Anna Colquhoun

Simplicity itself, and very much my style of cooking and eating. I had the honour of cooking with the author briefly at Chez Panisse - an extremely talented chef and very nice man! Really good food is not complicated.

In contrast, slightly 'cheffy' recipes with multiple steps, but worth it for the extremely delicious food they produce. Have used many times with great success.

My go-to for all things Moroccan. I've loved making many of these dishes and reading the background information. A classic.

I adore Turkish food and have used this book numerous times to complement my own research. If you have yet to explore Turkish cooking, this a good place to start.

Having lived round the corner from Tartine bakery for a couple of years I had to learn to make the bread on returning to the UK. My weekly sourdough is based on Chad's and, imho, bloody amazing.

Goddess of preserving (and much else), Marguerite has 10 ways to preserve almost any fruit or veg you can think of. A fantastic resource, especially for 'true' preserves which will actually last on the shelf.

All the Chez Panisse books are great, plus those of their many chefs and alumni. I picked this one because when devising vegetarian menus I'm often inspired by its delicate yet precise touch, designed to show off the vegetables themselves. Plus it reminds me of happy days in their kitchen. ("Don't *crush* the garlic! Peel it carefully!")

I have included this since the foods and flavours of central, eastern and southeastern Europe are yet to be properly appreciated outside the region and I think they should be! I have found loads to love about Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Bulgarian and Croatian food and am on mission to learn much more...

A beautiful book full of food I want to eat, and first of an excellent series. The Turkish yoghurt & mint soup is a revelation.

Organised by region and full of recipes I've used time and time again. One of my first and best cookbooks that will surely last another quarter century in my house!