Basics to Brilliance by Donna Hay

Donna Hay, Australia’s award-winning food stylist, author, tv chef and magazine editor, was someone I didn’t know much about until recently when I read the announcement of her new book: Basics to Brilliance. I straight away got intrigued by this one sentence: “Each basic recipe is followed by clever variations and simple flavour change-ups, so one recipe becomes many.”

Once I got my own copy in the mail, I was absolutely blown away by the stunning photography by William Meppem, without even having read one word yet! Luckily the book isn’t just a pretty picture on its own and each recipe is a real gem. By using one recipe and then turn it into other versions, Donna allows people from all kinds of backgrounds and levels to find something they love in her book. Easy prawn dumplings for example can become ginger, chilli and prawn dumpling soup or crispy golden prawn dumplings. A basic Thai green curry paste can be used for green chicken curry, Thai curry with pork and basil or a spicy green prawn curry with noodles.

Mastering the basics will help you get a long way when it comes to cooking, which is one of the reasons I think this book deserves a spot in your book case! As Donna says in the intro “As for anything in life you want to be good at, I believe that in the kitchen you also need to get the basics right before you can grow. You can’t fly before having wings, right?”

Photography by William Meppem

Photography by William Meppem

Book description
Australia’s bestselling cookbook author returns with a stunning new book, Basics to Brilliance – and a TV series tie in. Australia’s most trusted and best-selling cookbook author, Donna Hay, wants to take you from basics to brilliance.

Donna believes that, just like anything you want to be good at, mastering the basics is how you build confidence. So, in this book, she’s sharing all her favourite, tried and true recipes – think the perfect tender steak, golden roast chicken, crispy pork belly, her nan’s sponge cake, and of course the fudgiest brownies! Each basic recipe is followed by clever variations and simple flavour change-ups, so one recipe becomes many and your repertoire naturally grows.

Take Donna’s ‘no-fail meringue mixture’ – once mastered, this basic recipe can be tweaked to be turned into the perfect pavlova; divinely flavoured salted caramel, chocolate, rosewater and pistachio, and raspberry meringues for an elegant afternoon tea; or a silky smooth and tangy lemon meringue pie for a divine dessert for a dinner party. This is your ultimate guide to being brilliant in the kitchen!

Basics to Brilliance is a luxurious hardback, featuring beautiful photography and featuring over 200 recipes. This is a book you will want to treasure forever.

Photography by William Meppem

About the Author
At the age of eight, Donna Hay skipped into a kitchen, picked up a mixing bowl and never looked back. Now, Donna Hay is one of Australia’s leading food personalities, magazine editor-in-chief and best-selling cookbook author. Her food, recipes and styling focus on basic ingredients that are simply prepared and beautifully photographed – hallmarks of her work that have set the benchmark for food publishing worldwide and inspired a whole new generation of cooks.

Donna’s career as a food writer and stylist began when she was 19. She was appointed food editor of marie claire when she was 25 and soon became food editor of marie claire lifestyle. In 2001, she launched donna hay magazine, a highly acclaimed, top-selling bi-monthly food magazine with tremendous local success and far-reaching international appeal.

With Donna as editor-in-chief, the magazine has an Australian readership of more than 630,000, subscribers in 82 countries and is the highest-selling digital magazine in Australia. In 2015, Donna made her first foray into the growing world of ‘luxe health’ content, releasing a special issue magazine called Fresh + Light, packed with nutritious recipes using superfoods, lighter ingredients and quality fresh produce to inspire a more balanced approach to eating. After circulation figures and response from both readers and advertisers exceeded all expectations, the title has now become a quarterly fixture with Donna at the helm. Donna also has a popular weekly food column in the Sunday editions of News Corp newspapers around Australia and The New Zealand Herald, reaching over four million people each week. She is also a regular contributor to UK’s leading lifestyle magazine, Living etc and has a fortnightly column in The Sunday Times Magazine in the UK.

Donna’s simple and style-driven approach is reflected in her 26 award-winning cookbooks. She has sold over 6 million copies worldwide, with the books translated into ten languages. In 2016, Donna made a return to our television screens for the third time with her latest series Basics to Brilliance. Airing on Foxtel’s LifeStyle Food channel in Australia, the eight-episode series shares Donna’s favourite simple recipes and aims to help you build confidence in the kitchen by teaching you a few special tips, twists and tricks. Donna was named one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ cookbook authors at the international Gourmand Awards in 2007 and received an ASTRA award in 2012 for best new female personality. Her successful homewares range was developed with Royal Doulton and has been available worldwide since 2011. This range includes classic dinnerware and collections for tea, cake and special occasions, plus kitchenware and tools for cooking and baking.

Donna is a working mum of two beautiful boys, Tom and Angus, and resides in Sydney, Australia.
Book info
Hardcover: 566 pages
Publisher: UNIEBOEK | HET SPECTRUM (11 Sept. 2017)
Language: Dutch
ISBN-13: 978-9000356829
Product Dimensions: 28 cm x23 cm
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (5 Oct. 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1460751426
ISBN-13: 978-1460751428
Product Dimensions: 22.7 x 4.2 x 27.2 cm

You can buy this book on Unieboek Spectrum (NL), Lannoo (BE), Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon DE.

Photography by William Meppem

Photography by William Meppem

Photography by William Meppem