BOOKS (AND BOOKS AND BOOKS AND BOOKS) FOR COOKS
WORDS BY RINALDA AAY
Books for Cooks—as the name suggests—is an independent bookstore dedicated to books about cookery, beverages and food culture. They sell new and antiquated books and are constantly on the hunt for the next title to add to their collection.
One day in early 2000, Tim White and Amanda Schulze saw a one-line ad in The Age: Cookbook shop for sale.
They’d heard of the bookstore but they’d never been there. This didn’t stop them from picking up the phone and calling the number listed and then, not long after, making a trip to the store to meet the owners. They walked in and an hour later they walked out with a sore credit card and a bookstore.
Books for Cooks is an independent specialist bookstore nestled happily and fittingly in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market. As you walk in you’re welcomed by the bright, clear sound of a doorbell. The store has that idyllic old-world bookshop charm—a miscellany of bookshelves filled to the seams with rows and rows
of tomes all about food. You could browse for hours, trawling through a broad history of food, wine and cookery from antiquated cookbooks to new publications and paper ephemera. Just as interesting are the vintage artefacts perched atop bookshelves or arranged in convenient corners. Perhaps there’s an order to the books, but if you’re looking for something specific you’re best to ask the staff who know the store inside out.
Tim tells me that Books for Cooks started out with Margit and Pearl, two immigrants of Polish and Eastern European backgrounds. They ran a travel agency, sending Australians off to crisscross the world, see its sights and taste its food. In the same space each woman also had a bookshop as a hobby on the side, the same way your grandma might make jam and sell it at the Sunday markets. Pearl sold an assortment of travel books and Margit had her cookbooks—stacks and stacks of cookbooks.
Some combination of ageing and the introduction of GST in Australia prompted Margit and Pearl to sell. They were ready to retire though unwilling to see the cookbooks go to waste. An ad in the paper and a phone call later, Books for Cooks was purchased by Tim and Amanda—Tim, with a background in law and a passion for food, wine and books, and Amanda, an excellent cook with a strong hospitality background. Their first challenge: find a new location and move the bookstore in two weeks. Amanda was working as a kitchen manager in Fitzroy at the time. One day she looked out her window and saw the answer—a building across the road had ‘Shop for Lease’ tacked to its front window. And so Books for Cooks moved to Gertrude Street.
A few years ago the Queen Victoria Market approached Tim and Amanda—would Books for Cooks be interested in becoming part of the markets?
Yes, of course.
So came about Books for Cooks’ next move. They took up residence in the Munro Buildings and quickly established themselves as a staple of the Vic Market. In June 2018 redevelopment chased them to yet another market building, possibly a temporary move. Their current location on Victoria Street is a downsize—they had to squeeze themselves in—but suits them to a tee. It’s old and bright with natural light. On the days the markets are alive and full you can hear the fruit and veg traders plying their wares five metres out the back door. ‘You know when strawberries are cheap,’ says Tim. This is a big bonus, obviously.
For Tim and Amanda, Books for Cooks is more than a job—it’s a lifestyle. While they deal with major publishers (and a number of specialists) to source new books, the real fun is in the old, the unique and the antiquarian.
‘Half the joy is in the hunt,’ says Tim. Books for Cooks has received thousands of requests for books and takes great pride and pleasure in filling these requests wherever possible. They’ve established a reputation
for hunting down even the most obscure titles. ‘We’ve dragged our children to every imaginable market, yard sale, antique store, lot sale … we’re always looking for books.’
This constant hunt means Books for Cooks has amassed what could be considered a ridiculous number of books on cookery, food culture and wine. They have a storage space as big as the bookshop, crammed full
of things they simply can’t fit in the shop. Each book is selected with care and while Tim and Amanda consider factors like customer demand, history, the story it tells and whether items are striking, the most important criterion is this:
Is this a book we would want to take home?
Tim and Amanda really know their books. They read from them, they cook from them; they’d much rather form their own opinion of a book than take the word of someone else. So if they recommend something to you, you know you’re in good hands.
When I mention the struggle of independent bookstores in today’s market Tim, putting on his other hat as the president of the Australian Booksellers Association, is quick to set me straight. In Australia, almost thirty per cent of bookstores are independent
and fifteen new bookstores have opened in this calendar year alone. Independent bookstores are not dying, he says, they just may be becoming less visible in main drags due to rising rent and competition from big business. Go slightly off the beaten track though, and the independents are there, confident and comfortable. Here to stay.
There are about a dozen other dedicated cookbook stores around the world, to the best of Tim’s knowledge. Tim and Amanda network with them fairly regularly—a scattered international community bound together by a shared love of books and food. Almost invariably, these stores have put their roots down in big cities with big food cultures. Books for Cooks isn’t an exception. Melbourne is a UNESCO City of Literature and has the highest penetration of bookstores in Australia. ‘It’s always been a creative town,’ muses Tim, ‘so I think specialist stores do well in Melbourne because it’s simply part of our culture.’
That, and Melbourne is spoiled by the privilege of a strong, affordable food culture. It’s not necessarily as big on fine dining as other food obsessed cities, but Melburnians are passionate about food—organic food, fresh food, slow food, paddock to plate. A real ‘food as nature intended it’ vibe. There’s also the extraordinary wealth of rich migrant cultures, each of which bring their own food heritages and stories. People share food and explore food and make food and take photos of food. Food culture and Melbourne culture are near synonymous.
It makes sense, then, that an independent bookstore dedicated solely to food and wine has flourished in Melbourne for decades. Books for Cooks has amassed a community as it has amassed its impressive book collection, gathering to itself professional chefs, amateur cooks, connoisseurs, food historians and the generally curious.
‘For Tim and Amanda, Books for Cooks is more than a job—it’s a lifestyle.’
‘I think that what makes independent bookstores work is that they’re not committed to the numbers. They’re committed to their stock and their relationship with their customers.’ Bookstores, Tim says, are like pubs in many ways. They serve as a third place—work, home, pub; work, home, bookstore—to hang around, to congregate, to interact. Books for Cooks feels like one of those places to linger, surrounded by shelves and shelves of meticulously-collected books and excerpts of Tim and Amanda’s antiquated copper pot collection.
Even the culinarily clueless will appreciate the little bookstore’s carefully cultivated charm. Who knows? They might even walk out with a cookbook.
There’s probably a lot more to say about Books for Cooks—they do events, they personally clean and restore their vintage books, they ship to anywhere in the world. You could unearth a whole history from their shelves. But Tim sums it up about as well as it can be summed up:
‘We’re a very old-fashioned bookstore. We’re not always fast—if you want the book yesterday, we may not be the best place for you. But if you want the best advice, or want to know the best barbecue book, or the best place to get food, or if you want to bump into a chef or two, we’re the place for you.’
Books for Cooks Queen Victoria Market
115–121 Victoria Street, Melbourne 3000 Monday to Saturday 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
TIM’S TOP COOKBOOKS FOR MELBURNIANS
THE COOK’S COMPANION NEW FEAST: MODERN
Stephanie Alexander
Every chef—from aspiring to amateur—should lay their hands on The Cook’s Companion at some point in their life. Many chefs buy a new copy every year because they’ve worn the pages out. It may not be new and exciting or romantic, but it has everything you need to know. Repeat: everything you need to know. A real Melbourne icon.
MIDDLE EASTERN VEGETARIAN
Greg and Lucy Malouf
New Feast: Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian is just one of Greg and Lucy’s many cookbooks, tying together Melbourne’s appreciation for vegetarianism and the best of Middle Eastern food culture. Written and published in Melbourne, this book is tinged with classical cooking techniques but infused with rich Middle Eastern flavours.
THE SEASONAL KITCHEN
Beverley Sutherland Smith
Melbourne’s responsible for the beginnings of some of Australia’s greatest cooks and cookbook authors, including Beverley Sutherland Smith. Her
twenty-seventh cookbook, The Seasonal Kitchen (which inspired Beverley’s Prahran cafe of the same name), perfectly encapsulates Melbourne’s love of organic, seasonal and market-to-table food philosophy. Filled to the brim with recipes and handy hints for growing and cooking with your own produce, The Seasonal Kitchen is a must-have for any and all Melburnians looking to create the freshest and most delicious meals.
MR & MRS WILKINSON’S HOW IT IS AT HOME
Matt Wilkinson and Sharlee Gibb
England-born, Melbourne-based, chef Matt Wilkinson and his partner Sharlee Gibb are no strangers to the chaos of a family home. How it is at Home invites readers into that space, where the pressures of work, family and life can make putting good food on the table a challenge. From quick meals to picnic treats and weekend feasts to lunchbox foods, Matt and Sharlee cover all bases in a fun, accessible cookbook that every chaotic household needs.
THE WEED FORAGER’S HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL WEEDS IN AUSTRALIA
Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland
There’s a lot more to weeds than meets the eye—an astonishing number are edible and medicinal. The Weed Forager’s Handbook is packed with botanical illustrations, short and simple recipes and detailed edibility and medicinal notes, making it the perfect companion for anyone seeking to source their meals outside the grocery store.