reflect her world travels, multicultural heritage, family traditions, and amazing cooking combinations. Taste the world without leaving your kitchen. Click here to order $32

97351 Lawson, Nigella (Francesca Yorke, illus.) Nigella Bites Chatto & Windus, London, 2001. First edition. Small quarto hardcover; gray/silver boards; pink and silver endpapers; 244pp., colour illustrations. A few tiny bumps on board edges. Otherwise near fine in like dustwrapper (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Click here to order $28

210310 Martini, Karen (Earl Carter, illus.) Cooking at Home Lantern/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic. 2010. First edition. Quarto hardcover; red boards with white upper board and spine titling, illustrated endpapers; 249pp., colour illustrations. Minor wear; page edges faintly rippled. Illustrated dustwrapper with light wear to edges. Very good to near fine. "If this collection of recipes does nothing else, I would like to think it encourages people - family, friends, households - to share at least one meal together, two or three times a week." Click here to order $25

210309 Martini, Karen (Earl Carter, illus.) Feasting Lantern/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Camberwell Vic., 2010. Quarto hardcover; illustrated boards, red endpapers; 309pp., colour illustrations. Minor wear only; spine panel slightly faded. No dustwrapper, as issued. Very good to near fine. Karen invites us to choose just one delicious dish, put together an entire menu, or create our own unique feasts. Inspiring, instructive and beautifully photographed, "Feasting" reminds us that cooking is not just about producing good food, it is about creating a reason to connect and celebrate with family and friends. "A lush, warm, friendly book filled with recipes you can cook every day - and you'll want to. Her food hits the spot every time." - SMH. Click here to order $35

93432 Neil, Marion Harris Candies and Bonbons And How to Make Them W. & R. Chambers Ltd., London, nd. (c.1913) Octavo; hardcover; 254pp., with a monochrome frontispiece and 15 plates likewise. Minor wear; text block edges mildly spotted; mild offset to the endpapers; retailer's ink stamp to the front pastedown. Mild edgewear to the dustwrapper; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $30

67656 Perry, Neil The Food I Love Beautiful, Simple Food to Cook at Home Murdoch Books, Millers Point NSW, 2005. Quarto; hardcover, with illustrated boards and endpapers and a brown ribbon; 440pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Minimal wear. Very slight scuffing to dustwrapper. Near fine. Click here to order $40

85271 Plagemann, Catherine Fine Preserving Jams and Jellies, Pickles and Relishes, Conserves and Chutneys, and Brandied Fruits; Elegant and Unusual Recipes for City and Country Cooks Simon and Schuster Inc., New York NY, 1967. Octavo; hardcover, with decorated upper board; 128pp. Mild softening to the spine extremities; remainder mark to the lower text block edge. Dustwrapper mildly rubbed with a small crease to the rear flap; old price sticker and former price in ink to the front flap. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $30

40565 Spry, Constance, and Rosemary Hume The Constance Spry Cookery Book Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1994. Reprint. Hardcover, octavo, 1235pp. Minimal wear; spotting to upper text block edge. Very good to near fine in like dustwrapper. Menus, presentation, planning and ingredients are all a vital part of the book, but at its heart are over 2,000 unrivalled recipes that cover nearly every dish of any meal and underpin all successful kitchens. Click here to order $25