Testing times

I’ve been cooking food, writing about it, and photographing it for many years. I’ve written a couple of cookbooks (one for bachelors, Man About the House, now out of print, and an ebook The Novice Cook). It's also been a privilege to contribute to numerous cookbooks over the years, many of them fund-raisers for great causes.


At one stage of my career as corporate relations manager for a large newspaper group in New Zealand, I inherited a small book publishing venture after a commercial printing division was sold off. In that extra role, I became publishing manager of several titles, including a couple of cookbooks.

It was there I learned about the hard reality of cookbook publishing. Fortunately I’d had plenty of experience in putting together publications for print, from newspapers to house magazines to glossy annual reports, so the cookbook business was something of a fun job. I got to spend a bit time with the author, famed NZ cookery doyenne Alison Holst and her talented kitchen team as they prepared the recipes for photo sessions. It was also enjoyable working with the designer as I did a lot of desktop publishing myself and it was good to pick up a few tricks from someone conversant with the same software.

And it was great seeing our baby hit the bookshelves. I became a bookstore stalker, surreptitiously rearranging displays so our books were to the fore. I’ve since swapped notes with others involved in the business and they confess to doing that, too.

Something stirred in me recently when my Net friends Mark Tafoya and Jennifer Iannolo from the Culinary Media Network announced recently that they were embarking on their first cookbook and put out a call for people to roadtest their recipes – and perhaps also take photos. I’ve followed these two for about three years via their podcasts and website so I was keen to help out. It’s easy to get in a culinary rut sometimes, so I put my hand up and volunteered, choosing a few seasonal recipes from the list suited to late summer Down Under in Australia.

I put together a shopping list, tried to slot the recipes round family meals and dived into the test kitchen.

It’s one thing developing recipes myself, but quite another working through someone else’s recipe. Normally when cooking out of a cookbook, I frequently wing it, making changes to suit my way of cooking, my tastes, and substituting ingredients if the whim (or an empty fridge) takes me.

This time I followed each recipe faithfully to ensure it was clear, unambiguous, didn’t assume the cook was super-experienced and knew all the jargon, that the instructions were coherent and didn’t leave the reader guessing.

Fortunately the recipes I tested were well written and the evaluation sheets I had to fill in allowed for suggestions on how recipes might be tweaked so the cook could add individual touches. Best of all, the food was interesting.

I started off with a very tasty little Pear and Prosciutto Salad with Toasted Walnuts – a starter for two for a romantic meal.

Next was an Andalusian classic, Salmorejo – a room temperature tomato and bread-based soup.

Silky Spring Beet Soup was next.

Then came Minted Pea Puree Canapés in vol-au-vent cases. The pea puree was very flavoursome and some of it made its way onto the dinner plate after I photographed my final dish...

...Seared Duck with Figged Port Demi-Glace.

It's been a pleasure working with such professionals as New Yorkers Mark and Jennifer. They live, breathe - and eat - food. In short, they get it.

Keep a watch out for their book. I am sure it will reflect their enthusiasm and professionalism. It's a book for people who like entertaining at home, specially if they enjoy hosting dinner parties.

(NOTE: The book has now been published and there's a link to it in the right-hand column.)