3 cookbooks that'll bring warmth to your table

Winter has arrived, making it the perfect time of year to stay inside and gather your friends together to share a meal.

These cookbooks are full of wonderful recipes for Middle Eastern spreads, Asian staples and slow-cooked dishes that will feed a crowd and bring warmth to your table.

Souk: Feasting at the mezze table

The souk refers to the Arabic marketplace, where an abundance of seasonal produce from different regions of the Middle East inspires the many flavours of the mezze table. This cookbook provides an introduction to mezze culture, where meals are made up of numerous dishes that are shared and enjoyed with family and friends at a leisurely pace.

The book is divided into chapters for cold and warm mezze, traditional cocktails, grilled dishes and after-dinner bites, with a useful glossary of pantry staples.

Authors Nadia Zerouali and Merijn Tol are food writers and cooks that have travelled extensively throughout the Middle East. Here they share their love for this traditional cuisine with these recipes that will allow you to experience the mezze way of life by recreating the mezze table at home, transforming every meal spent with others into a culinary event.

My Asian Kitchen

This latest cookbook by food writer and stylist, Jennifer Joyce, celebrates the widely varied cuisine of Asia with straightforward recipes and step-by-step instructions that will inspire cooks of all levels to recreate these classic dishes at home.

Jennifer's numerous travels to Asia inspired her to learn these traditional techniques, incorporating this delicious and healthy food into her daily life.

Successful and authentic Asian cooking starts with the right ingredients and this cookbook guides you through the essentials, including miso, gochujang and other fermented ingredients that fill these dishes with signature umami taste and aid digestion.

With recipes for Japanese sushi, Chinese dumplings and Korean BBQ, My Asian Kitchen highlights the numerous techniques and dynamic flavours of these different cultures. These favourites are organized by types of dish, from dumplings and buns to hot pots, curries and wok-fried meals, providing a comprehensive collection of recipes from different countries that you will refer to again and again.

Slow: Food worth taking time over

At a time when quality is often overlooked in favour of convenience, chef Gizzi Erskine invites readers to slow down and enjoy the cooking experience. Though her cooking style requires a bit of time and commitment, Gizzi's food philosophy couldn't be more simple: select quality produce that has been grown with care and take the time to cook it well.

The slow food movement encourages a mindful and conscientious approach to cooking that reduces food waste and promotes sustainable practices that benefit our health and the environment. This cookbook is filled with recipes for hearty and comforting winter meals, including British-style stews and meat pies, French gratin, and dishes inspired by Spanish, Italian and Korean flavours.

The roasting, stewing, braising and other cooking techniques used throughout this book require patience, which allows for the flavours to develop and deepen, resulting in wonderful tasting food that is well worth the time.

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