Catherine Phipps

Without doubt the book I refer to most. Useful and practical, but also immensely distracting because Jane Grigson's writing around her subject is poetry. Her breadth of knowledge and warmth of tone means I never mind how (occasionally) sniffy she can be about ingredients I happen to love.

Few writers can capture the essence of a recipe in the way Judy does. She is meticulous and detailed but nothing is extraneous and I feel as though I've learnt more about food and cooking from this book more than any other.

I have 100s of baking books, but use this one more than the rest put together, as the recipes are failsafes but also - as frequently suggested by Nigella - infinitely adaptable. I love the writing tone too - full of warmth, whimsy and good sense.

There are many much more glamorous books on the Caribbean, but this one is like one of my oldest friends - it's travelled extensively with me and it was so well respected by everyone who looked at it that I had to buy extra copies as so many people wanted a "borrow". It's scholarly, but there is an undercurrent of dry humour running through it, and it gives a very good grounding on the food from the whole of the Caribbean, unlike most books which tend to be Jamaica, Trinidad or Barbados-centric.

As useful and as scholarly as any of her books, but much more fun. It's indefatigable - there are even sections on pit cooking abd baking in clay. One moment you are reading a nostalgic account of childhood picnics in Egypt - and evocative food to match - the next you are bang up to date with the current fascination for smoking and barbecuing. Timeless.

I think the whole concept of this book is genius - we are always told to match pasta type to sauce but no one has explored it quite in this way. The design is gorgeous of course, so it's a pleasure to browse through but what takes me back to it again and again is the recipes. Easily my favourite Italian cookery book.

I was so happy Diana wrote this book as I love cold climate cuisines, but more importantly, it fills a gap as so little is written about this food, even now. The recipes are alluring and Diana conveys the romance and pragmatism of these cuisines beautifully.

I browse through this book now and am always struck by the number of ingredients and ways of cooking them it introduced me to. I love fusion food when it is done thoughtfully and with Peter Gordon I never feel as though anything is extraneous. It was all a bit of an eye opener.

Of all the many books on French cuisines, this is my favourite (second only to the Alice B Toklas cookbook in terms of entertainment value - this didn't make my list as I don't really cook from it, treat it more as a memoir). The writing is superb - matter of fact, self deprecating, beautifully descriptive, but what marks it out from other books is the scientific rigeur applied to the recipes. He explains why things work and why they don't. It's thanks to him my gratin dauphinois never curdles.

Take a very traditional cuisine and turn it on its head, whilst still managing to retain everything that's good about it. A very clever book, I love it.