Love & Hunger: Thoughts on the Gift of Food

purchase in print

In this age of gastro-porn and the fetishisation of food, the pressure to be as expert as the chefs we’ve turned into celebrities can feel overwhelming. An instant antidote to such madness is this wise and practical book - an ode to good food, prepared and presented with minimum fuss and maximum love. Twenty-five personal essays range from the practical (how to chop an onion and the joys of chicken stock, for example) to the contemplative (e.g. the ethics of gushing about food in a world where millions are starving) to the consoling - cooking for the ill, bereaved or broken-hearted - to the celebratory, such as 'reclaiming the hostess gift' and beach holiday cooking.  

​To Charlotte, cooking is ‘creativity in its purest form’. It is meditation and stimulation, celebration and solace, a gift both offered and received. It can nourish the soul–and the mind–as well as the body. Love & Hunger will make you long to get into the kitchen to try the surprising tips and delicious recipes, and leave you freshly inspired to cook with joy for the people you love. Love & Hunger is a gift for all who value the solitary and shared pleasures of cooking and eating. Like a simple but glorious meal, this feast of a book is infused with warmth and generosity.

"No philosophy, snobbery, one-upmanship, no competing with restaurant cooks. Just a lot of honesty and admission of failings, mistakes, triumphs and pleasures."

- Sydney Morning Herald

"Charlotte Wood writes so openly about her cooking habits and history and her thoughts about the ethics of good eating that it’s impossible not to be swept up in her enthusiasm. 
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- The Newtown Review of Books​

More about ​Love & Hunger

Radio National
​Charlotte Wood talks to Michael Mackenzie on the Radio National program First Bite about the double-edged sword that is cooking and the ideas that inspired ​Love & Hunger.

A La Mode Frangorou
Sophie Masson interviews Charlotte Wood as a part of her food and cooking blog, A la mode frongorou, about Love & Hunger and Australia's shifting food culture.

"This book has the power to reignite a passion for life, friendship, food and the everyday ... Love & Hunger is a guide, an encouragement and an inspiration.

- ​John Purcell, Booktopia Bookstore

"As one other reviewer noted, it’s rare for a cookbook to move you to tears; be warned you may succumb ... If there is a criticism to be made, we would only want more…"

​- Tim White, Books for Cooks bookstore

More by Charlotte Wood