Food writers and chefs on their favorite cookbooks

It’s always fun to learn which cookbooks famous food writers and top chefs find useful or inspirational. Today our insight into this arena comes via Eater London, where they have polled several food writers and chefs (in addition to Eater staff members) on which cookbooks are their favorites. EYB Member favorites Ruby Tandoh, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, and Nigella Lawson weigh on their picks.

Nigella chooses The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander. She praises the book because it “bulges with ideas, inspiration, and recipes that still seem fresh, even though it was first published 24 years ago.” Ruby picks another oldie-but-goodie, this one The Bread Book by Linda Collister and Anthony Blake. She says “I love how retro and untrendy it is, but mainly it’s just a really good book — concise but thorough, clear, well-researched and full of human stories.”

Several food writers and Eater London contributors choose tomes by the authors mentioned above. Baker and food writer Dan Lepard is a fan of Nigella Lawson’s At My Table. Lepard notes that “Nigella’s recipes works backwards from what the reader has in their cupboard or fridge, the situation they’re planning to cook for, and how they‘d fork or finger it from plate to mouth: that feels real and solid right now.”