By Betsy Newman and Graeme Newman

Take a culinary adventure to "the land down under" with Good Food from Australia! From the famous Vegemite Sandwich to grilling on the "barbie," the authors provide a generous collection of over 150 genuine Australian favorites. Start off with Egg and Bacon Pie (what real Australian men eat!), then sample some hearty Pocket Steak Melbourne or Dandenong Rabbit Pie, with a side of Victoria Salad, and top it all off with a slice of Maisie's Chocolate Peppermint Cake. You can even learn to drink a "cuppa tea" and a beer like a real Aussie! Reflecting the great variety and range of Australian cooking, some of the sections included in this cookbook are: "The Australian Melting Pot," "Steaks, Chops, and Snags," "Casseroles and Curries, "Cookies and Slices," and of course, "Outback Cooking." From the exotic and outlandish--Kangaroo Tail Soup and Fried Tiger Snake- to tried and true favorites like Hamburger Hot Pot and Banana Tea Cake, give your cooking some real Australian flavor with these unique recipes, specially adapted for the American kitchen.

NY. Hippocrene Books. 1997. 273p.

By Owen Simmons

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”, writes Owen Simmons at the outset of The Book of Bread (1903), a work he hopes will definitively establish “the link between the bakery and the laboratory” and speak to “the needs of the baker and of the miller”. And the text, at times, does indeed read like a lab manual for commercial bakeries: Simmons was a breadmaker’s breadmaker, co-founder of the National School of Bakery in London and frequent contributor to The British Baker. The book contains equations for the conversion of starch into alcohol (by way of maltose, dextrin, and glucose), chemical explanations for why viscoelasticity is “injurious to the proper manufacture of several kinds of biscuits”, and intricate discussions of nitrogenic proteids, which, once transformed into peptones, “nourish the yeast by percolating its cellulose”.

In addition to its scientific learning, the preface notes two unique aspects that set The Book of Bread apart from competitors: a tabulated appendix, featuring the results of more than 360 baking experiments, and its “most expensive illustrations”, which will force readers “to admit that never before have they seen such a complete collection of prize loaves illustrated in such an excellent manner”.

London: Maclaren and Sons, 1903. 309p.

By Marion Harland.

A practical and exhaustive manual of cookery and housekeeping, containing thousands of carefully proved recipes — prepared for the housewife, not for the chef — and many chapters on the care and management of the home — the final expression of her life’s experience. (1903) 948 pages.