Cookbooks are wonderful things. But when it comes to the best, who among us can agree? It’s controversial, I know, but I can’t abide Elizabeth David. Oh, the garlic! Oh, the olive oil! Overwritten, outdated tosh. Give me the more puritan pleasures of Jane Grigson’s English Food any day. First published in 1974, it’s the perfect compendium of classic British recipes, more relevant now than ever.
You can see how tastes vary in a new cookbook library in the Old Compton Street branch of Leon restaurant in London, where the owner Henry Dimbleby has asked his family and friends to contribute their own favourites, from Jamie Oliver and Nigel Slater to Thomas Keller and Nico Ladenis.
One strange soul even threw in Gillian McKeith’s You Are What You Eat. Like I say, it’s all down to personal taste.
Giles Coren
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Real Food by Nigel Slater
Until I was about 25 I had always cooked, very timidly, from books by formidable grandes dames such as Elizabeth David, Claudia Roden and Prue Leith. I would follow them to the word, terrified of doing something wrong and being scolded for it by my mum, er, I mean by the formidable grande dame in question. Nigel Slater was the first cookery writer to whom I related as an imaginary pal rather than as a surrogate mother. A man who admits to preferring the burnt sticky bits under the roast chicken and the jellied dribbles left in the bottom of the saucepan when the guests have gone is a man in whose company I can relax.
Giles Coren is the Times restaurant critic
Jeremy Lee
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Elizabeth David: An Omelette and a Glass of Wine
Mrs David wrote much that was so very evocative of so many lovely things that the great lady had enjoyed so very much. A keen and observant eye was reflected beautifully in a keen wit that added much delight in reading her recipes, some of which became poetic. This book is a meticulous selection of Mrs David’s writings for numerous publications over many years. It is a marvellous book.
Jeremy Lee is head chef at the Blueprint Café, London
Erin O’Connor
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Be-Ro Home Recipes
I have fond memories of Mum rolling out pastry with her plastic heated roller while me and my sisters watched The Waltons. We never ate a morsel of our Sunday dinner, but always devoured her apple and rhubarb pie.
Model Erin O’Connor offers nutritional advice at the Model Sanctuary
Jason Atherton
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French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Thomas is the ultimate chef’s chef. I continue to reach out to his book for inspiration. His technical ability is second to none; it is an honour to learn from him.
Jason Atherton was executive chef at Maze. His new restaurant opens in London next month
Henry Dimbleby
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A Taste of Dreams by Josceline Dimbleby
My mum’s first cookbook. Mum was brought up in Syria and Peru, and this book uses spices in a way that was way ahead of what most people were doing in the 1970s. And it has the occasional retro dish. I love the cheat’s ice cream made with Bird’s Dream Topping.
Henry Dimbleby runs the Leon chain
Valentine Warner Good Things in England by Florence White
This book is stuffed with a rich forcemeat of excellent recipes and kitchen lore from the nation’s households. This wonderful compilation covering 300 years was a direct result of the author’s concern that the UK’s cooking skills and recipes were dying out, and as this is even more obvious today, thank goodness this book is still available. You will eat very well from it.
Writer Valentine Warner’s latest book is What to Eat Now: Autumn and Winter
John Torode
Summer Cooking by Elizabeth David
When I got to the UK I couldn’t understand the culture, and this book really helped me. She wrote of courgettes and aubergines and made me realise how insular it was here. She talked about food, not just as recipes, but as ideas. It reminded me of the sunshine I was missing.
John Torode co-presents MasterChef and runs Smiths of Smithfield in London
Angela Hartnett
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
Not everyone can have an Italian grandmother to pass on their hints and tips, so for those who don’t, Marcella’s book is a fantastic way to learn the basics of Italian cooking. It should be on the kitchen shelf of anyone who loves good food.
Angela Hartnett is chef-patron of Murano in London
Gordon Ramsay Larousse Gastronomique
I return time and time again to this encyclopaedic doorstop of a book. I still consider it one of the best cookery books in history.
Leon, Old Compton Street, London W1 (020-7434 1200) opens on March 21
Win a copy of the new Leon cookbook Leon Naturally Fast Food Book 2 (Conran Octopus). To enter, just e-mail weekend@thetimes.co.uk with your name, address and phone number, putting “Leon Cookbook Competition” in the subject line by midnight , March 16. Five winners will be chosen at random. UK-residents over-18 only. For full T&Cs, see www.thetimes.com/foodcompetition