Simon Majumdar

The definitive statement about cooking over wood.

A book that has not only stood the test of time, but that, in its eight editions dating from 1931 to the present, has catalogued the changes in cooking in America.

A book that not only provided an important statement about Italian cooking, but one that also (with its format) created a blueprint for the publishing of cookbooks post Millennium.

One of the first books to really explore the varieties of Spanish regional food written by a chef I consider one of the finest Spanish chefs working outside of Spain.

Hopkinson's "Roast Chicken" rightfully gets most of the attention, but fans of recipes from yesteryear should not neglect this treasure of a cookbook.

Without doubt my most regularly fingered cookbook. The writing is crisp and clear and the recipes are faultless.

It is sometimes easy to forget just how important MPW was to the gastronomic explosion in the UK and to creating the world of the celebrity chef as we know it now. This is the one book that just about every chef I know owns.

A forgotten classic from a previous age. Definitely worth picking up for anyone interested in Indian cuisine.

This was the first cookbook I ever owned and was bought for me by my mother before I left Rotherham to go to university in London. Its step by step instructions helped me take my first wobbly steps in to the world of cooking and dinner parties. I still occasionally make the turkey in cider recipe from it today.