Cookery Books

Where would us home cooks (and some proffessionals) be without our favorite cook books?!

Please do share your opinions;
what are your indispensible cook books?
which book's recipes leave you drooling?
is there a book you're thinking of buying?


My favorite at the moment is 'Recepies From A Three Star Chef' by Gordon Ramsay. (amazon link)
It is quite ambitious, and presents the recipes - in full - from his 3 michelin starred restaurant in london (they are not diluted for the home cook). You need time and perseverence for the recepies (and deep pockets for one or two of them.)
What I've found is that you can pick up a lot of the basics of very high level cooking, and run with them, taking elements (like a sauce or new cooking method) from a recipe and using them in your own way.


The next book i'd like is The French Laundry by Thomas Keller. Has anyone got this book? What do you reckon to it?

reply to post by Paul


As a former restaurant owner I have seldon need of cookbooks but I do own a few that I will often prepare recipes from. My must haves are all of Mario Batali's books, Nobu Matsuhisa's book (which is filled with many exotic and complicated recipes) and the Silver Spoon which is a traditional Italian cookbook. I have a a bunch more but they were all gifts and I rarely, if ever, used them.

reply to post by Paul


I cooked professionally for over 20 years and there are a few books out there that every cook/chef who respect their craft own:

The Escoffier cookbook

Larousse Gastronomique

These books are very old school but provide a lot of the basics that are still in use today.

As far as the French Laundry cookbook goes, it's highly regarded but expensive. I had a chance to look through a copy and besides the amazing pictures there are some great tips (google Thomas Keller roasted chicken for an example). I will post some more when I clean out my closet and unpack some of my favorites form my last move.