I have a deep and abiding affection for my favourite cookery books, especially the bits that are stained and wrinkled and spattered with use. Here are a few of them
Fresh India. Nothing is here is not delicious. There is literally not one single dud recipe. And the writing is wonderfully evocative and humorous too. My top choices include her fresh mater paneer, root vegetable masala, pineapple raita and mango paneer skewers.
The Roasting Tin. The chicken wings with sweet potato and lime yogurt. Life-changer. And that’s just the beginning. You could happily read this cover to cover, drooling gently as you browse. And the photographs of every dish are lovely.
Zaitoun. Extraordinary and poetic. Special shout-out to the spiced lamb and hummus, smashed avocado, rainbow carrot salad with herb yogurt, the roast chicken with sumac. And there are salads for days. Make EVERYTHING. Fragrant, tasty, delightful.
Nigel Slater‘s books are a delight to read and salivate over. I’ve got more of his books than any other writer’s. My fave is Real Food, but there are so many to choose from and read for hours in a comfy chair. He offers a deep pool of knowledge, experience and reassurance that I can sink contentedly into, knowing there will be something delicious at the end of it.
Queen Nigella is my go-to for anything sweet. And a substantial number of savoury things too. But most especially her chocolate cloud cake, pavlovas, nutella cake, lemon tender cake with blueberry compote, chocolate chip cookies, molten chocolate babycakes, incredibly sticky, spicy, deeply treacly gingerbread and marzipan cake. The list of amazing things to put in your mouth is endless. Incredibly happy-making food.
Nigel and Nigella are like the mum and dad of my cooking.
And, if they’re the parents, then Felicity Cloake is like the kind, clever older sister (although I’m probably actually older than her in real life).
Her book Perfect is soothing and comforting. So much so that, at moments of high anxiety – and there have been a LOT of them in recent months – I read it in bed and it sends me to a happy sleep where things make sense and someone else has done the hard work for you. She also writes the brilliant Perfect column in the Guardian, full of recipes tried and tested by someone I trust so much that I’d leave my child with them. Seriously, all her food always works.
Sophie cooks 