Our cookbook of the week is Linger by Hetty Lui McKinnon.

Cookbooks don’t often come together in real time, surrounded by friends — but for her sixth title, Linger, Hetty Lui McKinnon did things differently.

The Chinese Australian cook and food writer created the book’s more than 100 recipes instinctively, based on what was in season, what she felt like cooking and what she was craving at the time. “My cravings are probably the biggest incentive in terms of determining what I cook and when.”

The idea of documenting a year of gatherings came to McKinnon at the end of 2022. After the isolation of the pandemic, she wanted to combat some of the loneliness that had set in.

“I thought, ‘What am I missing about what I used to love about food?’ And what I’ve always known is sharing food wi

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