I love cookbooks. Absolutely love them. And I have hundreds of them, collected over many years.

I confess that I’ve never actually cooked recipes out of some of them. I just look at the lovely photos and drool. On the other hand I’ve practically worn out the ones I use all the time. Regardless, each and every one of my cookbooks gives me enormous pleasure … flipping through the pages and wondering what I’ll cook next.

The cookbooks I love the most are those that remind me of place. So those I gathered while living in South Africa. The Canadian masterpieces. The ones I bought on travels through the Caribbean or Asia. And, of course, many produced by Australia’s best chefs, including under the banners of this nation’s most renowned restaurants.

Most recently, I have added a special cookbook from Canberra, produced in perfect timing for the Centenary. The Canberra Regional Cookbook is a culinary guide, historical review and photographic journey of the nation’s capital. It has been pulled together by Bindy Welsh, a professional photographer and lover of all things food.

Bindy was born and bred here and lived in Canberra for 30 years before moving to one of the most glorious food producing areas of Australia, North East Victoria (she’s married to a farmer). Bindy still has family and close ties in the nation’s capital and fond memories of her years at Girls Grammar, her studies at the Canberra Institute of Technology for her Associate Diploma in Photography and having her first child at John James.

This is not Bindy’s first regional cookbook, but it is her first for Canberra.

Regional stars that shine include Kaffeine 2582 in Yass, Flint in the Vines at Murrumbateman, Grazing Restaurant in Gundaroo (that’s their Egg tartlet, aparagus and parmesan custard above) and Poachers Pantry in Hall (drool over their Peppered Beef Carpaccio below). The book is a veritable pantry of stunning images, interesting tidbits and, of course, carefully hand-picked recipes. All recipes, by the way, were edited by Canberra’s Darren Perryman, now at the new Autolyse Bakery in trendy Braddon.

Some ACT restaurants featured have now closed, such as Alto—the lead time required to produce a ‘coffee-table cookbook’ makes it inevitable that the food scene will have shifted. But the recipes are just as delicious.

If you’re a true foodie you’ll recognise many faces and establishment names. The variety is impressive. Ginger Catering, Beess & Co Café, Cape Cod Seafood Restaurant, Rodney’s Garden Café and Ona Coffee House. 3seeds Cooking School is on the menu as are some regional producers (although Bindi admits she would like to have included more … perhaps next time).

Regonal producers include Honey Delight, which buzzes about at the Capital Region Farmers Market, Frugii Ice Cream, which can be found selling its gourmet products at the Farmers Markets and Balzanelli Smallgoods (Queanbeyan and Fyshwick), a little slice of Italy established in 1970 by Giovanni and Carla.

But what about the recipes? The Canberra Regional Cookbook features a Canberra cake (fun for the Centenary), ricotta hotcakes with strawberry and rhubarb compote and mascarpone, Atlantic salmon with an artichoke and wasabi pate, pumpkin and ricotta gnocchi and much, much more. The photos of the plated up food are glorious as are the many photos of the beauty Canberra dishes up, including images by the lake, of our national institutions and breathtaking views from on top of Mount Ainslie.

A truly special part of the book is the section focusing on days gone by. Super interesting text to read here, intriguing black and white and sepia tone images to pour over, and historical text on eateries to digest. Think the Kangaroo Café established in 1912 in Acton to feed workmen, the Highlight Café that Harry Notaras opened in 1927 and operated with the help of his wife Helen for 50 years. Then there was the Blue Moon Café that opened in 1929 in the Sydney Building and a story about Wilkie the pie man who hawked his wares around South Canberra from the 1930s. A little later on we read about the opening of the Charcoal Restaurant, still with us today.

The most delightful section—to my mind anyway—is the small collection of hand-written recipes from yesteryear … old recipes tested and tried by the pioneer women of past generations. This part of the book was pulled together with the support of Helen Digan, from the Canberra and District Historical Society. How about a 1930 Christmas pudding? A 1916 recipe for a Lamington Cake?

Bindy has put her heart and soul into this hardcover publication. It’s selling very well and in the back of Bindy’s mind is the potential for a reprint.

The Canberra Regional Cookbook retails for $45 and is available through many bookstores throughout Canberra and from many participating businesses. Or you can buy from Bindy direct by calling her on 0417 066 689 or emailing bindy@indigoimages.com.au.