Jane Middleton

Pretty much all Nigel Slater's books are outstanding but, if pushed to choose one, I'd go for this. It perfectly captures the rhythms of his cooking and every recipe simply demands to be eaten.

Not as well known as Hugh's other books but the recipes are among his best. It's a brilliant guide to eating with the seasons, which, as he points out, is 'the best and quickest solution to the never-ending question, what shall I cook today?'

Forget about other Italian cookbooks – this is the only one you need, as her gently authoritative tone makes clear. You could cook from this book every day without ever getting bored.

Gerhard Jenne's small London chain sells the kind of cakes you've always dreamed of eating. He's been remarkably generous with his recipes and they work beautifully - a tribute to all the effort he put into adapting them for domestic kitchens.

Such a talented chef, who was creating what became known as fusion food years before anyone else ever thought of it - and doing it much better. Paul Gayler also pioneered top-class vegetarian cooking and, although this book is not completely vegetarian, it offers a superb mix of classic and innovative vegetable recipes.

A prolific, UK-based Californian writer, Marlena Spieler has a gift for describing the sensual aspects of food. This book covers spicy dishes from China to Chile, Poland to Portugal, and is just the thing for when your taste buds are feeling a bit jaded.

Some are born cooks; some achieve good cooking; and some have cooking thrust upon them.' Katharine Whitehorn wrote this book for the latter category and, although it was published in 1979 and is inevitably a little dated in places, it's still an invaluable guide for beginners. What's more, it will have you laughing out loud as you cook. Her advice on everything from bains marie ('relax - you do not have to bath the au pair') to washing up ('more to do with the national masochism than actually getting anything clean') is well seasoned with wit.

The quantities are ridiculous, the instructions sparse but nonetheless this book is brimming with charisma, and it contains some of the finest dishes of the last 50 years. Halve the quantities for the desserts and they'll work just fine (even the infamous Chocolate Nemesis) – without being so heartstoppingly expensive.

The Cinnamon Club is a pretty near perfect modern Indian restaurant. Layering flavour upon flavour to sophisticated effect, Vivek Singh's recipes hold up beautifully in domestic kitchens, without ever losing their professional polish. Top marks, too, for the highly seductive cocktail chapter.

The Mediterranean influence on our cooking has been so overwhelming that we've almost forgotten what English food is. This book examines country-house cooking between the wars, when a 'discreet revolution' took place – only to be overturned by rationing. It's surprisingly light, graceful food (quails with grape salad; green pea mousse; ice cream of roses) - though a chapter on Picnics and Shooting Lunches bucks the trend rather splendidly.