Cook with Me - Cook with Love

This is my new favourite cookbook. The cooking philosophy of Masterchef NZ 2012 Aaron Brunet shines out of every recipe.
Here he is talking about his philosophy in his thoughtful introduction:

"To me, it’s all about choosing to make your time in the kitchen about joy rather than worrying what might go wrong! I’m learning over time that the care and joy — the love — that goes into making food, and the atmosphere in which it is shared, make the biggest difference to how much it is enjoyed.

What does cooking with love actually mean? In practice I think it’s the little things that make a difference, like the fact that you care enough to taste something enough times to get the balance of flavours right, or that you use a little bit more of something precious and yummy because you want to serve the best to your guests. Having a dish made for you with someone’s love and care is always special, so don’t be too hard on yourself in the kitchen. When you think about your top food memories, you might find that, like mine, they are often simple dishes enjoyed with the people you love.

When it comes to creating dishes, the trick is to simply focus on what you love about the ingredients in front of you and try to make them the best they can be. To me, peanut butter on toast, another recipe in this book, can be the best meal I eat all week. It’s about taking care with the details, so when I get the thickness of the bread just right, when it is toasted to perfection, and when I get the peanut butter all hot and gooey so it soaks into the toast, I’m in food bliss!

Life is all about different stages, seasons and chapters. The chapters in this book reflect the different phases of the food in my everyday life with family and friends. I love to celebrate the ebb and flow of how we choose to eat depending what’s happening in our lives at any given time. More often than not the recipes are simple, based on my favourite flavours and food experiences. 

I hope you find some here that will become an enjoyable part of your food life too. My main wish for you is that you’ll come across ideas in this book that will trigger you to make food that really rings your bell, honing in on the things you love and making them shine for you and your loved ones.

Above all, have fun, take time, and love the food you eat every day!"

About the author:

Born in Nelson,  Aaron Brunet was an IT consultant living in Raglan until he won MasterChef NZ in 2012. Of Italian and Slovenian extraction, he learned to cook from his mother, and he loves cooking with a passion. Aaron is very thoughtful and loves nothing better than dreaming up and creating culinary delights. Interested in the culinary arts, he will play with ingredients and techniques until he gets the desired results.