Cook books · The books to own first

Classics & reference

The encyclopaedias, the teachers and the great kitchen classics: books you keep for life and open every week.

13 books
6 award-winners
UK & US Amazon links

Each book has a short review in our own words and a link to Amazon; award notes appear only where a winners' list confirms them.

Larousse Gastronomique
Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
The Food Lab
The Flavour Thesaurus
On Food and Cooking
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Delia's Complete Cookery Course
Joy of Cooking
How to Eat
La Varenne Pratique
French Provincial Cooking
Leiths How to Cook

Book links go to Amazon (affiliate links). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Larousse Gastronomique
Librairie Larousse (English edition: Hamlyn) · 1938 · revised 2009
From our old book list
The great encyclopaedia of French and European cooking: ingredients, techniques, classic dishes, chefs and history, from abaisse to zuppa inglese. Not a book to cook through but the one to settle every argument about what a dish really is.
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Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery
Auguste Escoffier · 1903 · English edition 1979
From our old book list
Le Guide Culinaire in full English translation: some 5,000 recipes, written as the brigade's shorthand rather than step-by-step instructions. It is still the source of the classical sauces, garnishes and dish names taught in catering colleges.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery In the US? amazon.com
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Samin Nosrat · 2017
James Beard Award, General Cooking, 2018

Teaches the four things that make food taste good, rather than a list of recipes, with Wendy MacNaughton's cheerful drawings doing much of the explaining. Read it once and your everyday cooking improves.
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The Food Lab
J. Kenji López-Alt · 2015
James Beard Award, General Cooking, 2016

A huge, science-led book of American home cooking: why steaks rest, how eggs set, what really makes a crisp roast potato. The tests are explained clearly, so you learn the reasons and not just the method.
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The Flavour Thesaurus
Niki Segnit · 2010
André Simon Food Book Award, 2010

Ninety-nine flavours arranged like a colour wheel, with witty short essays on which pairs work and why. Perfect when you have an ingredient and need an idea for what goes with it.
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On Food and Cooking
Harold McGee · 1984 · revised 2004
André Simon Award, 1986; James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, 2011

The kitchen-science bible: what happens to proteins, starches, sugars and fats as you cook them, with plenty of history along the way. A reference that turns chefs into food scientists.
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Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle & Simone Beck · 1961
Written so that an American home cook could make real French food, it explains every step and every why. Its boeuf bourguignon, omelettes and sauces still teach technique better than most modern books.
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Delia's Complete Cookery Course
Delia Smith · 1982 (complete edition)
The book that taught Britain to cook: clear, tested recipes for everything from white sauce to Christmas cake, organised by ingredient and technique. It is still the place to start if you are learning the basics.
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Joy of Cooking
Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, John Becker & Megan Scott · 1931 · revised 2019
America's family kitchen reference for nearly a century, and the 2019 revision updates it well. If a US recipe says "cook it the classic way", this is usually what it means.
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How to Eat
Nigella Lawson · 1998
From our old book list
Nigella's first book is about how to cook and eat sensibly rather than show off: weekday suppers, cooking in advance, cooking for one, feeding children. As good to read as a novel, and the roast chicken alone makes it worthwhile.
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La Varenne Pratique
Anne Willan · 1989
Author in the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, 2013

From our old book list
A huge illustrated course in classic technique from the founder of the La Varenne cookery school, with photographs of each step. Out of print but easy to find second-hand, and worth the hunt.
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French Provincial Cooking
Elizabeth David · 1960
James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, 1997

David's masterpiece on French regional home cooking, as much a pleasure to read as to cook from. Her recipes assume you can cook, but her descriptions make you want to.
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Leiths How to Cook
Leiths School of Food and Wine · 2013
The London cookery school's course in book form, with step-by-step photographs for the core skills: knife work, stocks, sauces, pastry, meat and fish. A modern British alternative to the old cookery courses.
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