William Drew

We may have Larousse on the shelf, but in truth this is our family's go-to reference. My wife trained there, so it has a nostalgia element too

Excellent practical well-written recipes from an under-rated pioneer.

This was published around the time we first had children. Nigella is great on feeding families and weaning babies onto interesting food.

It covers every type of fruit and veg, split by month that they come into season, with loads of recipe ideas for each

A recent addition to the family favourites. T-Kedg is my son Charlie's cooking hero, so it has to go in.

Not the most fashionable choice, but Delia was queen of British cookbooks for decades. This is pretty timeless, albeit in a homely way.

An obvious choice, but Slater still stands out for his intelligent and original writing about food.

Vibrant and highly original, you can't under-estimate Ottoglenghi's positive impact in terms of widening the public's culinary horizons

Long before Bake-Off mania, MB co-wrote one of the UK's best-selling cookbooks ever. Seventies styling rules here, but there are some cracking recipes nonetheless (all of them in colour!)

My cheffy choice, from one of the most original and highly-rated chefs in the world. Massimo's infectious passion comes across on the pages, even if you're unlikely to cook much from this