Cookbook Profile: Modern Classics Book 1

Modern Classics Book 1

by Donna Hay

In Modern Classics, Australia's bestselling food writer Donna Hay takes the food from the past we love the most and makes it irresistibly new. Then she looks at what's the best of the new and turns it into a cooking classic.

Coleslaw gets a well-deserved makeover while free-form ratatouille tart enters the classics category. Chicken soup comes of age again while the fresh, crunchy and healthy rice paper roll makes its debut.

Modern Classics is set to become the contemporary commonsense cookbook of a new generation and an indispensable handbook to those of cooking age now. The book features 180 recipes for everything from French onion soup to Malaysian laksa, roast chicken to Vietnamese noodle salad, lasagne to pad Thai, and quiche to risotto—all updated versions of the classics and definitive recipes for modern favourites.

The book also features definitive instructions on mastering the basics—rice, chicken stock, mayonnaise, shortcrust pastry, gravy and mashed potato—and step-by-step guides on how to make modern classics such as bouillabaisse, risotto, roast beef and souffle.

Donna's recipes have long been renowned for their fresh modern flavours, stylish presentation, ease of preparation and readily available ingredients and Modern Classics is no exception. The clean, no-fuss approach to photography and layouts, and the unique styling, make this book as beautiful as it is practical.

At 32, Donna Hay has one of the most impressive curricula vitae in the world of food publishing. She has five internationally bestselling cookbooks, a bi-monthly magazine and a syndicated newspaper column, giving her a devoted worldwide fanbase of both experienced cooks and beginners who can't get enough of her clean modern style and simple approaching to recipe writing.

Modern Classics is destined to become a much-used reference in kitchens around the world and a cookbook that can be passed on for generations to come. A sweet version—Modern Classics Book 2—featuring cakes and puddings, pies and tarts, and biscuits and slices, will be published in late 2003.

Buy the Book!

Modern Classics Book 1
by Donna Hay
William Morrow/HarperCollins
Paperback, 192pages
Price: $24.95; $34.95 (CAN)
ISBN: 0060095245
Information provided by the publisher.