Cook books · For chefs, students and the very keen
Professional & trade
College textbooks, kitchen-brigade references and chef books that explain how professional kitchens really work.
- 9 books
- 2 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.
- Practical Cookery
- The Professional Chef
- Le Répertoire de la Cuisine
- Professional Baking
- Patisserie
- White Heat
- Modernist Cuisine at Home
- Kitchen Confidential
- The Flavor Bible
Book links go to Amazon (affiliate links). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Practical Cookery
David Foskett, Patricia Paskins, Neil Rippington & Steve Thorpe · 14th edition 2019
From our old book list
The standard textbook on UK catering courses for generations, now updated for Level 2 and 3 qualifications. It covers kitchen skills, recipes and food safety in the order students meet them.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Practical CookeryIn the US? amazon.com
The Professional Chef
The Culinary Institute of America · 9th edition 2011
The Culinary Institute of America's core textbook: equipment, ingredients, stocks, sauces, butchery, baking and plating, all with photographs. It is the American counterpart to Practical Cookery and twice the size.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : The Professional ChefIn the US? amazon.com
Le Répertoire de la Cuisine
Théodore Gringoire & Louis Saulnier · 1914
From our old book list
A pocket book of thousands of classical French dishes, each described in a line or two. Chefs have used it for a century to look up what "à la Dubarry" or "Nantua" means on a menu.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Le Répertoire de la CuisineIn the US? amazon.com
Professional Baking
Wayne Gisslen · 7th edition 2016
A clear, thorough college text on breads, pastry, cakes and desserts, with the ratios and reasons behind each method. It is just as useful for keen home bakers who want to understand baking.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Professional BakingIn the US? amazon.com
Patisserie
L. J. Hanneman · 1993 edition
From our old book list
An old-school British trade text on professional pastry: pastes, sponges, gâteaux, petits fours and decoration. It is dated but still loved by pastry chefs for its classic formulas.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : PatisserieIn the US? amazon.com
White Heat
Marco Pierre White · 1990 · 25th anniversary edition 2015
Bob Carlos Clarke's black-and-white photographs of a 1980s London kitchen alongside Marco Pierre White's recipes. It made a generation of British chefs want to cook, and it is as much attitude as instruction.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : White HeatIn the US? amazon.com
Modernist Cuisine at Home
Nathan Myhrvold & Maxime Bilet · 2012
From the team whose Modernist Cuisine was James Beard Cookbook of the Year, 2012
Science-led cooking scaled down for a home kitchen: sous vide, pressure cookers and precise temperatures, illustrated with cut-away photographs. Expensive, but it changes how you think about cooking.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Modernist Cuisine at HomeIn the US? amazon.com
Kitchen Confidential
Anthony Bourdain · 2000
Bourdain's funny, profane memoir of life in New York restaurant kitchens. There are no recipes, but no other book captures the heat and humour of professional cooking as well.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : Kitchen ConfidentialIn the US? amazon.com
The Flavor Bible
Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg · 2008
James Beard Award, Reference and Scholarship, 2009
An A–Z of ingredients listing what top chefs pair them with, ranked by how often. Chefs use it to develop menus, and it is the American companion to The Flavour Thesaurus.
View on Amazon UKView on Amazon US : The Flavor BibleIn the US? amazon.com
New guide 1 November 2026. Awards checked against published winners' lists; Amazon listings checked on 1 November 2026.