Pucker: A Cookbook for Citrus Lovers, offers a tasty guide to everything citrus (duh) and will teach you the key to making the most delicious cocktails and the secret to jazzing up classic dishes on a dime.
To get the juicy details on the book we chatted with the Vancouver author while she’s on tour for her latest project.
A well-known authority on the food scene, the Calgary based food writer first pitched the idea of the cookbook in February of 2013 and has been hard at work ever since. As she explained, “the journalist in her” made her work right up until her deadline, which was followed by another year of edits, revisions, and final touches.
A dash here and a pinch there you might say…
Why You’ll Love This Cookbook:
As Gwendolyn put it, “I’m not a chef, so these recipes aren’t overly difficult”.
In other words, if you’re technique isn’t up to the standards of Top Chef Canada it’s not the end of the world. For her, it’s more about getting people excited about being in the kitchen, trying out the recipes and enjoying the food.
And as she humbly recounts, it took her eight tries to perfect one of her own muffin recipes in the book.
Something totally refreshing and honest to hear.
What You Have To Try:
The lemon tart over chocolate cake is one of the author’s favourites. And a recipe like this will no doubt make you look like a regular Martha Stewart when company comes calling this holiday season.
Also high on the list of things to try is the Ban Mi burger with chili lime and pickled carrots that’s been described as “bursting with flavour”.
In the mood for a drink? If you’re looking for something to sip on while creating these dishes then make it the Whiskey Sour.
Word to the Wise
For any aspiring foodies who one day dream about writing a cookbook, here’s a few helpful pieces of advice from the First Lady of lemons, limes, and grapefruits:
1. Don’t procrastinate.
2. There are going to be recipes that fail but keep trying until you’re happy
3. Writing a cookbook means doing more dishes than you thought possible. As she put it best, “a cookbook involves 20 per cent recipe development and 80 per cent dishes.”
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