A Book of Middle Eastern Food

Claudia Roden

This was one of the first books that I bought and cooked from as a student and it’s one that I still refer to constantly today. It’s everything I want from a cookbook: part social anthropology, part personal history and part recipes. Few can match Roden’s knowledge of the region; for me it’s the benchmark.

The Food of Morocco

Paula Wolfert

A lifetime of travels and a deep love of place and people is distilled in this classic book on Moroccan cookery. All Wolfert’s books demonstrate her scholarship, but this probably my favourite. A definitive work.

Roast Chicken & Other Stories

Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham

I love a book that’s arranged by ingredient, particularly one that speaks volumes about it’s author’s personal passions – in this case, a distinctly European sensibility. Hopkinson’s recipes are neither innovative nor clever-clever, but they are proper, accessible food that I just always want to cook. I think this is one of the most comforting and engaging books in my library.

Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook

Alice Waters

Alice Waters’ groundbreaking cookbooks all still feel so utterly contemporary, with their focus on simplicity and on seasonal, locally sourced produce, that it’s hard to believe she’s been writing, cooking, teaching and advocating for forty years. This book is one of my favourites, as an endless inspiration for putting together wonderfully appealing and enticing menus.

The Cook's Companion

Stephanie Alexander

This would be my desert island cookbook. In fact it was the sole book I took, from a library of thousands, when I went to live in France for a year. It’s a superb reference book, packed full of useful information for a comprehensive selection of ingredients, but it’s also a vast reservoir of useful recipes. It’s a forever book.

Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

Jane Grigson

Grigson is one of the great English food writers and any one of her books could be in my top ten – but I picked this as I particularly love vegetables. It is scholarly on the history and recipes for every vegetable you can think of and it’s written in Grigson’s inimitable style that perfectly blends knowledge, personal preference – if not prejudice! – and enthusiasm.

The Kitchen Diaries

Nigel Slater

By definition a seasonal cookbook, Slater’s Kitchen Diaries take you through his very own food year. The result: a cookbook that is all about the joy of impromptu, ingredient-led eating and about home-cooking the way we all want it to be in our own kitchens.

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Marcella Hazan

Hazan’s recipes are masterpieces of no-nonsense precision, they are utterly authentic and have no truck with trendiness. This is a classic and comprehensive collection, sourced from all regions of Italy. For me it’s the definitive work.

The Last Course

Claudia Fleming

As someone who likes to see the dessert menu first so as to plan the rest of a meal accordingly, I fell in love with this book the minute I saw it. It’s divided into chapters grouped around kinds of ingredients – fruits, dairy, spices and so on – with imaginative and enticing dessert ideas for any time of the year. Fleming’s great art is in giving you a glimpse inside the mind of a pastry chef, yet making you feel that anything is possible, from the simplest seasonal fruit-based summer dessert to a more challenging composed creation.

Honey from a Weed

Patience Gray