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Vegan Italian Food (Shannon Martinez, Hardie Grant)

Prolific vegan chef and restauranteur Shannon Martinez’s fourth cookbook, Vegan Italian Food, is anything but conventional, but she promises she’s not out to shock your nonna. Martinez is a Spanish Australian who grew up in Melbourne in the 80s, and her relationship with Italian food is informed by nostalgia and memory, shown through her recipes for her (veganised) childhood favourites. Martinez (Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens to Be Vegan)) balances ‘already vegan’ Italian dishes with reworked traditional dishes, using mock meat and cheeses to create a collection of recipes to elevate your culinary repertoire. In Vegan Italian Food, you’ll find high-concept (and high-reward) recipes such as Martinez’s meat-free salami and Smith + Deli–famous tiramisu, but also staples in the ‘Building Blocks’ section that you can return to again and again. Vegan Italian Food is perfect for both vegans and vegetarians lusting after an Italian feast, with appetisers, sauces, salads, soups, entrees, mains, sweets, gelato and granita—or for those simply wanting to explore the veg-based side of Italian cuisine. Bursting with colour, personality and fun photography (my personal favourite is the image of pasta dough draped over a Chanel coat hanger), Vegan Italian Food has recipes for all ages and will appeal to fans of Martinez’s restaurants (Smith & Daughters, Smith + Deli, and Lona Misa), vegans and vegetarians, and the adventurous home cook.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kate Dunphy is an emerging writer and bookseller based in Meanjin. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

 

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