What is your Favourite Cookery Book and Why?

thriftlady_2

As you may know I have a bit of a problem with cookbooks. It's a problem I quite enjoy though:D

While I use most of them for inspiration there is one cookbook from which I have cooked many, many recipes. The recipes are easy, they don't use strange, trendy or hard-to-find ingredients and always, always work. I'm baking something from it as I type.

Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book

Obviously it only cakes and biscuits, but these are things for which you need a reliable recipe. My copy is the tattiest book in my collection -a true sign that it is well-used.

ifonlyitwaseasier

hmmmm my fave (used the most) varies between the dairy home cookbook (new edition mum wouldn't let me have her old one) and all of my jamie oliver ones tho ministry of food is fantastic and Delia complete etcetc

have just got the EG one so will be using that over the winter. have had to stick a load of mine into storage whilst at my folks, but my mum has most of them too (oops!) so i won't be going cold turkey.

zippychick

simpywimpy wrote: »

I have to say Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food actually convinced me I could actually cook!

Now Im loving the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten - an american lady whose recipes always seem to come out just as they should and easy to do as well..

I love watching Ina on the cooking channel! She is so vomity nice but there's something about her! never tried any of her recipes though so much do that. I did look onec online but couldnt find them easily

GreenNinja

My favourite for all basics has to be the Delia Smith complete, its grubbiness and tattiness are testament to how often it is used!

I do love however, the Nigella express book, really yummy naughty calorie laden items, have made a couple of the recipes and they have been divine I have to say.

:T

zippychick

I read a Nigella book a few weeks ago, and I must say it just annoyed me. The whole time I was thinking "stop rambling woman, and get to the point"

She doesn't need to try and make food s**y, it already is.

Edit - Hi Zippy

tandraig

can I post my LEAST favourite cookbook?? thank god i didnt buy it and borrowed it from library instead. it was called 'American Home Cooking' and I was curious about making chocolate brownies graham crackers 'smores etc that I had heard about in books and had no idea what they were. anyway, took the book home and settled down to (as i imagined) learn about these and american home cooking. Was I disappointed!!! Yes I was!!! nearly all of the recipes called for a packet mix of this and a can of that even a really basic batter -based cake thingy started off with - you guessed it - a packet of batter mix! I kid you not! when i took it back into library i told the lady on desk about it....with a grin i may say - was not complaining...........and could hear gales of laughter and derision from the office when she took it in to show the others!
If thats american cook from scratch home cooking - all I can say is they have a cheek calling it home cooking - its home assembly!

anguk

I've got lots of cookbooks but the ones I keep using again and again are my old faithful Bero book, Good Housekeeping Step by Step Cookbook and more recently Jamie's Ministry of Food.

I bought my son Delia's Complete Cookery Course when he first left home, it's just the paperback version with no pictures but he uses it all the time, it has just about everything you could possibly need. One day I'm going to treat myself to the illustrated version.

Maitane

I really love my Nigel Slater cookbooks, I know him and Nigella seem to be in league with olive oil and butter producers but as Nigel Slater says - recipes are simply guidance. Everything is so quick and simple in the Good Food Fast one and it's tasty too.

I also quite like my Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food for simple things I've forgotten exactly how I do but in one of his old books he did this amazing bread salad which was great for using up stale bread.

The other three books I adore are 'Gerard Depardieu - My Cookbook', I eventually found this down to £3 in TK Maxx and it is so, so good - proper solid French food, 'Barcelona' by Bonnier Books - they do others like Paris and London and New York but everytime I want something to remind me of Catalonia, I make something from this. It's also good for entertaining on the cheap and finally, 'Welsh Traditional Recipes' by Annette Yates. I'm marrying a Welshman so this book can't stray too far from me not when it contains wonders such as Pwdin Bara, Pwdin Haf and Bara Brith as well as tasty savoury things like Ffagots a grafi (Faggots in Gravy) and Pasteiod ffowlyn a chennin (chicken and leek pies) - scrummy!

tandraig

ty maittane - see post no 35 for another great little welsh cookbook. in further post - where available from!
must check out the one you mentioned - i love welsh food - was brought up on it even tho we live in english speaking part of wales (sort of english speaking anyway) the food of my childhood was VERY traditional. mind you I also like italian food, chinese food, indian food.............everything except fast food junk!! sorry mc d fans but it gives me indigestion!

tandraig

i am fast compiling a list of your recomended books - must get the bero one !jamie olivers, delia complete, this is fun! am too purse-challenged to order them all new - so half the fun will be finding them in charity shops - unless new price is under a fiver!