We have a very wide range of interviews on food and cooking, covering everything from Cakes, to eating meat, food production and food psychology.
A number of our interviews focus on particular countries or regions. Diane Farr Louis and June Marinos choose their best books on Greek cooking. Jila Dana-Haeri and Shahrzad Ghorashian choose their best books on Persian cooking and Diane Seed looks at Mediterranean cooking. We also cover Chinese food, American food, Italian food, Spanish and Moorish cooking and the best books on French cooking by Elizabeth Luard.
Mary Berry is one of a number of food writers and cooks who chose their favourite cookbooks. We also have Sophie Dahl on cooking and Jancis Robinson on wine. Olivier Ward chooses his best books on gin.
Giles Coren discusses food writing and Stephen Kaplan chooses his best books on the history of food. Ivan Day also looks at the history of cooking. And Henry Dimbleby talks about his.
Bruno Loubet chooses his best books on simple cooking and the architect Carolyn Steel looks at food and the City. The philosopher, Barry C Smith, chooses his best books on taste and the journalist and sommelier, Bianca Bosker, her best books on the senses. David Lebovitz chooses his best books on desserts and the science writer, Gary Taubes, chooses his best books on dieting. Louise Gray looks at eating meat and Stephen Raichlen, who has written eight books on the subject, looks at Barbecues and grills.
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Diane Purkiss
History too often glosses over basic questions of subsistence and food availability, argues Oxford academic Diane Purkiss—whose new book English Food is a social history told through the food on people’s tables. Here, she recommends five books about the history of food that focus on the diet of the common person as opposed to the royal banquet table.
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1
Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey
by Felicity Cloake -
2
The Joy of Snacks: A Celebration of One of Life's Greatest Pleasures, with Recipes
by Laura Goodman -
3
A Portrait of British Cheese: A Celebration of Artistry, Regionality and Recipes
by Angus Birditt -
4
Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives
by Al Tait & Kitty Tait -
5
Takeaway: Stories From a Childhood Behind the Counter
by Angela Hui
The Best Food Books: The 2023 Fortnum & Mason Food And Drink Awards, recommended by Clare Finney
The Best Food Books: The 2023 Fortnum & Mason Food And Drink Awards, recommended by Clare Finney
Every year, the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards celebrate the best books across a range of food, cookery and drink categories. Here British food writer Clare Finney, one of the judges for this year’s awards, talks us through the fabulous books that made the 2023 shortlists—and shows how they are about much more than just delicious food.
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1
Flour Power: The Practice and Pursuit of Baking Sourdough Bread
by Tara Jenson -
2
Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations
by Nicole A. Taylor -
3
Good Enough: Embracing the Joys of Imperfection and Practicing Self-Care in the Kitchen
by Leanne Brown -
4
The Complete Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Over 200 Takeout Favorites to Make at Home
by Kwoklyn Wan -
5
That Noodle Life: Soulful, Savory, Spicy, Slurpy
by Mike Le & Stephanie Le
The Best Cookbooks of 2022, recommended by Becky Krystal
The Best Cookbooks of 2022, recommended by Becky Krystal
Do you enjoy cooking up a storm in the kitchen? If so, you’ll love food writer Becky Krystal’s selection of the five best cookbooks of 2022—including a guide to sourdough bread, a fun exploration of all things noodle, and a collection of Juneteenth celebration foods.
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1
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
by Isa Chandra Moskovitz -
2
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
by Miyoko Schinner -
3
Dirt Candy: A Cookbook: Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant
by Amanda Cohen -
4
Raw
by Charlie Trotter & Roxanne Klein -
5
Sweet + Salty: The Art of Vegan Chocolates, Truffles, Caramels, and More from Lagusta's Luscious
by Lagusta Yearwood
The Best Vegan Cookbooks, recommended by Alicia Kennedy
The Best Vegan Cookbooks, recommended by Alicia Kennedy
Vegan cooking has been transformed over the past 20 years. No longer is it trying to replicate non-vegan tastes and dishes or provide an alternative to meat. As the food writer Alicia Kennedy explains, the best vegan cooking is just excellent cooking, on its own terms. She recommends five vegan cookbooks to help you get to grips with vegan cooking techniques and to understand the range of vegan culinary possibilities.
The Best Baking Cookbooks of 2021, recommended by Becky Krystal
Every year Becky Krystal of the Washington Post and staff writer of “Voraciously”, a food column with a strong ‘how-to’ focus, chooses the best cookbooks of the year for us. In 2021, she’s focusing on books about baking, an activity she’s passionate about—and many of the rest of us have been doing more of in the past year or two.
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1
One Tin Bakes: Sweet and Simple Traybakes, Pies, Bars and Buns
by Edd Kimber -
2
The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes
by Nik Sharma -
3
Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes
by Bryant Terry -
4
In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean
by Hawa Hassan & Julia Turshen -
5
Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook
by Ixta Belfrage & Yotam Ottolenghi
The Best Cookbooks of 2020, recommended by Becky Krystal
The Best Cookbooks of 2020, recommended by Becky Krystal
If nothing else, 2020 has at least given many of us a lot of time to experiment in the kitchen. Here Becky Krystal, lead writer for the Washington Post’s Voraciously, recommends cookbooks relevant for a year in which grocery shopping has been complicated and the world has become more interconnected than ever.
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1
Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public
by William Banting -
2
Pure, White, and Deadly: How Sugar Is Killing Us and What We Can Do to Stop It
by John Yudkin -
3
The F-Plan Diet: Lose Weight Fast and Live Longer
by Audrey Eyton -
4
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted
by T. Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell II -
5
The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting
by Michael Mosley
Diet Books, selected by Tim Spector
Diet Books, selected by Tim Spector
Fad diets have been with us for generations, but the the truth is that any regime that focuses on excluding whole food groups should be approached with caution, says Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London and author of the bestselling books The Diet Myth and Spoon-Fed. For this reason, he says, intermittent fasting (also known as the 5:2 diet) is the only weight-loss diet he’d truly recommend.
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1
The Handmade Loaf: The Book That Started a Baking Revolution
by Dan Lepard -
2
Bread Matters: The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own
by Andrew Whitley -
3
English Bread and Yeast Cookery
by Elizabeth David -
4
Modernist Bread
by Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco J. Migoya -
5
The Staffordshire Oatcake: A History
by Pamela Sambrook
The best books on Baking Bread, recommended by Chris Young
The best books on Baking Bread, recommended by Chris Young
All you need to make bread is flour, water and salt. It’s knowledge, skill and time that turns those basic ingredients into the delicious staple we call bread. Chris Young, coordinator of the UK’s Real Bread Campaign and editor of True Loaf magazine, recommends the best books for baking bread—and explains why ‘real bread’ is the only bread we should be eating.
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Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England
by William Cronon -
2
Nature’s Perfect Food
by E. Melanie Dupuis -
3
Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America
by Mark Padoongpatt -
4
Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont
by Teresa M. Mares -
5
Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
by Marcia Chatelain
The best books on Food Studies, recommended by Matt Garcia
The best books on Food Studies, recommended by Matt Garcia
Matt Garcia, Professor of Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies & History at Dartmouth College, discusses the production of primary foods in the United States and globally—a field that has often been ignored by historians and by society. He recommends five books to learn more about food studies, with particular attention to agricultural workers, often among the most marginalized and least protected members of the US labor force.
The Best Cookbooks of 2019, recommended by Becky Krystal
Taking in cuisines from Israel to Vietnam and India, Becky Krystal, lead writer of the Washington Post’s Voraciously, recommends some of her favourite cookbooks of 2019. These books stand out for their originality, the accessibility of their recipes and their literary and aesthetic qualities.
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1
The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature
by Leon R Kass -
2
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan -
3
The Food Police: A Well-Fed Manifesto About the Politics of Your Plate
by Jayson Lusk -
4
The Primal Cheeseburger: A Generous Helping of Food History Served On a Bun
by Elizabeth Rozin -
5
Taste Matters: Why We Like the Foods We Do
by John Prescott
The best books on Food Psychology, recommended by Paul Rozin
The best books on Food Psychology, recommended by Paul Rozin
Food is an affirmation of who we are. Paul Rozin, food psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, deconstructs the cheeseburger and busts myths about food consumption: not only is our food budget controlling what we eat, but also the expensive organic foods we’re pressured to buy may not even be healthier—let alone better-tasting—than their alternatives.
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Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
by Richard Wrangham -
2
Historia General y Natural de las Indias
by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes -
3
Leipoldt’s Cape Cookery
by C Louis Leipoldt -
4
Seven Fires
by Francis Mallman with Peter Kaminsky -
5
Thrill of the Grill
by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby
The best books on Barbecue and Grill, recommended by Steven Raichlen
The best books on Barbecue and Grill, recommended by Steven Raichlen
America’s master griller chooses books on the world’s oldest cooking method. He discusses why brown tastes better, and how our primal urge to play with fire helped us evolve.
The best books on Wine, recommended by Jancis Robinson
Reading about wine may not be quite as fun as drinking it, but can help open up a world of history, geography, science and culture. The Financial Times’s wine critic and daily writer on JancisRobinson.com, Jancis Robinson, picks the best books on wine.
The best books on Greek Cooking, recommended by Diana Farr Louis and June Marinos
The authors of Prospero’s Kitchen take us on a culinary tour of Greece and explain how the country’s history has influenced its cuisine in sometimes surprising ways
The best books on Cakes, recommended by Claire Ptak
Claire Ptak, owner of the Violet Bakery in London and former pastry chef at Chez Panisse, recommends some of her own favourite cookbooks. [Since speaking to us in 2015, Claire Ptak has subsequently designed Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake]
The best books on Persian Cookery, recommended by Jila Dana-Haeri and Shahrzad Ghorashian
In this interview two celebrated chefs discuss the best books to help you capture the complex flavours and colours of Persian food. Along the way they describe their favourite Persian treats, including mouth-watering lattice window syrup cakes and rice with saffron and morello cherries.
Mary Berry recommends her Favourite Cookbooks
Mary Berry has written over 70 books—but what are the cookbooks she returns to, time and again? Here she shares her top five with us.
The best books on Mediterranean Cooking, recommended by Diane Seed
Cook and bestselling author Diane Seed selects five books on Mediterranean cuisine. From the forgotten spices of Turkey to the stews served to Greek freedom fighters, the variety of the region’s food is unsurpassed
The best books on Chinese Food, recommended by Fuchsia Dunlop
The English chef who studied cooking in Sichuan tells us that there is no one Chinese cuisine, how Western perceptions of Chinese food are changing, and why carrots are called “barbarian radishes” in Mandarin
The best books on Cooking, recommended by Sophie Dahl
The author and food writer talks about honey pancakes, mushy peas, drop scones, choux pastry, baked onions and Winnie the Pooh. Perfect lunch-break reading (as long as you’re having a good lunch)
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Mastering the Art of French Cooking
by Julia Child & Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck -
2
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
by Marcella Hazan -
3
The Key to Chinese Cooking by Irene Kuo
by Irene Kuo -
4
A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes
by David Tanis -
5
The Cake Bible
by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Wonderful Cookbooks, recommended by Madhur Jaffrey
Wonderful Cookbooks, recommended by Madhur Jaffrey
The author, chef, and actress Madhur Jaffrey recommends five of her favourite cookbooks.
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1
Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason
by Jennifer Warner -
2
The Book of Gin: A Spirited World History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails
by Richard Barnett -
3
The Curious Bartender's Gin Palace
by Tristan Stephenson -
4
Gin: The Manual
by Dave Broom -
5
Gin & Tonic: The Complete Guide for the Perfect Mix
by Frédéric Du Bois and Isabel Boons
The best books on Gin, recommended by Olivier Ward
The best books on Gin, recommended by Olivier Ward
Olivier Ward, editor and co-founder of gin appreciation website, Gin Foundry, recommends the best books on Gin — the medicinal drink that came to define the British Empire.
The best books on Eating Meat, recommended by Louise Gray
What does it mean to be an ethical meat-eater? Author and journalist Louise Gray chooses five books that examine the impact of our omnivorous lifestyle, and explains why she spent a year only eating the animals she had killed herself.
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Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
by Rachel Laudan -
2
The Raw and the Cooked
by Claude Levi-Strauss -
3
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
by Charles Mann -
4
All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present
by Stephen Mennell -
5
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
by Sidney Mintz
The best books on Food, recommended by Louise Fresco
The best books on Food, recommended by Louise Fresco
Most people are illiterate when it comes to food, their views based on a combination of personal beliefs, semi-truths and not fully substantiated scientific claims. Dutch food and agricultural scientist, and author, Louise Fresco, picks five books to help us better understand the food we eat.
Best Cookbooks of All Time, recommended by Nigel Slater
Which is the one cookbook the cookery writer can’t do without? Who writes the best recipes? Who is the best writer? Who does he turn to for a breath of fresh air? Nigel Slater picks his all-time favourite cookbooks.
Wonderful Cookbooks, recommended by Rose Levy Beranbaum
The bestselling author of The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum, explains why English cakes don’t rise, how to make the perfect croissant, and how to get holes the size of radishes in your artisan breads
The best books on Taste, recommended by Barry C. Smith
What creates flavour? Our sensory environment, our knowledge, or the existing qualities of what we eat? The philosopher explores the best five books on taste.
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The Foul and the Fragrant: Odour and the Social Imagination
by Alain Corbin -
2
Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell
by Anthony Synnott, Constance Classen & David Howes -
3
A Natural History of the Senses
by Diane Ackerman -
4
Taste What You're Missing
by Barb Stuckey -
5
Making Sense of Taste, Food and Philosophy
by Carolyn Korsmeyer
The best books on The Senses, recommended by Bianca Bosker
The best books on The Senses, recommended by Bianca Bosker
Is it possible that a flavour or smell could be as refined and elevating an experience as seeing a painting or listening to a piece of music? Journalist and expert sommelier, Bianca Bosker, describes how the process of training her own senses has transformed her experience of the world.
The best books on Food Writing, recommended by Giles Coren
The London Times award-winning food columnist takes an irreverent look at the world of food writing, from restaurant critics to celebrity chefs
The best books on Wine, recommended by Randall Grahm
The Californian winemaker gives us a fabulously eclectic reading list for understanding and enjoying the world of wine.
The best books on American Food, recommended by Ruth Reichl
The Puritans got modern American cuisine off to a bad start. But the food writer and critic says subsequent immigrants have helped create a culture where food is appreciated.
The best books on Dieting, recommended by Gary Taubes
Struggling to hold yourself to a calorie-counting regimen? Ignore the conventional advice on losing weight, says science writer Gary Taubes – what constitutes a healthy diet needs to be drastically re-evaluated
The best books on Desserts, recommended by David Lebovitz
Great desserts can be amazingly simple, and even low in fat. The pastry chef and author cooks up a mouth-watering reading list to bring your recipes up to date
The best books on Food Production, recommended by Barry Estabrook
Do you know what’s in the food you eat, and how it gets from field to plate? The author of an acclaimed exposé of American agribusiness tells us where to look if we want to become better-informed consumers
The best books on Italian Food, recommended by Ruth Rogers
A culinary tour of Italian food, with co-founder of the acclaimed River Café restaurant Ruth Rogers. She tells us about the books that have inspired her, including the one she asks all her chefs to read!
The best books on Spanish and Moorish Cooking, recommended by Samantha Clark
Samantha Clark, co-founder of the award-winning restaurant Moro, tells us about the camper van trip to Morocco that inspired her, and why we should all get acquainted with chicharrones and calzots!
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Steven Kaplan
From body and blood of Christ or an act of seduction to a means of social control and even a weapon of war – Professor Steven Kaplan picks the best books on the history and power of food.
The best books on His Fast Food Philosophy, recommended by Henry Dimbleby
The co-founder of the Leon chain of healthy fast food restaurants describes his growth as a chef through books, from Orwell to Jacques Pépin
Yotam Ottolenghi recommends some of his Favourite Cookbooks
Yotam Ottolenghi, the accomplished chef, bestselling author and owner of several high-end London eateries, names the cookbooks he loves the most.
The best books on French Cooking, recommended by Elisabeth Luard
The food writer and journalist says it was a Pole, Edouard de Pomiane, who taught the French housewife how to cook.
The best books on Simple Cooking, recommended by Bruno Loubet
The Michelin-starred chef Bruno Loubet chooses the book that taught him the shortcomings of everything he had learned in catering school, and four other favourites. Two are by Australian chef Stephanie Alexander
The best books on Food and the City, recommended by Carolyn Steel
The architect, writer, lecturer, and director of Kilburn Nightingale Architects says architecture should not be just about buildings, but about everything else in our environment
The best books on Historic Cooking, recommended by Ivan Day
Celebrated food historian selects five books on cooking that reveal much about our history. During the period that the French and English were at war, roast beef was all the rage and anything ‘Frenchified’ was suspect
The best books on The Global Food Scandal, recommended by Tristram Stuart
The campaigner and historian says that Western countries waste more food than they consume. Believe him: he survives off food scavenged exclusively from supermarket bins
The best books on Favourite Cookbooks, recommended by Jojo Tulloh
The best cookbooks according to food editor of The Week. Raves especially about the Chez Panisse cookbooks. Says she’d like “it was my pleasure” carved on her gravestone