Indispensable food books

[McPhee]

Which food books do you find indispensable? The ones you really wouldn't want to be without?

For me it's:

Ottolenghi
Plenty
Supernatural Everyday
The French Laundry Cookbook
On Food and Cooking
Modernist Cuisine

The first three represent food that I really like to eat, but that I couldn't do fluently without the aid of recipes. Combined with the stuff I do know well (meat cooking, soups, curries/stews) I could eat very well with just those three books. The next book is for all of those little tips that Thomas Keller gives, along with recipes for his amazing sauces (another weak point in my culinary repotoir, though quickly improving). The last two books (can I refer to Modernist Cuisine as one book?) because I can lose myself in them for hours; for me they are more hobby books than cooking books. So much stuff to read, try, test, all in the name of understanding, while producing very little in the way of actual meals.

 

[Jolteh]

Good list. Mine would be pretty similar.

I don't enjoy the parrot style copy recipe books, but I really love the cooking reference books that are akin to textbooks.

I really love On Food and Cooking (I've said that before on here), and reading Modernist Cuisine often leaves me in awe (although my copy of it is hard to read *ahem*).

I find it so annoying that if you want to move beyond anything except conventional home cooking then it becomes a prohibitively expensive hobby. It's so annoying that, for instance, Modernist Cuisine is only sold as a full set of 6 books. £70+ is not unusual for a good textbook nowadays, but the fact that they don't sell them as singles and you have to pay out the full £350 is so short-sighted of the publisher.

Similarly, if you want to get something like a water bath you end up paying upwards of at least £300 for something that people have proven can be produced in the home for about £30.

 

[Maccapacca]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-River-C...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333966341&sr=1-1 Fish

http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-British...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333966181&sr=1-4 excellent I've had that for years

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barbecue-Eric-Treuille/dp/140531995X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1 BBQ nom nom

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Sim...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333966316&sr=1-2 KIS

 

[GhostlyPea]

Delia's How To Cook range (the 3 books). They are great for base ideas

- GP

 

[Rich_L]

Love the first 3 on the list

I actually really like Gordon Ramsey's books, they aren't particularly ground-breaking but good solid food recipes and a couple of things like the potted shrimp, devilled kidneys and other things are now definite 'go to' recipes which often surprise and people enjoy.

 

[Lummox]

My absolute favourite cookbook is Madhur Jaffrey Illustrated Indian Cookery.

 

[randomshenans]

Larousse Gastronomique is a classic. Great for many things.