Marc Hirschowitz, Karen Alsfine and Estelle Sacharowitz play with words, definitions and design, and infuse the book with emotion as well as eye-catching photographs to which the recipes are almost an aside. In fact it's more a coffee-table book than one to take to the kitchen - it would be a shame to spoil it with the inevitable cooking dribbles and stains.
And the recipes?
Well they are organised in sections with names such as "wakey-wakey" (breakfast) , "slurp" (soups), "pure" (salads), "vintage" (traditional) and "mess" (children's party food). It seems a bit twee these days, but I might be tempted to make the rustic rosti cottage pie with roasted vegetables and topped with grated instead of mashed potatoes, and I may even stretch to the beetroot carpaccio stacked with watermelon and goat's cheese flavoured with mint and a honey dressing, but I'll definitely pass on the crispy golden chocolate squares made with Mars and Crunchie bars and Rice Krispies.
Occasionally the recipes call for South African ingredients such as nutty wheat flour, specific brands of herb and seasoning mixes or instant frosting that will need substitutes.
