KAREN MARTINI, HARDIE GRANT, $110

With an extensive cookbook collection it’s not easy to get excited about any new book, but this hefty one has won top place in my heart, earning a central position within easy reach in my kitchen. Karen Martini joins two other authors with comprehensive well-written volumes that essentially capture all any cook could need or want to know: The Constance Spry Cookery Book filled with French-inspired recipes of the mid-20th century, and Stephanie Alexander whose Cook’s Companion has been my perfect kitchen resource for the past 30 years.

Cook is filled with thoroughly modern recipes and ideas, and an essential find for keen cooks who seek inspiration, explanation or to while away a few hours with delicious reading. The index alone takes up almost 50 pages, an indication of how complete this volume is. This is not only a well-organised repository of tasty and diverse recipes, but includes extensive instruction and opinion on all ingredients both familiar and unusual in the Antipodes.

Martini is an Australian chef and food communicator of Irish, Tunisian and French heritage, married to a Greek. She grew up in a kitchen where food was central to life. Inspired to become a chef, she became one of the best-loved and most-awarded women in the kitchen in Melbourne (Melbourne Wine Room) and then Sydney (Icebergs). Her food is instantly appealing, exciting and brimming with spices, international flavours and techniques that will appeal for any and every occasion. Cook is surely destined to become a classic. LAURAINE JACOBS