Cat Black

I grew up with this bible of all possible recipes, it is no nonsense and has a recipe for everything. It works. I have never lived in a house without it, the page marking the temperature and measurement equivalents is permanently bookmarked. It is the first book I bought for my own house when I left home.

This book has no one author, but the chief consultant was Richard Olney, a brilliant food writer. This entire series is an indispensable collection of advice and tempting recipes on each subject. The first books I bought, I saved for each and went to Books for Cooks filled with anticipation at each purchase. Grains, Pasta & Pulses, Eggs, and Fish & Shellfish are also all favourites.

One of my most used books, and one that I have turned to again and again for wisdom and ideas on how to cook every type of meat. As a vegetarian is has never let me down in my life of cooking for other people. And yes, I do taste the finished dishes and they are all delicious!

My mother, a young medical student, living alone in a bedsit in 60s London, taught herself to cook with Elizabeth David's books. My childhood was filled with the fruits of her efforts. My own kitchen could not be without those same loved dishes. I think my own love of pastry began with the quiche lorraine.

Again this is to do with my parents wonderful cooking when I was a child. It wasn't until I tried to cook myself that I realised how many of my favourite of my Mum's dishes originate here.

As a food writer Nigella writes as a food lover, with eloquence. I read How to Eat from cover to cover when I first got it. Forget the TV, I love the writer in her. And this, her first full length book, reads like the outpouring it is, her life up to that point, with all its passion and such a human quality. I also love How to be a Domestic Goddess, which is my most used home-baking book.

If I had to choose just one book on the glory that is Italian food it would be this. Comprehensive, great to read, and full of authority and fabulous recipes.

Of all Jane Grigson's classic books this is the one I use most. I am a pastry chef at heart, and this is my starting point for whenever I set out for information or ideas, no matter what the fruit.

Food historians and ice cream obsessives Caroline & Robin Weir's updated version of their book of 12 years previously is exactly what it says on the label, an ice cream book that has all the history, technical information and recipes you could possibly need. From the basics to the outlandish the recipes are a treasure trove.

I believe this was the first book to write about Indian food and detail the recipes for a European readership. With an English speaking mother of Indian blood, and a father eager to learn how to cook the food they both loved, this book was in much use in my house. I know that when I now make a biryani, dhal, or chapatis, the recipes I use likely originated here.