
2023 has been another great year for cookbooks, every time I think surely we are at peak cookbook, we are gifted another crop of books featuring mouthwatering and innovative recipes in stylish packages. When asked to give my recommendations for the top cookbooks that you’ll be wanting for yourself (and to give as gifts this year) it was so hard to narrow them down.
But I’ve done it (by choosing an all Australian list), and here are 10 new and upcoming local cookbook releases that I can’t wait to cook from, and why!
Adam Liaw’s 7 Days of Dinner, Danielle Alvarez’s Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking and Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking are sure to become much reached for, ‘what am I going to cook tonight’ favourites, and I’m drooling over the incredibly delicious recipes and beyond beautiful styling of Ester – surely the most desired restaurant cookbook released in some time! And lastly, I love that this year we also get expert yet accessible books on meat, fish, veg and cheese and chocolate from masters in their fields!
Keep reading for more information on each of the cookbooks.
Here are our top cookbook picks for Booktoberfest 2023!
The Very Hungry Coeliac by Melanie Persson
Mel was diagnosed with coeliac disease in her early twenties, and as she began to explore the world of gluten-free cooking, she found that most recipes focused on health and restrictions rather than flavour and texture. She was devastated to think that the foods she had grown up with from Japan and Italy might now be out of reach.
As a passionate cook, Mel was determined not to miss out, so she got to experimenting. She spent years in her kitchen perfecting gluten-free versions of the dishes she craved – from fresh pasta to decadent pastries, and udon noodles to baklava.
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There’s Always Room for Cheese by Colin Wood
Learn how to make cheese at home from scratch and create your own delicious sweet and savoury cheese-based recipes with There’s Always Room for Cheese.
There’s Always Room for Cheese is the debut cheese cookbook by chef Colin Wood. Colin has worked in some of the world’s best restaurants as the self-proclaimed ‘casual cheese guy’, and now he wants to teach everyone from amateur cooks to experienced chefs the skills he has learned, including how to make, store and eat cheese.
Fish Butchery by Josh Niland
James Beard award-winning author and culinary game-changer Josh Niland returns with the ultimate guide to the art of Fish Butchery, with expert techniques and groundbreaking recipes that are an urgent call for action on culinary sustainability.
Meatsmith by Andrew McConnell and Troy Wheeler
Celebrated Australian restaurateur Andrew McConnell (Gimlet, Cutler & Co) and world class butcher Troy Wheeler unite for Meatsmith: Home Cooking For Friends and Family, featuring more than 80 brilliant recipes to inspire long lunches, impressive dinners and sensational shared celebrations.
Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez, Libby Travers
Danielle Alvarez’s thoughtful recipes, wisdom, and whimsy offer the foundations for a lifetime of joy and nourishment in the kitchen, at the table, and beyond.
Don’t Buy Fruit & Veg Without Me! by Thanh Truong
Meet Thanh Truong, aka ‘The Fruit Nerd’, Australia’s top fruiterer with a mission to revolutionise how we see and enjoy fresh produce!
Thanh’s passion and wealth of knowledge make him the perfect teacher, as he shares life-changing tips and delicious recipes to help enhance your eating experiences.
7 Days of Dinner by Adam Liaw
Get delicious dinners on the table every single night with Adam Liaw’s 7 Days of Dinner, the new guide to cooking for the whole family. This inspiring collection keeps the ideas coming with a theme for every day of the week, featuring over easy 80 recipes taken from the set of his hit SBS series The Cook Up.
Discover the dishes Adam loves to cook at home, from a triumphant Elbow lasagne matched with his Best-ever garlic bread to a speedy Quick barramundi curry or the smashing All-in pavlova.
Chocolate All Day by Kirsten Tibballs
These recipes are the keys to the chocolate kingdom. The simplest route to chocolate happiness by the doyenne of chocolate, Kirsten Tibballs.
It’s always the right time for chocolate.
Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking by Emiko Davies
Simple, everyday Japanese cooking from best-selling author Emiko Davies.
Practically any home-cooked Japanese meal revolves around rice. It sits beside miso soup, pickles, tofu, and a piece of grilled fish for breakfast. It soaks up the sauce in a comforting donburi bowl, or is wrapped in nori for the ultimate portable lunch–onigiri. And it’s there for dinner, perhaps served with a pickled plum, some mild Japanese curry, braised fish, or even a Japanese-style Hamburg steak.
Ester by Mat Lindsay
The essential book on modern Australian food from leading cook, thinker, and Ester founder Mat Lindsay. Ester is an invitation to play with your food and enjoy the adventure. It’s born of an eponymous restaurant in inner Sydney, but it’s proudly not a restaurant book. Think of it more as the foundations for some new ideas in your kitchen and at your table; written to be used, shared, read aloud, perhaps burnt.
Explore the Booktoberfest festival of upcoming books here. Order any title featured in Booktoberfest for your chance to win a year’s worth of books. T&C’s apply.
Check out our podcast, Tell Me What To Read!

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