Cat Black

Cat Black

Food writer

https://www.catblack.org
Cat Black is a member of The Guild of Food Writers and Grand Jury member of The International Chocolate Awards. Having worked as a private caterer and baking tutor, she has written for a variety of publications, including among others The Spectator’s Scoff, Chef Magazine, Ganache, Caterer & Hotelkeeper, FOUR – The World’s Best Food Magazine and 1001 Restaurants You Must Experience Before You Die. She wrote a regular baking column in Cakes & Sugarcraft Magazine between 2010 and 2015 under the name Cookie Bellair. Cat has an all-consuming passion for all that is finest in the world of chocolate, gives talks about it, acts as a chocolate consultant. She co-wrote Sex & Drugs & Sausage Rolls with chef Graham Garrett, and is also the author of The Great British Bake Off, Bake It Better: Chocolate.

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Cat's favorite cookbooks

The Joy of Cooking

The Joy of Cooking

Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker

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.

The Good Cook (series)

The Good Cook (series)

Carol Cutler, Jeremiah Tower, Time-Life Books and Richard Olney

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.

Meat Course

Meat Course

Sophie Grigson

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!

French Provincial Cooking

French Provincial Cooking

Elizabeth David

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.

A Book of Middle Eastern Food

A Book of Middle Eastern Food

Claudia Roden

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.

How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food

Nigella Lawson

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.

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Jane Grigson's Fruit Book

Jane Grigson's Fruit Book

Jane Grigson

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.

Ice Creams, Sorbets and Gelati: The Definitive Guide

Ice Creams, Sorbets and Gelati: The Definitive Guide

Robin Weir and Caroline Weir

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.

Indian Cookery

Indian Cookery

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.