Author(s): Anne Thorp

New Zealand

Anne Thorp is the sparkling hostess of the winning Kai Ora cooking shows on Maori Television and The Food Channel and her swish Herne Bay and Pakiri homes have been featured in most of New Zealand's glossy magazines. Her specialty is taking our indigenous foods (from snapper and crayfish to kina, oysters and more exotic shellfish) and cooking them simply and quickly in a modern manner that delivers zest, zing and freshness.

She's been called "the Maori Queen of Cuisine" but her approach to food is also so much more than that: seafood is her strong suit and she inspires us to use it creatively and sometimes bravely! With over 85 recipes, lifestyle shots and an essay by Anne on her fascinating life in food, this book serves as a quintessential guide to New Zealand indigenous food - from the bounty of our shores through to land-based ingredients such as piko piko and puha.

A special feature is an essay by Auckland breast surgeon Trevor Smith who operated on Anne when she had surgery for breast cancer several years ago. First published April 2009.