Caroline Kenyon

I gave this early on in our marriage to my husband, largely because I wanted it! I just love her intelligent writing and the way she evokes flavours, style and atmosphere. Bearing in mind I was later to found an international food photography awards, the lack of photos, unusually, doesn't worry me at all.

I have volumes 1 and 3, the latter given to me by my 19-year old son who is a dedicated cook. I love the gentle pace through the year, the elegiac writing and beautiful photography. It makes me want to be with Nigel in his garden eating goat's cheese salad as the sun goes down, or whatever it may be.

My step-daughter gave me this stunning and exciting book at Christmas. Venice is a really special place to me, we honeymooned there, celebrated my father's 87th birthday on Murano drinking prosecco and eating grilled sea bass, and I took husband, son and step-daughter there to mark all sorts of occasions including her doing medical Finals. It always amazes me that Venice is not traditionally held up for its food, you can eat like a king.

My husband gave this to me - I was not a confident baker and even less so after I saw a small child presiding over a fire sale of my leftover fairy cakes at my son's primary school. Now I feel I can bake and even if it's not as light as a feather, it will look and taste good!

This wonderful book is full of completely dependable and delicious recipes for things that could otherwise go right or very wrong, like hollandaise. It taught me how to make spectacular pavlova after years of failure.

Philip Harben was the first TV celebrity chef, in the 40s and 50s, and was my husband's uncle. So I acquired a half share of his books. He taught people to cook post-rationing and I love the enthusiasm in his writing, but also his precision. If you want to know how to make the best pot of tea or a perfect pancake batter, pull out Uncle Phil's book.

Jamie Oliver has transformed the British cooking scene and I am a huge admirer of his campaigns to get the nation eating more healthily. When people say they can't cook, my response is, If you can read, you can cook. Jamie is accessible to everyone and I love this book for its delicious riffs on well known dishes such as roast lamb with salsa verde.

I love the premise of this book which is about the huge coming together of different cultures in Jerusalem. It is visually stunning and one of those books where I am panting from one recipe to another wondering which one to cook first. That he is an Israeli Jew and his business partner an Israeli Arab beautifully exemplifies the unifying nature of food.

I absolutely love Indian food and this book explained to me all about spices, how to cook them, how to mix them and helped open up a whole wonderful cuisine to me.

This is a magical book, seasonal, inventive, a book to dip into for inspiration, and I love the culinary toolbox concept. Just sorry I never managed to go the Petersham Nurseries when Skye was presiding there