Cookbooks/Chef-driven books
 

I've recently started building a cookbook collection which currently holds:

1) Gordon Ramsay: 3-star chef
2) Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite
3) Savoring Mexico
4) Savoring Provence (both these are from Williams-Sonoma)
5) The food of Thailand
6) Mediterranean Cuisine: Turkey

What books do you have and like?

The alton brown book(s) are a fun read

My favorites are two classics from Diana Kennedy, "The Cuisines of Mexico," and "Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico." My understanding is that she consulted with Fonda San Miguel in Austin (my favorite Mexican restaurant) when they started.

Thomas Keller's Bouchon and French Laundry books. The former is useful and can be followed, the latter requires enormous amounts of time and a brigade of assistance!

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook

Giorgio Locatelli 'Made in Italy'

Most of Nigel Slater's books

Yes they are and he is basically the only chef I even watch on TV anymore. His recipes are good but his show and explanations are great. I have used his ideas more times then I can remember and they are always great.

I watch Nigella Lawson also but it really isn't for the food. :D

Funny about Nigella. I started watching her because of the food, she made a clementine or mandrine orange cake that was spectacular.

You boiled them for two and a half hours, then ran them throught the food processor, etc. When I first tracked her down I didn't have a clue what she looked like, I fully expected the same grandmother in an apron on all the Italian PBS cooking shows.

Nigella's cookbooks are quite good too, be they bought for the stories or not :D

Another vote for Nigel Slater (assume they are available in the US). Great food, invariably tastes good, nothing too complex and well focussed on seasonal produce. My only criticsm would be a slight deficit of fish receipes v meat. The Kitchen Diaries is my favourite.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat Cookbook is another cracker.

^ to Giorgio Locatelli too.

Regretably Nigella is a little less alluring in the flesh (or she was the Sunday I saw her buying Nespresso capsules in Selfridges).

Which reminds me, Rick Stein fills that gap for me. His 'Complete Seafood' is my fish bible and currently sits next to Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat cookbook.

Noooooo, don't shatter the illusion! (Anyway, I've moved onto Sophie Dahl and not for her rather lackluster cookery)

Ahh, I need to buy that. ^

I've been thinking of picking up Ad Hoc by him. I've heard his three books are very informative in terms of what to buy, what to use, why do x....Sounds like something you could take with you outside of just the book's recipes.

"The Man who Ate the world"

Before becoming engrossed in cookbooks, some "prep" reading about food, restaurants and chefs can be rewarding and educational. I still enjoy some of the classic "food-writers".

I'm in the process of donating a 400+/- volume collection to the state's "Technical College" which has a "Culinary Arts" department designed to train chefs, managers, etc., for other than "haute cuisine' duty.

I watched Alton Brown last night (I think...), where he made some sort of lamb curry using a home-made tandoor(i) oven (created out of a terra cotta flower pot). I enjoyed watching the episode, but I kept thinking to myself "this meal requires way too much work."

I've got books by pretty much everyone, including some that most folks probably don't have (Helen Corbitt, anyone except TMOliver???) and a first edition "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management"

I've met Gordon Ramsay (he was charming), Jamie Oliver and Gennaro Contaldo (on a BA flight from LGW to Pisa, with Jason Flemyng for some reason), and Wolfgang Puck (short and sweet).

If you're starting a cookbook collection, I would recommend getting a copy of Larousse Gastronomique and some Julia Child books.

They are hugely informative. I read both 'French Laundry' and 'Bouchon' before I started to try any of the recipes.

On a similar note, I would recommend Locatelli's book 'Made in Italy'. Aside from the fabulous recipes, I learned so much about genuine Italian food.

Look forward to it. I'll check out "Made in Italy". Been looking for a good Italian book. One that doesn't have just recipes (authentic), but one that discusses about Italian food and techniques. I also thought about picking up the Pasta book (I can't remember the exact title).

I keep eying the Keller books, but they are always in the wrapping. I hate the idea of spending $50 a pop for a book I can at least check out before purchasing.