Much like novels and other non-fiction books, cookbooks hold a very special place in the heats of readers. For many, cookbooks are the first step in learning how to cook for yourself and loved ones. Cookbooks hold your hand as you work your way through a mid-week dinner or slow cooked Sunday lunches. They hold the recipes that are reserved and prepared for special occasions, for when you need to switch off or feel happy or sad. The recipes in cookbooks literally nourish you inside and out. As they equally nourish your body and mind, the nourishment extends to those those around you, bringing together people around a table, away from busy lives and devices into a world of flavour, conversation and connection.

How does Cook Book Club work? Join us for a 3 course supper of dishes cooked by Alice & Sophie (your hosts) from the recipes from our selected book of the month. It is an opportunity to try dishes you have or haven't cooked before, learning about the book and discussing everything from ingredients to techniques. It is the ultimate opportunity to learn more about cooking or indulge in conversations just about cooking with new friends.

This month we are featuring 'Chinese-ish' by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu. In lockdown they wrote and self-published a Chinese recipe zine called the Isol(Asian) Cookbook, which then turned into a super accessible, creative and easy to use cookbook. The book draws on growing up in Australia against the backdrop of their families vast heritage, Kaul was born in Singapore to parents of mixed Asian heritage (Kashmiri, Peranakan Chinese, Filipino), and she grew up between Australia, Malaysia, China and Indonesia with Hu born from Chinese Australian parents. Both have extremely successful careers pre writing the book with Rosheen the head chef at Melbourne's Etta and Hu having spent her early career as lawyer to then pursue illustration ( she is ofc the person behind all the books illustrations).

Chinese-ish celebrates the confident blending of culture and identity through food: take what you love and reject what doesn't work for you. In these pages you'll find a bounty of inauthentic Chinese-influenced dishes from all over Southeast Asia, including the best rice and noodle dishes, wontons and dumplings, classic Chinese mains and even a Sichuan Sausage Sanga that would sit proudly at any backyard barbecue. There are also plenty of tips and shortcuts to demystify any tricky-sounding techniques, and reassuring advice on unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them.

Chinese-ish is modern, unconventional, innovative, vibrant, tasty, colourful, incredibly delicious food.