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.
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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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1
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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1
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 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 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.
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1
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
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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
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1
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.
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1
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.