Allan Jenkins

Editor, Observer Food Monthly,

The oldest most stained, most used book I have, its cover and spine long gone. A book to trust from the days when I didn't know how or why to poach a fish, boil a crab or roast a goose for Christmas. It has never let me down (though one small caveat: I prefer the recipes and look of older editions with illustrations than the new photo-led pages that try too hard to keep up). One to buy from Abe. Look from around 1980.