Terry Durack

Restaurant critic, author, columnist

https://www.terrydurack.com

Biography

Terry is currently chief restaurant critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, a post he has held for total of eleven years. He was restaurant critic of London’s Independent on Sunday for 8 years, winning the Glenfiddich Restaurant Critic of The Year award and World Food Media’s Best Restaurant Critic. He has written six cookbooks including ‘Yum: A Voyage Around My Stomach’ and ‘Noodle’ and is Co-Director of Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants.

Foods of the World (series)

Time-Life Books

The most brilliant set of cookbooks every produced, with contributions from many of the greatest names in food writing. Especially love The Cooking of Provincial France (MFK Fisher) , and The Cooking of China (Emily Hahn).

James Beard's American Cookery

James Beard

So easy to follow and so well written, and so amusing, you can hear his voice on every page. Plus, this is the only cook book in the world that doesn’t tell you to overcook lobster.

White Heat

Marco Pierre White

A game-changer if ever there was one. It set in motion a chain of events that led to meeting Marco many times. He is an extraordinary, complex creature and a great chef.

Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art

Shizuo Tsuji

The Japanese cookbook translated into English by which all Japanese cookbooks translated into English should be judged.

A New Book of Middle Eastern Food

Claudia Roden

The Middle East became just that little less mysterious for me as a young cook, with Claudia Roden by my side.

The Cook's Companion

Stephanie Alexander

Margaret Fulton Cooking used to be Australia’s all-purpose, go-to cookbook. Now it’s Stephanie’s alphabetical, ingredient-driven reference manual, a book that should be on everybody’s shelf.

Great Dishes of the World

Robert Carrier

An American living in London who learned to love food in France changed the way the world cooked. Meeting him and being his friend was very important to me; a very charming and complicated and genuine man.

Momofuku

David Chang and Peter Meehan

Kind of the White Heat of the noughties. Much of what we’re eating around the world started life here. Very conscientiously written, tested and researched.

Chez Panisse Cooking

Paul Bertolli and Alice Waters

Intelligent, informed and thoroughly useable. I loved Paul’s cooking when he was at Chez Panisse, he has been incredibly influential in the growth of natural Italian/American/wood-fired cooking.

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen

Grace Young

Grace effortlessly makes you feel part of her Chinese family, without sentimentality or fluff, and her recipes are immaculate. Love the little stories behind the food as well.

What's playing in Terry's kitchen?

The Mumfords, Justin Townes Earl, Mink Deville, Rossini, Jacob Dylan