Ivan Day

Food historian

Forget about Mrs Beeton, if you want a real insight into the amazing Anglo-French cookery of the Victorian period this eight volume set is the book for you. This is my first port of call if I want to find out about anything to do with cookery or ingredients. It is the Victorian equivalent of the Oxford Companion to Food, but on a much larger scale and with thousands of recipes and wonderful illustrations. This is my Desert Island choice.

Peter Brears

Food historian