If you could only have 1 cookery book what would it be?

[ghengis]

Am trying to take more of an interest in cooking for my family but they aren't terribly adventurous. What one cookery book should I start with?

they have the 1978 version of home cookery on amazon!

cheesy nibble anyone?

it's a shame Nigel & Nigella didn't get it together - always thought they seemed so well suited. King & Queen of food porn! Imagine the pillow talk ...

dino do we agree?

I use Delia all the time for basics. Nigella and Nigel are great for nice stuff. I also use one a I got form ASDAs 1000 great recipes. It was £4.99 and has loads of different cuisines - thai, indian, chinese, barbeque etc, so I find it is good for unusual stuff. However I am a cookbook queen I love them, but I still ocme back to the basics of Delia et all

Another vote for Nigel. He seems like a bit of a queen to me - not at all suited to Nigella!

Deffo Nigel. Nigella's How to eat is very poorly set out, I think. Too much waffle. Just liek a reciper per page.

But the book I keep turning to again and again was a Marguerite Patten book that my mum got in the 70's. Quite kitsch but EVERYTHING is in there, the stuff that other writers assume you know.

Gary Rhodes is also good although I know he gets on peoples' t*ts

'is a' not 'was a'!

awwwwwwyou've made me hungry now
how's a girl supposed to lose her baby weight with you lot around???

coddy you are especially to blame you you you unctuous person!!!

(rumble, crave)

local takeaway menu would be my choice...

We have a large collection of cookbooks, but for basic stuff another vote for:

The Dairy Cookbook

I still have my 1978 edition, given to me by my mum.

nigel slater definitely.
agree that jamie oliver receipes always have one weird ingredient and nigella's whilst nice to read, are not very practical.

tell me what the nige " appettite" book is like then guys?

I couldn't cope without Madhur Jaffrey, I know this because it's the most food-encrusted cook book in my collection. I also find Delia very useful for basic English style cooking, although I don't do that very often.

it's brilliant coddy, really tasty but fairly simple recipes.

go on go goon katie give me an eg

Another vote for Nigel Slater's "Appetite" - really good at finding things to do with the 5 strange items you have left in the fridge/cupboard. His roast chicken is divine. Whatever you do don't touch Gary Rhodes's posh cookbook unless you are planning to cook all day every day. I made his chocolate mousse and it took about 400 years. Delicious in the end, but I was an old crone by the time we ate it.

When I say strange items, I don't mean strange like mung beans and salsify, I just mean things you wouldn't think would make into a meal.

Bill Granger's Sidney Food is great (also his Bills food). A huge section on breakfast, which is lovely for brunch ideas, then lunch and dinner. A lot of it is quite simple, there is the occasional strange ingredient but usually you can do without it. I LOVE these books, especially Sidney Food (bought it for most of my family...)

400 yearsW?

really?! I thought about you the other night as I read winnie the witch - the penny dropped as to your nom de plume!

Delia for your family, I think Ghengis. I have shelves and shelves of cookery books I hardly every use- but do like a bit of Nigel. Also like Lyndsay Bareham - great if you like chorizo, tomatoes, paprika, chickpeas, lemon and lamb.

Though I do love Nigella, for a perfect starter book I would say the Readers Digest "The Cookery Year" My Mum and Aunt got it for their 18th's, and so did I. It's a bit old fashioned, but has all the classics, and a wonderful section at the back which shows you how to make puff pastry (actualy quite easy coddy) and how to prepare a multitude of veg and cuts of meat. YOu can get it from amazon here

I want one with lots of recipies in that you prepare the night before and then just bung in a pot all day to cook.
I love it if i've been organised enough to put something in the slow cooker in the morning, then i can just do the potaotoes or rice and thats it.

I would choose something basic. I tend to use cookbooks mainly for baking as I am very much a chuck it in the pan type of cook for dinner. So one of the most used cookbooks on my shelf is the Australian Woman's Weekly Basic Cookbook - for muffins, cakes, and pikelets. Delia is good too esp for things like how to do a roast. I have to admit, have rarely cooked from Nigel, mostly I flick through. Has anybody read Julian Barnes on Nigel and the frustrations of following a recipe?

One of the cookbooks I use the most for dinner type things is by Lindsay Bareham "Supper won't take long" which is full of quick and easy recipes without too many exotic ingredients that are somehow very tasty - introduced me to roast tomatoes on pasta (add fried garlic and chilli, and goats cheese - yum). Cheap paperback as well.

i really like lindsay bareham as well - have made some great stuff of hers from her evening standard column.