Books for Cooks

For the chef in your life, a cookbook is a sure way to their heart, and if you're lucky, to your stomach. From classic how-to-cook titles to sizzling gastronomic fare, AbeBooks has the perfect Christmas book recipe for all the foodies on your list.

New from Delia

Delia's Vegetarian Collection

Delia Smith

Vegetarian food has become integrated into mainstream cooking and plays an increasingly important role in many people's lives. Delia's books have always included large numbers of vegetarian recipes but now, in response to her millions of followers, Delia has selected her best vegetarian recipes to put into one collection.

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Richard & Judy Recommend

Cook with Jamie

Jamie Oliver

Here's the ultimate kitchen companion for the cook on your list. With Jamie as your teacher, enjoy making the delicious recipes that feature regularly at the restaurant. It's packed with hints, tips, advice and clear photographs to show you all the practical stuff, making this Jamie’s most accessible book yet.

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Gastronomy

The Nasty Bits

Anthony Bourdain

The Nasty Bits, which is dedicated to The Ramones punk band, is a must for any Bourdain fan. The short, sharp articles range across fat Americans and fast food, the Las Vegas restaurant scene, ghastly gastro-pubs in the UK, raw food devotees, and traveling the world to promote books and make television programs.

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[An Interview with Anthony Bourdain]

French Cooking

French Country Cooking

Elizabeth David

Full of authentic recipes, this book describes some of the splendid regional cookery of France. The food of each area has its own particular flavour, derived naturally from local resources. French Country Cooking shows the immense diversity of the cuisine through recipes that range from the primitive peasant soup of the Basque country to the refined Burgundian dish of hare with a cream sauce and chestnut purée.

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Fearless Eating

Hugh Fearlessly Eats it All: Dispatches from the Gastronomic Frontline

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

For almost two decades, 'Hugh Fearlessly-Eatsitall' has been writing about food in all its guises, from squirrel sandwiches to fresh road kill. Armed with a broad mind, a quick wit and a ready appetite, Hugh covers almost every area of global food culture.

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For Wine Lovers

The Oxford Companion to Wine

Jancis Robinson

Combining meticulously-researched fact with refreshing opinion and wit, this revised edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine offers almost 4,000 entries on every wine-related topic imaginable, from regions and grape varieties to the owners, connoisseurs, growers, and tasters in wine through the ages; from viticulture and oenology to the history of wine.

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New and Notable

In Search of Perfection

Heston Blumenthal

This tie-in book to the TV series of the same name contains all of Heston's recipes for the classic dishes, and all his hints and tips on how to cook the very best ingredients, as well as fascinating information on the background to these dishes.

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International Flavours

The New Curry Bible

Pat Chapman

In this bible of Indian food, Pat Chapman brings the much loved Curry Menu to life. His method is borne out of a passion for Indian food and the restaurants that serve it - he has selected the finest dishes from over 1,000 of the best Curry houses in the land.

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Autobiography

Humble Pie

Gordon Ramsay

This is Gordon Ramsay’s autobiography – the first time he has told the full story of how he became the world’s most famous and infamous chef: his difficult childhood, his brother’s heroin addiction and his failed first career as a footballer: all of these things have made him the celebrated culinary talent and media powerhouse that he is today.

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Staff Pick

The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen

Peter Berley

"Purchased on a whim, while trying to expand my cookbook selection, it's become a regular favourite. Predominantly vegan, each section of the book is accompanied by explanation of techniques and the reasons for cooking in the manner the author has outlined, which has greatly improved my skill in approaching food prep. The recipes are mix of easy and elaborate - but often share a common refrain of - fresh and homemade (the author is big advocate of macrobiotic, fresh, organic), so if you want to make your own pasta dough or seitan you can, but you could cheat and buy pre-made." -- Michael P.

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