Welcome to Cooks Books review and recommendation site. Recent reviews appear blog-style on this page, browse categories on the right side of the page. Feel free to leave comments on the books at the end of each review.
March 2, 2007
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Mollie Katzen 4 out of 5
Taking a look at the photos of the small restaurant in a converted gymnasium of a closed down school in Ithaca, New York back in 1977 it’s hard to believe that the food from such a humble venue would generate such an influential cookbook for vegetarians world wide. (more…)
March 2, 2007
Dictionary of Culinary and Menu Terms
Posted by cooksbooks under International, Reference, ingredients, nutrition, recommended1 Comment
Rodney Dale: 4 out of 5
Buy now from: Amazon UK Amazon USA
This is a very useful book, perfect for translating menus on holiday or seeking out special ingredients when back home..With 12,000 entries Rodney Dale’s dictionary translates a huge range of foreign foods and dishes, menu items, drinks, cooking techniques into English… (more…)
February 17, 2007
The Oxford Companion to Food
Posted by cooksbooks under Reference, ingredients, method, nutrition, technique[2] Comments
Alan Davidson 3 out of 5
This book is massive, apparently it took twenty years to compile and the amount of information about food in it is unbelievable. (more…)
February 17, 2007
Burgers (UK) The Gourmet Burger (USA)
Posted by cooksbooks under American, Fusion, International, professional chefs, recommended1 Comment
UK edition 
US edition
Paul Gayler 4 out of 5
This book has been on my want list for some time, so I was pretty chuffed to spot this in a discount book store (£4.99) while walking home after checking out a new(ish) Taco café in Notting Hill today (Great flavour, big prices, small portions) and I’ve been reading it since I got back, obviously I haven’t tried out any of the recipes yet but… (more…)
February 17, 2007
Chez Panisse Cooking
Posted by cooksbooks under American, Californian, French, Fusion, Italian, professional chefs, recommendedLeave a Comment
Paul Bertolli & Alice Waters 5 out of 5
Alice Waters pretty much kick-started the “California cuisine” revolution. When I working as a chef in “Californian restaurants” in both London and Paris in the early nineties, this book was our major reference to what we were supposed to be doing (more…)
February 15, 2007
The man who ate everything
Posted by cooksbooks under American, International, food writing / humour, nutrition, recommended[2] Comments
Jeffrey Steingarten 5 out of 5
A collection of Jeffrey’s writings as food critic of Vogue USA….and definitely not a selection of expense accounts write-ups of swanky Manhattan and L.A. restaurants, some of the food discussed is miles away from the world that the Vogue brand epitomises.
February 8, 2007
Flavours of the world
Posted by cooksbooks under British, Fusion, International, ingredients, professional chefs, recommendedLeave a Comment
Paul Gayler 5 out of 5
Why don’t we see Paul Gayler on the TV more often? Could it be that he just doesn’t have the star quality of such “characters” as Jamie and Ainsley? He’s far too down to earth and straightforward to be a celebrity. (more…)
February 8, 2007
A book of Mediterranean food.
Posted by cooksbooks under French, Italian, Mediterranean[3] Comments
Elizabeth David 3 out of 5
When the whole of Britain faced the nazi threat during the second world war and we were apparently all pulling together for the war effort, “upper class” Elizabeth David decided to go on holiday setting off on a merry jaunt around the Med in her married lover’s yacht. (more…)
February 6, 2007
Damien Pignolet 3 out of 5
A book on French cooking written by an Australian…..don’t let that put you off, when I had to recruit chefs when working in London kitchens being Australian was certainly a plus point for candidates. At that time Aussie chefs seemed to have more enthusiasm and understanding of food than young English cooks, maybe because of the influence of mentors such as Pignolet. (more…)
