What are your top five cook books?

[Cousinit]

I have been collecting cookery books for years and have around 250. I love them but I've run out of space so am in the process of getting rid of the ones I rarely use. There are some that I constantly use and never tire of, although coming up with a top 5 is difficult, I think the following would be on my list: How to Eat by Nigella, Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros, Every Grain of Rice by Fuschia Dunlop, Food from Plenty by Diana Henry and River Cottage Every Day. I also love Nigel Slater but it would be too difficult to choose just one of his books! Would love to have some recommendations for other indispensable books for when I've got some space on my shelves again

Whatareyoueating, all of the stews in there are nice, especially the lamb and green bean one. I also make the sausage and potato goulash often in winter. It's nice with any sausages but I reckon tastes best with paprika flavour sausages. I used some Hungarian ones last time I made it and it was so yummy. The pasta dishes are also good, all very simple but tasty. The prawns and cream penne is a favourite of mine and my kids like the tuna one from the "red" chapter. The buttermilk and berry cake is good and the chocolate cake is a favourite of my kids. The chocolate bread is also good - unusual as it is a bread rather than cake but very good for breakfast with strawberry jam. One recipe I have never got around to trying is the chocolate hazelnut balls - kind of like homemade Ferrero Rocher. One day I will try it!

Sarah raven - Food for friends and family
Sarah raven - the garden cookbook
The Mountain cafe cook book
Veg Everyday - HFW
River Cottage Meat - useful reference

I have a huge collection of cook books, normally picked up in charity shops. This thread is making me feel less guilty and is giving me inspiration for future purchases!
I love Ken Holm- not sure which one , Mary Berry- cook now, eat later, Jamie-5 ingredients, Jack Monroe- I have both, Delia’s- complete collection.

I would really recommend both of the Rachel Roddy books, they are both fantastic. I was lucky enough to attend one of her classes in London last year, and fell a bit in love with her in a wanting-her-to-be-my-BFF way.

I am a proper cookbook junkie, I have literally hundreds. Had vowed not to buy any more this year, and have already failed.

Have loads of books and also take lots out of the library but the ones that are falling apart from use over 25 years are:

Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. Also love her How to Cook and Winter and Summer cookbooks - have cooked stuff from each of these.

Marcella Hazen Classic Italian Cooking (god she is inflexible though - like don't even consider making this dish unless you have goat's cheese from goats reared on the south - not the north- side of the hills in piedmont otherwise it will be trash)

Mary Berry (and another author) Classic Home Cooking - really good book for everything and good ideas for dinners

For the rest, I love Barefoot Contessa - her stuff is like Deliah's - it is really tested and really works. I like some Nigella stuff and increasingly go on line to cook some pioneer woman/ree drummond recipes - like leek and bacon pasta or shrimp pasta or shrimp bake etc. Made Jamie Olivers big british meatballs recently and everyone adored them but you couldn't eat like that regularly.

Placemark

so many kindred spirits!

my top five changes relatively frequently I think as I go through phases of loving a cookery book or a region.. And as you'll see I think I have a top two favourites for various chefs as they all merge into one - but those that have stayed throughout are probably...

Nigella - Feast/Kitchen - I've listed them both as I often think of a recipe and can never remember if its in Feast or Kitchen - clearly in my head I've merged the two books into one! But Praised Chicken is one of my favourites (but can't remember from which one!)

Moro - again The Moro Cookbook and Casa Moro have fallen into the merged one great book category - but so many awesome things in this mega book - pork in almond sauce, learning how to make romesco sauce, pork in sherry, tagines, brilliant paellas

Ottolenghi - I actually don't cook much from it by DH does. Yes the recipes are long and full but we've always found that they work perfectly. our favourites include the chicken, arwak and clementine baked dish, chickpea salad, amazing tabbouleh and cod cakes

Meera Sodha - both Fresh India and Made in India have been awesome in developing fresh approach to Indian food in this house - we love her baked onion bhajis, chana masala, cauliflower mussaman

Diana Henry - relative newcomer - only picked up her books in the last couple of years but consistency find something to cook and enjoy a browse - particularly like her Goan fish curry.

Other books that I think have potential to move onto top five status -

Every Grain of Rice - I've enjoyed what I've cooked from there but am now feeling more confident about doing more

On the Side - amazing book (and brilliantly curated) for side dishes for every occasion

Rachel Roddy - i have both her books and really enjoy them - plus her website/blog is always a go to

I have really culled my book collection in recent years as frankly it was getting out of hand - I've noticed a pattern

• if I don't cook something out of a new book in the first couple of weeks I never will
• I don't graduate to at least 3-5 recipes in the first few months it will stick at the 1-2 stage for ever.
• I buy Jamie Oliver books and then give them away - I still like some of his individual recipes but not enough to warrant book buying any more I think

Still have lots of books that fall outside of the above!! but am greedy for more - so will definitely be checking out amongst others Apples for Jam...

Interesting Myrtle. I think this pattern may apply to me as well. So nice to know I'm not alone in my
cookbook obsession. I don't know anyone in RL who owns so many!

To the poster with the cordon bleu cookbooks, have you got the cheese one? Oh my, that is very 70s . I like the recipe where you mash up cheese, cover it in nuts and then make it look like a big cheese- it’s bonkers!

The baking books are amassing though, there is a recipe in Winter Puddings for a sticky pear and ginger pudding that is one of my all time favourite desserts.

Delia's Complete Cookery Course - for cake recipes mostly, and I can never remember ratios for Yorkshire puds so Delia is a go to for those.

HFW's veg book - we eat a lot of veg, so this was welcome for some new ideas.

We have most of Jamie's books, although I like the earlier ones better - good staple recipes.

Difficult to choose which of Nigel Slater's. He is such an instinctive cook, and I love how there is always room for compromise in his recipes.

Some of the Australian Women's Weekly books - they pare down recipes for Thai/Indian food etc so they are achievable for the home cook.

Have just ordered Apples for Jam, I bought a second hand copy from Amazon- including postage it was £3. I justify buying books second hand because it’s the same price as a magazines! (There is another second hand copy on Amazon.)
I had made a resolution to not buy any more but do you know what I love them. An afternoon sitting looking through receipts is more joyful than a wander around town and cheaper too!

Bolshy. Off to remind myself about the cheese one!

Thanks to this thread I've also ordered Apples for Jam second-hand from Amazon. And will go through the thread and order more later. Now off to reorganise house so I can dedicate a room to cookery books.

I love the Joe Wicks 15 minutes books. We use them at least a couple of times every week. Fast, healthy meals with amazing taste.
The Good Housekeeping Children's cook book I was given in the 70s. I love to use it to teach to dd to cook.
BBC Good Food. I'd be lost without it!
A Dairy Diary from back in the 80s has some great pud ideas.
I'm off to find Apples for Jam.

Finks- I have nary berry cook now eat later and have yet to use it are there any recipes there that you’d particularly recommend?

I like Steak and mushroom pie, spiced lentil moussaka, grainy mustard potato salad, red cabbage with coleslaw dressing l, the crumble recipe, Thai chicken, chicken and olives.
They are all pretty easy. The mousakka is a great cheap veggie dish!

whatareyoueating I have the Mary Berry Cook Now Eat Later and have done the sausages with double onion marmalade which was very average. I have also done the Green Leaf Salad with Pomegranate and Pumpkin seeds and I make this all the time. Am now going to look at Finks recommendations and make a note to try them.

Real Fast Puddings - Nigel Slater
Ices - Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir
Crazy Water Pickled Lemon - Diana Henry
Food of Italy / The Book of Jewish Food - Claudia Roden
Bruce's Cookbook - Bruce Poole

...are some of my faves. The Real Fast Puddings is in fact being held together (just about!) by sellotape!

FoodBlog I have that Ices book - it's brilliant! I almost didn't buy it as it looks so old fashioned. The Raspberry Spoom in there is to die for though. One of my favourite low effort puddings. Which ones do you recommend?

Amazon are going to wonder why so many people are ordering Apples for Jam, I've just ordered it too.
Mine would be:
BBC Good Food 500 recipes
The Prawn Cocktail years by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham
Flavours by Donna Hay
Bowl Food
Delia's How to Cook

I love cooking but 3 DCs means that I don't always cook very adventurously.

Be Ro 100 Years of Baking
This is by far my most used cookery book, even though its really just a battered paperback pamphlet really. I have had it since I left home as a student and it's my go to book for all sorts of basics from family birthday cakes to yorkshire puds. It has a little note in the back with an address saying you can write to someone called Joyce for her advice on all baking matters!

Delia Smiths Complete Cookery Course
Bought for me at Christmas 2003 and in constant use

Nigella Lawson How to Eat
Followed probably by any of Jamie Oliver's first two or three books, which are usually pulled out throughout the week, just because they are easy and DH still likes to cook from them.

FoodBlog - how easy is Bruce's Cookbook? I love the food at Chez Bruce, but worried the cookbook might not be great for a keen but not especially skilled amateur ie me.

I have that Ices book too. I've had it for years and agree it's very good. It's a long time since I've made anything from it but I remember the rich chocolate ice cream being amazing. Will have try the raspberry spoom.

cousinit I made the Olive Oil Focaccia and Mango sorbet out of Apples for Jam today. I'm going to do the mince and potato croquettes for the kids soon. Thanks for bringing me back to it. I am very good at looking at cookbooks and then forgettting I have them!

A thanks from me too cousin. I pulled it out and made the vermicelli soup for the dc tonight and they wolfed it down. Such a homely and comforting book