
Food writer
http://www.joscelinedimbleby.comClaudia Roden
I had this book early on, when my childhood in Syria and the tastes I loved there was still vivid. Claudia is not only a brilliant and inspiring writer; her recipes are also completely reliable as she tests them out herself in her own kitchen which should be a must for guiding the home cook and is by no means usual now in today’s chef and TV cook’s world. This like all Claudia’s books is for reading as well as cooking.
Arabella Boxer
The first cookery book I had when I first started cooking. Although I already wanted to try out ideas of my own these simply explained, dependable and always good tasting recipes was a valuable guide.
Irfan Orga
I first went to Turkey in the early 1960’s and was entranced and moved by Irfan Orga’s Portrait of a Turkish Family so Turkish Cooking by Irfan Orga has remained a book which reminds me of his sad story in which food still played such a part.
Jane Grigson
This and her Fruit Book are wonderful reference books to give ideas for cooking any vegetables and fruit you may have, with excellent recipes.
Jane Grigson
I met Jane in 1976 when I’d just brought out my first cookery book A Taste of Dreams and we remained close friends until her death. She was wonderfully encouraging to me in the early days and sometimes used my recipes, with acknowledgement of course, in books of hers so that they reached a wider public.
Marguerite Patten
A book I still turn to whenever I make jams and fruit jellies. Totally dependable she was also a remarkable and charming woman.
Madhur Jaffrey
Such a good book. Madhur is another home cook who writes evocatively and tests out her excellent recipes herself, which always work. I used to check this book when I began going to India decades ago, and experienced home cooking there.
Elizabeth David
I can’t leave out Elizabeth David of course and as soon as I was a more confident cook I discovered her French Country Cooking. It makes you feel you really are in France.
Good Housekeeping Institute
For an un-trained cook a thorough and dependable manual is a must for checking exact methods and I think the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book is hard to beat.
Paula Wolfert
I’ve had good eating experiences on Morocco over many years and found Good Food from Morocco by Paula Wolfert thorough, informative as well as inspiring.