The 10 Best Food Books of All Time
1: An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David
This is simply the most evocative collection of food writing of the 20th Century. The inimitable pioneer of food-writing may have taken her influence from the author of the first modern recipe book, the Victorian Eliza Acton, but she brought up to date a fine heritage which has continued with the likes of Nigel Slater. Discovering Elizabeth David even existed for me was a bit like finding out that your favourite bands had influences of their own.
2: Appetite: So what do you want to eat today? by Nigel Slater
I want to eat NOW Nigel - thanks to all your juice-filled, crust-peppered and goo-laden descriptions of food and the act of cooking it, I’m salivating at the chops! Just reading the line about how he refuses to teach anyone how to cook a steak well done was enough to keep my interest for another 50 pages.
3: Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson
Whimsical and delightful - written in handy bite-sized segments. Perfect if you’re a busy person who wants to read a little of foodie wonder before drifting off.
4: The River Cottage Fish Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
The darling of middle class eco-foodies from Surbiton to Glastonbury. So much love, devotion, time, energy and fun has clearly gone into compiling this tome. No wonder it won a Food Writers Guild Award, it is a detailed pleasure to read without either being too detailed or too preachy.
5: Planet Chicken: The Shameful Story of the Bird on your Plate by Hattie Ellis
Modern food comes with a hidden cost. Hattie, with a little nudge from HFW in the foreword gives us the grisly detail. Reading this is akin to cleaning out the hamster’s cage - when it died in there months ago - it has to be done but you’ll feel genuinely relived you did. For a full review of the book cluck here. (sorry)
6: Delia’s How to cook book one by Delia Smith
Much as I loved Rory Bremner’s charachter send-ups of these books (showing Delia demonstrating to the nation how to make a cuppa-soup for example), I can’t help but have some quiet respect for the lady. I’m not a fan of her corner-cutting, vac-pack using ways especially in more recent publications but she recognised the same trend which lead to Jamie’s ministry of food a decade earlier. Come on Delia - let’s be ‘avin you!
7: The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen by Nigel Slater
I know it’s Nigel again but this is the man who taught me to throw caution to the wind, roll-up my sleeves and know how and when to put in ‘just enough’.
8:Grub on a Grant by Cas Clark
Its recipes read somewhat simply (and sometimes evn a little bit skankily) to me now but at the time, having something so compact and discreet to tell me how to knock-together those early sauces in a sparsely-equipped Lancaster student kitchen was a godsend. Thanks mum!
9: The Silver Spoon by Italy?
It’s not often you read a book which was actually written by an entire country. In this, Italy have what is equivalent to a bible of some ind in this vast collection of inventive but simple classic recipes. It may be short on imagery and description but its size, weight and sheet breadth of recipes which have clearly kept the Italians going for years will hopefully keep me going just as long. Trust me, the next time you don’t want to make soup out of your kale glut (again), you’ll curse that you don’t have this on your shelf. Although you may have to keep it on a bottom shelf as it’s heavy enough to collapse most varieties of modern Ikea shelving.
10: Further Adventures in search of Perfection by Heston Blumenthal
The man’s come in for a lot of criticism over his newest and by all accounts totally unuseable cookbook costing over £200 and requiring equipment which would not be out of place in a boutique oil refineary. Despite the fact that his recipe for a hamburger in this book runs to about seven pages, it’s how he gets to his conclusions which are both fascinating and fun. It also gives handy tips for when you’re in NY, go to “the burger joint”, it’s amazing!
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