RECIPETIN EATS DINNER AND TONIGHT BY NAGI MAEHASHI

Nagi Maehashi has a unique and very appealing recipe voice. She has written two cookbooks, DINNER published in 2023, and TONIGHT, published in 2024. Her home base is Australia but her recipes are multi-national with a strong emphasis on Asian flavors. I have become a loyal follower of Nagi and her website which is called RecipeTinEats.com. The title of her site is inspired by the recipe tin in which she used to store her recipes. Much like Ina and Martha, it seems Nagi was a successful businesswoman (she worked in corporate finance for 16 years) before she decided to pursue her passion for food, which equates to cooking, developing recipes and photographing food. She appears to be extremely hardworking! She also makes meals for people who need them, and she was terribly devoted to her dog Dozer who died in July of 2024 at the age of 16. Her books have great pictures, tons of information about ingredients and techniques, and an overall feel-good feeling. Here’s why I love Nagi Maehashi: She taught me two techniques that took my cooking to another level. One was how to make the best French fries ever in the world, ever, as in drop the mic. The other was how to marinate and double fry chicken, beef and pork for Chinese recipes. The Sweet and Sour pork recipe she has on her web site is simply fantastic.

A few years ago, one of my bookshelves fell over on me while I was trying to organize the books. I found myself buried beneath a mountain of cookbooks wondering if this was the way I was going out. I realized I had to downsize my collection of cookbooks but anyone who loves books/cookbooks knows how delusional a resolution like that really is. I try very hard now not to bring in new books unless I donate an equal number to Goodwill. But every once and a while, a cookbook makes the “cut,” and becomes a permanent member of my collection (like the special edition Julia Child book a friend gave me for Christmas). Nagi’s books fall into that category. They are undoubtedly keepers.