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?

lol

I have cookery year!! funny al sorts of trendy things like gnocchi ar int here and its published circa 1976!

my mum swears by Cookery Year too, it's a great book

i think it was republished a couple of years ago

I do love Nigella's How to Eat - she's such a foodie, as I am. It's good for kids too.

1. Nigel Slater - absolute must

2. Delia - complete cookery course 3. All Jamie Olivers for dinner parties etc 4. Gary Rhodes- best of British - v good for Sunday Roasts

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook - nothing fancy, but covers just about every traditional dish you've heard of but often with a twist , brilliant pictures, no weird ingredients to buy. Definitely my number 1 (closely followed by Nigel Slater's 'Appetite'. ALso, Ainsley Harriot is great. Oops, hard to stop at one book...!

from kiwiland a great bible called the edmonds cookbook, for real good basics, from this you too can turn into gourmet extraordinaire like me

nigel slater - real food
lush

I'm not sure that this would work for you, but my most basic (has straightforward recipes for almost any common dish or baked good) is the Joy of Cooking. It's American, so if you don't like translating measurements and temperatures, it's not for you. But it has everything.

But I do love Nigel and Nigella and, although I hate the tone of Ruth Watson, like her cookbooks. Someone mentioned Marguerite Patten? What cookbook do you have? I want to like Hugh Fairly-Longname, but haven't tried any of his.

If you don't mind American and want online resources try: Epicurious or Southern Living , which has a great shopping list feature and findable ingredients (I can find them here easily in CH, which has much less of a selection than your average Sainsburys).

JJ - I have the Marguerite Patten one - it's called Perfect Cooking. Just looked on Amazon and it's from 1972. It covers everything, it's brilliant.

Great question, ghengis. I have 2 of Nigellas - I frequently use 2 of the recipes in Forever Summer or whatever it's called. Her chicken recipes are delicious and easy.

Which of the Nigel Slater books are you lot recommending? Would like something that the kids would like.

Oh ks, I like to read Nigella and snigger! Her recipes mostly work it seems to me but ikwym about her writing, it's hilarious stuff IMO. I enjoyed How to Eat mostly to read (I read cookery books for fun even if I don't want to cook from them) but there's the odd gem of a recipe in there, like the hot and sweet salmon. Nigel is fab too, definitely my favourite, and I've cooked a lot from Appetite and Real Fast Food. I like the sound of Supper Won't take long, might buy that then. Officerdibble, I've just bought Fat Girl Slim too, I really like the look of it although I haven't cooked anything from it yet. It's like Nigel for people who want to lose weight isn't it?

Ghengis don't you like butternut squash? I didn't used to know how to cook it but now I either cut the thing in half and roast for half an hour then mash it or chop into chunks and saute it - lovely and very easy, lovely in a soup too.

Sorry I didn't answer the question . Probably the most used cooker book I've got is the Good Housekeeping Basic Cookery which I got 14 years ago as a wedding present - I love reading recipe books, Nigella etc but when it comes down to actually making anything I kind of lose interest . .

There are lots of good suggestions here, but there's one more I'd add. Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book is extremely useful for those times when you have a bunch of carrots or a cauliflower and can't think what to make them into. There is a single chapter per vegetable and all the recipes I've tried work. It's also well-written. Amazon link is here

It may have already been suggested but Delia Smith's How To Cook (first book of three) I find fantastic. It has some great recipes for just everyday meals but also things that are nice for dinner parties. I cook a lot but out of all the recipes and books I have it's the one I always go back to.

Quick cheeky reminder to everyone who's buying through Amazon - can you click through from button on mumsnet home page - mumsnet gets threepence ha'penny a go!
Cheers.

My favourite cookbook at the moment is Moro . Leiths Cookery Bible is a good all round book. For everyday I like Ainsley Harriot. I also like all of Nigella's books and the one Nigel Slater book (Real Food?) that I have is really good too.

Oh and Muffins Fast and Fantastic (sell it in Lakeland) is fab and really easy.

Aaah, the Edmonds cookbook. A kiwi girl's bible. It's chocolate cake is the best I've ever made and a sure fire winner for birthdays every time.

Delia's Complete Cookery Course, the big thick book she did years ago.

It includes everything, how to buy cuts of meat, fish, and all the basics (not down to boiling an egg tho', plus some very special stuff. We still have some of her recipes from this book very often as part of our staple diet.

My copy is very dog-eared now, even tho' I've got lots of other books

I've just spotted this in today's Guardian. Coincidence or could Lucy Mangan be a mumsnetter?

i'm making a list for amazon! any more suggestions for v. quick and easy for weeknights? already got the nigel slater quick ones.

thanks so much.

I would agree with the votes for Nigel Slater, also with others about Lyndsey Bareham, she does recipes in the Evening Standard (almost the only bit of the paper worth reading) that are very simple and very appealing, my kitchen is full of torn out slips of newspaper...
Good Housekeeping is the one I use most to be honest, like others beelow. Anything basic is in there: crumbles, sponge cakes, stews, ets. Boring but very useful.