Rukmini Iyer

My go to for baking. Harmonious photographs and love the unfussy layout as well as obviously fabulous recipe.

An amazing insight into the very best of restaurant cooking, with some of the recipes surprisingly achievable at home (with patience and time). Wonderful for reference as well.

One of my first cookbooks — was blown away by the combination of scrapbook and recipes and the lush photography.

I would read the pastry book cover to cover as a child over breakfast and marvel at the step by step photographs & description of patisserie techniques, albeit nothing I made from the book came out very well. (Ephron lists the reasons why in her brilliant article about the food industry and the Time Life series.)

I know this isn't the most popular of her books, but it's the one I turn to the most often - for Welsh rarebit muffins, pancakes, the masala omelette and absolutely splendid coriander chutney. The fried chicken is 👌 as well.

Love the recipes and food writing: eating should be a joy, and that is what the book is about.

For the dreamy, evocative food writing and lovely photographs.

More novel than cookbook, but boy do the recipes work. The cold tomato pasta sauce is out of this world.