Local food grown by local people. The sustainability / traceability restaurant. Well written with some great stories. No photos though.

Well thumbed. Lemon chicken and butterscotch tart to fight over. Great story of re-invention.

Scrummy roast goose and chinese crispy pork from that fish man. Great suppliers of food that tastes like it should.

I was brought up on Delia but this provides the next step for aspiring toque heads. I trained here, so I'm deeply biased, but all this stuff works if you want to increase your skills.

What's happening when food is browning and how do hen's make eggs ? These and many other foodie mysteries explained. Some complex bits but mostly fascinating. Buy for your aspiring chef as a surprise.

A book to dip in and out of. All religious services are about a man dressed as a chef serving a snack! Historical eclecticism.

The mad gourmand. Tough to get into his style of writing but rewarding and shocking when you do. Ooh my toes.

The antidote to cheffy aspirations. I prefered this to Cook's Tour although that's a cracking read as well.

Stories of food and sex, food and revenge, food and general weirdness. Wonderful.

Auntie Delia is still madame reliable. Where would we be without her ? THE first cook book.

Mad but oddly inspiring. Heston is, definitely, out there as a kitchen clinician. Well written if a little short on passion and taste description. Wish he would get the Fat Duck book done.