COLLECTIVELY HOMEGROWN

NADIA KEY & ELKE KEY, KEY & CO PUBLISHERS, $49.99

Only the truly hard of heart can ignore a book that says ‘while purchasing a copy may seem like a small thing, it could help someone start a new life that does not include fear, control and violence’. With proceeds going to Women’s Refuge NZ, this is a book that not only has good intentions and a big heart, but is also packed with recipes from names such as Raglan Food Co, Ripe Kitchen, Nadia Lim, Everybody Eats, The Two Raw Sisters and Fix & Fogg along with a host of individuals representing our diverse community. A Croatian frigane paprike na salatu is bursting with the goodness of summer capsicums, bubble and squeak okonomiyaki uses whatever leftover cooked veges you might have, and an Indian kalakand recipe first teaches you how to make home-made paneer before turning it into this fudgy, milky Indian-inspired treat. Mother and daughter Elke and Nadia Key of social enterprise Husk and Honey are the curators of the collection, stylists, photographers and recipe testers (and don’t miss their Oma’s recipe for baked German cheesecake). Community cookbooks have a long and treasured position in New Zealand’s society, providing a fascinating snapshot of place and the cultures and cuisines within it. While it’s a damning reflection of our society that New Zealand has the highest rates of family violence in the developed world (one in three women will experience violence at some point in their lives or one in two women if you factor in emotional abuse), it’s a tribute to the makers of this book that altruism still exists.