Please recommend me your best cook books.

[Milliways]

I have some very old books with nothing inspiring in them, + delias Christmas, Summer & Autumn books - which I like.

Nothing fancy, and we don't do fish.

Toying with a Nigella & a Jamie. Are they worth the money, which are best. Or someone else.

I have vouchers to spend

I use Nigel. But it's really a matter of taste. Nigel's food preferences are a lot like mine, and I like his style, he seems to give you permission to change recipes. He often gives a recipe, and then variations on it.

He might not float your boat, though. I'd have a leaf through several books and see what works?

(Alternatively, there's a great cookbooks store in West London, if that's convenient? I went there and had a chat, and they recommended three books, one of which I use a lot, another of which I use moderately, and the last of which I don't really use, but should give another try to.)

Do ou have SImply Nigel - saw that advertised recently & looked ok. Want to be able to make things whole family will eat (don't we all ) + occassional impress your dinner date friends.

Nigella's How to Eat is fab - much better than her others IMHO (fewer pretty pix and lots more words).

I really like Jamie's Happy Days - lots of real, everyday recipes.

I use Nigel Slater's Appetite a lot too.

Love Jamie's Happy Days and Jamies Dinners (the one that accompanied the prog about the School dinners), Jamie's Italy is very good too but don't think it would be so practical for everyday.

My favourite Nigella books are How to Eat, Nigella Bites and Domestic Goddess (although this is only good if you want to make loads of fattening things).

Other than that how about a subscription to Good Food mag? If you don't get it already.

Nigella's how to eat is an absolute must, FULL of stuff, including the basics as well as interesting things. You can tell it was her first book - if she had written it when she was already famous they would have split it into about 5 separate books. If I was to have only one book that would be it.

I don't have that one. I use Real Food, Appetite, 30-Minute meals (v good), and Real Fast Food (I think?).

Oh, and Kitchen Diaries, but haven't started using it yet.

I think any of the first ones are worthwhile. I think I use Real Food the least, and 30-Minute Meals the most. They are a bit samey, you get a lot of variations on the same theme. He does do fish, but he also does meat and vegetarian stuff.

Nigella's How To Eat coming out as hot favourite already then.

It'll be great to have a list to look at in Smiths/Waterstones soon.

depends what you want for lovely dinner party /nice food ideas How to Eat is the best...

For "what can I cook for tea tonight without having to chop loads of things and buy 1000s ingredients", Nigel Slater is GOD.. Kitchen diaries is changing the way I think about food...

Another vote for How to Eat here. And Nigella Bites. And any of Nigel Slater's

How to Eat is Nigel Slater's favourite cook book - how good a recommendation is that?!

I'm enjoying The Kitchen Diaries too mancmum, although I suspect the book would look very different if Nigel had a wife and kids to feed every day ...

Hmm, I should borrow How to Eat off my neighbour who has all the cookbooks in the world, then.

I have Feast by Nigella, but oddly enough, it's full of really quite impractical stuff, and the one recipe I've used (pumpkin cheesecake) is nice, but not very useful. And the quantities are a bit wonky.

well, that's not very likely is it, Spacedonkey?

does anyone have any of the old-school books that the 2 Niges refer to, like Jane Grigson, Margharita (sp?) Costa, Claudia Roden etc? I keep thinking I should get hold of them...

Margaret Costa's Four Seasons Cook Book is a classic

I have used Jane Grigson's English Food a bit and Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Cookery

@ unlikelihood of Nigel + wife and kids

feast is hopeless, isn't it? haven't used mine once.

how to be a domestic goddess is good though, although only really about baking.

The Silver Spoon book, all celeb chefs say it's a wonderful book, shed-loads of recipes made from every ingredient you can think of !

skip nigella imo bar the goddess one for cakes & yummy things, this is coincidentally as i am going thru all my cookery books atm, and deciding to give some to my neighbour

depends on your tastes

donna hay - nice, light contempory

good housekeeping new cooking (all in one)

diva cooking ( love this)

i am amazed at going over my older books how i see recipes being used by jamie (esp) etc, i know nothing is new, but sometimes those "all in one books" really do have all , plus their contributors could be anybody from nigel (real food good) to simon hodgkinson.

books for cooks in notting hill has them all.

hth

The Silver Spoon

I like Antonio Carluccio's books too, especially his vegetable recipes

I like Nigella Bites, nice and practical and easy recipes.

I use Real Fast Food, Nigel Slater and Delia's Complete Cookery Course (bit outdated in some respects but still very useful)

Also have 2 books from my mother which she bought when first married: Elizabeth David's French Country Cooking and A Book Of Mediterranean food. I don't think either of us have ever cooked a recipe from it, but it's lovely to read and drool over.

Also Pasta Italian Style, can't remember the author off the top of my head

I like the Good Housekeeping ones - have the veggie one plus the everything
Mary Berry Complete - lots of pics - I need pics!
Also have Readers Digest Cookery Year - seasonal

lol Spacedonkey at the thought of Nigel with wife and kids

Anything by Nigel gets my vote, I just love the way he describes food. I'm getting hungry just thinking about his recipes.

Sophie Grigson writes in a very straightforward style too, it'd be hard to go far wrong with a SOphie recipe.

if its a toss up between nigella and jamie, I'd go jamie. nigel slater better than both though and I also like tamsin day lewis. The greasiest, most flour covered books in my collection are:
Real Cooking, Nigel Slater
Verdura
Simply The Best, Tamasin Day Lewis
and this is great too
Home Food
and although I am sick of Nigella, I have used
How To Eat a LOT over the years

hermykne the woman who wrote Diva Cooking did the food at my wedding