Danielle Alvarez is an acclaimed restaurant chef, but Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking is dedicated to her favourite way of cooking: at home, for and with friends and family. It draws on her love of Italian and French food, her Cuban roots, time spent cooking in California and then in Australia, and all the incredible Asian influences that have coloured her time in Sydney.

The recipes are eclectic because her interests in flavour are diverse. We are so lucky to live in a world where one night we might be cooking something Indian, then next something Italian and then something Australian. Danielle celebrates this luxury, then applies the essential principles of respecting where food comes from and preparing it with care and attention.

Wherever you live, if you have a basic grocery store, you can adopt and enjoy the 100-plus recipes in this book. Every idea – from easy weeknight meals such as a Zucchini frittata or a hearty Cavolo nero and anchovy risotto, to more elaborate weekend projects like Bolognese with homemade Tagliatelle or a Sweet and sour cumin lamb shoulder, to gorgeous desserts such as Plum galette with a fennel crème anglaise – is designed to help you find happiness in your kitchen with the best that is available to you, and according to the ebbs and flows of your mood, budget, and tastes.

A lifetime of beautiful home cooking starts here.

Nourishing recipes and inspiring kitchen projects destined for the aspirational home cook's repertoire. Always Add Lemon is the highly anticipated first book from American-born Danielle Alvarez--one of the most exciting young chefs cooking in Australia today. Taking the lessons, skills and tastes acquired working alongside some of the best chefs in America, Danielle translates formidable kitchen smarts into an inspiring collection of recipes and projects for nourishing, vegetable-forward, seasonal food. With more than 100 recipes across six chapters (salads; fruits and vegetables; pasta, grains, and legumes; seafood; poultry and meat; and dessert) paired with creative projects for the more adventurous (pastry from scratch, bread, dairy, meat and pickles), Always Add Lemon will inspire anyone with a smidgen of kitchen ambition and a free afternoon.

This is a journal and collection of essays.