Australian’s Women’s Weekly Cookbooks prove to be a surprise success

Last year we expanded the range of Australian’s Women’s Weekly Cookbooks that we stock on our website. Initially we had trialled selling a limited selection of their cookery titles. This was a change in direction for us, before this we had stuck to selling traditional cookware and kitchenware. We are glad that we took advantage of this opportunity, feedback from our customers has shown that this has been a popular decision.

To begin with we only stocked a limited selection of titles from Australian’s Women’s Weekly or AWW as they are sometimes referred to. The popularity of these titles led us to quickly expand the number of titles that we stocked from their extensive range. Perhaps we should not have been so surprised by the success these cookery books have enjoyed. Australian Women’s Weekly or AWW have always been among the best selling cookery books. They have been publishing recipe books now for over 30 years now. In that time they have sold over 70 million books in over 100 countries, their books have also been translated into over a dozen languages.

Every recipe that is contained in their books was originally created in their Test Kitchen. Before it is added to one of their books it has to be tested three times in the Test Kitchen. This is done so that they can ensure that the ingredients and instructions will always produce the best results. After being tested on three separate occasions a recipe receives the Australian Women’s Weekly unique triple tested logo. Every recipe that then makes into one of their recipe books also has a photograph especially commissioned to help illustrate the recipe.

The books are aimed at both people who have very little experience of cooking as well as the more confident home chef. The books have been designed so that on one level they will inspire the reluctant chef into giving the recipes a try while at the same time being of interest to more experienced chefs who can also find recipes that they want to attempt.

We currently stock a wide selection of AWW books, these includes titles such as the Beginners Cooking Class, Foods of the Mediterranean Cookbook, speciality books including Vegetarian Meals in Minutes and the Gluten Free Cooking Mini Book as well as a book dedicated to Cocktails.

Due to the success we had with the Australian Women’s Weekly recipe books we decided to expand the range of cookbook that we stock. More recently we added a wide selection of books from the Quadrille Publishing range. These include books by chefs including Anjum Anand, Gordon Ramsay, Mary Berry and James Martin. In the future when we believe that there are other suitable cookery books that our customers will be interested in we add endeavour to add to these site as well.

Quadrille food books now in stock

If you have visited our website recently you might have noticed that we have started to sell a range of food books from Quadrille Publishing. This is an addition to the cookware and kitchenware that people usually associate with Pots and Pans. This is not the first time though that we have sold books, during the summer we started to sell Australian Women’s Weekly recipe books through our website. We expected these to be popular but have been surprised by just how successful these titles have been. As a result of this success we decided to expand the range of food books available on the website.

When we started to look for other publishers to stock we worked out a set of criteria that we would use to judge publishing companies. Ideally we wanted to stock only the best food books possible, we wanted to add the leading companies. We also thought that it was important if we were going to sell food books that they were books that we would want to purchase ourselves.

You only need to look at some of the authors who are published by Quadrille to see that they are one of the leading publishers of food books. Their current catalogue includes books by chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, James Martin, Mary Berry, Bill Granger and Anjum Anand as well as many others.

As we mentioned earlier recipe books have proved to be exceedingly popular with our customers. People are often looking for recipes for meals that are easy and quick to prepare but do not make any sacrifices when it comes to taste. They are looking to achieve the right balance between food that tastes good but involves the minimum time and effort to make. Recipe books are often the best place to find this type of recipe. Collections of recipes allow you to share in the knowledge and experience of some of the top chefs from one easy access point. Then there are people who are looking to be more adventurous with their cooking, they are perhaps looking at trying new ingredients, styles of cooking or even new cookery techniques. These are people who look to food books for inspiration or new ideas.

Over recent years there has been a growth in people’s knowledge and awareness of food and cooking. A major reason for the new found sense of adventure people have for cooking can be attributed in part to the rise of celebrity TV chefs.

The success of the television show is often mirrored by the volume of sales of the book associated with the programme. Included among the Quadrille books that we have added to our online shop are the Gordon Ramsay recipe books that accompany his critically acclaimed television show The F Word. James Martin, the chef who is rapidly becoming the ‘face of BBC Cookery programmes’ is another television chef whose books are being published by Quadrille. The collection of James Martin’s recipes for desserts is currently one of Quadrille’s best selling titles. The current catalogue also contains several books by Anjum Anand which tie in with her popular television series about Indian cookery. The current catalogue is not limited to the new generation of television chefs. Another famous name on the Quadrille rota of authors is Mary Berry, who is perhaps the most respected cookery writer in this country.

What all of these chefs share is a strong passion for food, you can feel this passion coming through the pages of their books. This is helped by the high publishing standards adhered to by Quadrille, the design and layout of their books is always exquisite. The sumptuous colour photography that is found in each book helps bring the recipes alive on the page.