Wholemeal launches second cookbook
The Wholemeal Café recently launched its second cookbook to an enthusiastic crowd of invited guests.
All present were treated to a prepared show compéred by Ronnie Short and Wholemeal owner Wayne Green, who used the occasion to get up and surprise a few by demonstrating his singing talents.
Wayne said that unlike the Wholemeal’s first cookbook that came out in 2002, which was basically a snapshot of a day’s food output at the establishment, the second book is more representative of recipes served during the entire 30 years that the Wholemeal has been operating. Hence its title: Golden Days. Examples are as diverse as Chickpea Patties with Kiwifruit Chutney, Salmon Pasta, and Chocolate Brownies.
Amazingly, the first Wholemeal Cookbook has sold nearly 6,000 copies, qualifying it as a niche market bestseller by New Zealand standards. Uta Gay again did much of the compiling and writing, and Nelson’s Printhouse produced it. Wayne is optimistic his second book will do at least as well as the first.
“At first I thought it was beginner’s luck that our first cookbook was so well received, but from all the feedback I’ve had it did seem to have a genuine X-factor. For most of the people who bought it from us, it’s been a useful souvenir that they can take home to remind them of the Bay. Passing travellers have taken it right around the globe, basically as a memoir of Golden Bay. Ever since the first one came out, there seems to have been a constant flow of order enquiries from people wanting more books to be sent, and often they were accompanied by requests for another cookbook. That’s what made me decide to do it.”
Wayne acknowledges the second book took him a lot longer than the first to put together, basically because the café has taken up so much more of his time. “My first meeting with the printers to get it together was back in early 2007, and it’s been fairly steady organising since then. Not a lot of cookbooks have come out recently, and when they do, they tend to be super-expensive. Yet there’s been this turn back to “whole earth” food, and that’s where our market is.”
The Wholemeal Café Cookbook II – Golden Days, celebrating 30 years of The Wholemeal Trading Company in Golden Bay, costs $40 and is only available from the café or by ordering from their website www.wholemealcafe.co.nz.
Gerard Hindmarsh
