Everyday Strength ~ Book Review

Everyday Strength ~ Recipes & Wellbeing Tips for Cancer Patients

By Sam Mannering & Karen McMillan

Health and Wellness books are extremely popular right now, with people realising that what we put into our bodies as fuel matters. This book fits into that category, but is specifically written for people facing cancer. The authors write from personal experience with a wealth of expertise. Sam, being a food writer and columnist at Sunday Star Times and contributor to Cuisine and House and Garden magazines; while Karen has published a dozen books both fiction and non-fiction on a range of topics including cancer, WWII memoirs, and historical novels. Karen has also been a hospice volunteer, and Sam a hospice ambassador.

Many cancer lifestyles advocate for vegetarian, vegan, organic, or raw diets. Things which are often complete upheavals of one’s former lifestyle. And although these things may be suitable for some, for others it’s an unrealistic and daunting idea. Everyday Strength however is a book about ‘making every day better’, using simple strategies, tips and recipes for people throughout the various stages and cancer treatments. It doesn’t advocate a cure, and how could it, every case is unique. Instead, what it does offer is practical solutions for common problems.

Food in life is a source of pleasure for many people, it’s how we socialise and how we often ‘treat’ ourselves, a nice meal out, a slab of cake, or an expensive cut of steak. However when managing cancer, battling a myriad of symptoms, one’s appetite and taste buds can be affected.

Therefore the chapters in this book are arranged around the symptoms that cancer treatment brings, and provides tips, insights and recipes to combat them. Exhaustion, Lack of Appetite & Weight Loss, Nausea, Common Side Effects of Hormone Therapy, Dealing with Pain & Discomfort, Hair Care, Skin & Nails are among the chapter titles. Accompanying recipes are designed to tempt the tastebuds while providing necessary nutrition. The Pork Chops with Apple Sage and Sweet Wine for example, is designed to contain Vitamins B6 & B12, magnesium, potassium and zinc as well as protein. While the Carrot Cake recipe is made for flavour with the added benefit of fibre, vitamins and minerals.

What’s great about this book, is that it’s real food - that everyone can enjoy, it’s practical, and most of all it’s realistic. If you or someone you know are currently facing ‘The Big C’ then this is definitely a book worth exploring.

If you’re interested in hearing more from the authors and their personal stories then you can see them in person at the Going West Festival this Sunday 10th September www.goingwestfest.co.nz  

Angelo's Wild Kitchen - Book Review

Angelo’s Wild Kitchen - Family Favourite Recipes

By Angelo Georgalli

I was very excited to get my hands on this pre-release copy of Angelo’s Wild Kitchen, his second book following The Game Chef. He’s a household name in our family, thanks to his show also titled The Game Chef on Maori Television. Here he shares his love of hunting (often with bow and arrow) and gathering, with his passion for wholesome family cooking.

His mother is Italian, and father Croatian, so his recipes have a very European flair running through them. Expect to see mouth watering pastas, pizzas, breads, and homemade sauces, all prepared with local New Zealand produce, much of which he has grown or foraged himself. There’s even a few recipes at the back of the book which feature his children and their inherited love of food. Teenager Luca’s Roast Tomato Soup made with his own home grown tomatoes, and Oscar, who loves fishing, has a Brown Trout recipe .

Angelo has been in NZ for over 20 years currently resides in the picturesque Cardrona Valley, so as well as the stunning food photography, you’ll find breathtaking imagery our native backyard. The inside cover of the book even has topographical maps of Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, and the Cardrona ranges.

Even though the title is ‘Wild’ Kitchen, don’t be put off. Pretty much every single recipe in this book I could source the ingredients for and could easily make myself. The ‘wild’ more refers to the fact that ingredients can be sourced locally (and for free, hunting, fishing, growing, if you’re that way inclined). He even has a page of tips and tricks for ‘How to bring the wild into any home’. There is still enough to keep the wild food lovers happy too, with a few venison and hare recipes, a rabbit pie, and a North African Goat Hotpot, amongst the more traditional beef, chicken, cured meats, vegetarian, and variety of seafood recipes. The seafood recipes alone make this book worthwhile: crayfish caesar and sandwiches, calamari fettuccine, Greek fish stew, and Greek stuffed calamari, trout, salmon, BBQed fish, seafood chowder and 3 different seafood pizzas. AKA seafood heaven!  

One thing I really love about this book is the variety. The chapters cover everything: Breakfast, Butters - so popular right now! & Bases, All Things Saucy, Grazing - my favourite way to eat, Seafood delicacies, Pizza Pasta Pizazz, Wild Asian Fusion - nope, it’s not all European, Give Me Greens (Salad and Veges), Meat, Sweet Things, For The Kids - dedicated to his children’s recipes, not kid food. In fact, one criticism would be, what has he got left? It seems he’s put everything into this cookbook, and I wonder, or hope that he’s got more up his sleeve for another one. There’s so much crammed in that the pizza recipe, like the steamed buns, provides the recipe for the dough, then a range of different filling and topping recipes. Meaning that if you go to the effort of mastering the dough making, you’re not just a one trick pony!

It needs to be noted as well, that this book is truly for everyone. I’ve mentioned the variety of recipes above, but it’s also suitable for all those people with dietary restrictions too. Featuring Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free and Vegetarian recipes throughout the chapters.

You can expect to find copies of Angelo’s Wild Kitchen on shelves from the 1st of September and if you can get in quick, I’d highly recommend this book as a great gift for upcoming Father’s Day, or a Christmas gift for any budding foodie, hunter, or horticulturist. The recipes are simple classic fare with his own twists. The first recipe I tried was his Pork Belly, Mushroom & Sage Orecchiette which is his version of Fettuccine Carbonara: Indulgent, yet simple and delicious. Next up, I plan to make his Napoletana Sauce, which then features in other recipes throughout the book.