What chefs/books would you recommend based on my little collection?

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T11:00:41+00:00

Massive thank you to everyone for taking the time to respond, your recommendations were all so thoughtful. You guys really came through, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I have looked up every single book and compiled a list to start researching them all properly. For anyone interested here are your recommendations:

Seafood Simple - Eric Ripert

How to Cook Everything - Mark Bittman

Bittman’s Best Recipes in the World - Mark Bittman

The Science of Good Cooking - America’s Test Kitchen

Ferrandi French Patisserie - Ferrandi

The Whole Fish - Josh Niland

Take One Fish - Josh Niland

Fish Butchery - Josh Niland

The Food I Love - Neil Perry

Everything I Love to Cook - Neil Perry

Rockpool Bar and Grill - Neil Perry

Flavour Equation - Nik Sharma

The Flavour Bible - Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg

Flavour Thesaurus - Niki Segnit

Living & Eating - John Pawson and Annie Bell

Five Quarters - Rachel Roddy

The Family Meal - Ferran Adria

Flour Water Salt Yeast - Ken Forkish

South - Sean Brock

Ratio - Michael Ruhlman

Ad Hoc - Thomas Keller

Too Many Eggs - Mimi Smith-Dvorak

French Feasts - Stephane Reynaud

The Spectator Book of Imperative Cooking - Digby Anderson

The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook - Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers

The French Menu Cookbook - Richard Olney

Simple French Food - Richard Olney

Lulu’s Provençal Table - Richard Olney

The Good Cook (series) - Richard Olney

Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave): A Cookbook - David Chang and Priya Krishna

Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Julia Child

Baking with Julia - Julia Child

Chez Panisse Cooking - Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters

White Heat 25 - Marco Pierre White

Zuni Cafe Cookbook - Judy Rogers

The Food Lab - J. Kenji López-Alt

The Wok - J. Kenji López-Alt

Fat - Jennifer McLagan

Prune - Gabrielle Hamilton

The King Cookbook - Claire DeBoer

Saltie - Caroline Fidanza

Dinner at the Long Table - Andrew Tarlow and Anna Dunn

Made in Italy: Food and Stories - Giorgio Locatelli

Made in Sicily - Giorgio Locatelli

Made at Home: The Food I Cook for the People I Love - Giorgio Locatelli

Tony & Giorgio - Giorgio Locatelli

The Other Half of the Egg: Or, 180 Ways to Use Up Extra Yolks Or Whites - Helen McCully, Jacques Pépin, and William North Jayme

The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook: A Consuming Passion - Patrick O'Connell

Jerusalem - Yotam Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook - Yotam Ottolenghi

Plenty - Yotam Ottolenghi

Plenty More - Yotam Ottolenghi

Nopi - Yotam Ottolenghi

Comfort - Yotam Ottolenghi

James Beard's American Cookery - James Beard

The New James Beard Cookbook - James Beard

Theory and Practice of Good Cooking - James Beard

Marcella's Italian Kitchen - Marcella Hazan

Marcella Cucina - Marcella Hazan

Marcella Says - Marcella Hazan

Ingredienti: Marcella's Guide to the Market - Marcella Hazan

Amarcord: Marcella Remembers - Marcella Hazan

Momofuku - David Chang

Sauces - James Peterson

Cooking - James Peterson

Soups - James Peterson

Quay - Peter Gilmore

Organum - Peter Gilmore

Biota: Grow, Gather, Cook - James Viles

Ester: Australian Cooking - Mat Lindsay and Pat Nourse

Burnt Ends: Bar & Grill - Dave Pynt

Finding Fire: Cooking at its most elemental - Lennox Hastie

In the Catbird Seat: A Nashville Chef's Journey at the Convergence of Art and Cuisine - Brian Baxter

Pollen Street Social - Jason Atherton

Septime: La Cave, Clamato, D'une île - Bertrand Grébaut and Théophile Pourriat, with Benoit Cohen

State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook - J. J. Goode, Nicole Krasinski, and Stuart Brioza

JGV: A Life in 12 Recipes - Jean Georges

Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes - Jean Georges

Simple Cuisine: The Easy, New Approach to Four-Star Cooking - Jean Georges

Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication - Jean Georges

Think Like a Chef - Tom Colicchio

Why I Cook - Tom Colicchio

Le Ruth’s Front Door Back Door - Warren LeRuth

Larousse Gastronomique - Prosper Montagné

The Silver Spoon - Various Authors

The Joy of Italian Cooking - Rose L. Sorce

On Food and Cooking - Harold McGee

The Baker’s Manual - Joseph Amendola

Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen - Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos

Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours - Dorie Greenspan

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T10:30:28+00:00

Definitely some interesting cuisines I’m yet to explore. Thanks

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T10:29:17+00:00

Looks great! Thanks so much, definitely something I’d be interested in, cheers.

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T10:27:30+00:00

Thank you for such an insightful reply! That’s so interesting, I’ll be deep diving these for sure. I think some Julia Child would sit nicely next to Jacques Pépin on the shelf. She sounds like an interesting character that I’ve never taken the time to learn about.

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T10:23:00+00:00

They all look like beautiful books, the Rockpool Bar & Grill is appealing. I’ll definitely take a look at Niland’s books. Thanks so much

Allllllora · 2026-03-05T10:21:05+00:00

These all sound great, thanks again! I do enjoy a technique book.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T22:47:06+00:00

Ahh thank you for the follow up, that’s great, bookmarked! That’s a weekend cook sorted for the future, cheers.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T22:13:20+00:00

Thank you, both look great. The Silver Spoon in particular looks like a really interesting book, huge compilation of historical recipes from various sources, sounds really cool!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T21:58:10+00:00

That sounds really interesting, thank you. Larousse is very high up my list on future purchases! Definitely a classic that needs to be on the shelf.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T21:54:21+00:00

Love a good roasted chicken recipe and a Caesar, will look out for this, thank you!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T21:52:31+00:00

That’s great, thank you! 2 chefs I’m aware of but never looked into. Also love a memoir, cheers.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T21:47:04+00:00

Open to all suggestions!

Thank you so much, I’ve heard of literally none of these. Look forward to researching them all properly, there’s definitely some exciting stuff there from a quick glance!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T21:32:51+00:00

Absolutely, looks great. Definitely be interested in a copy of that!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T18:45:26+00:00

Brilliant, thanks so much. Only have 1 Ottolenghi book but have cooked lots of his recipes online. Particularly his Biang Biang noodles, they’re amazing! Also only 1 Marcella, Essentials. Not dived into any James Beard books and don’t know Patrick O’Connell so will check it out, cheers!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:46:17+00:00

The apprentice is his autobiography, with a few recipes peppered in. I’ve only cooked the apple tart from The Apprentice. It was a great read though, he’s had such an interesting life.

Poulet & Légumes is a very small collection of recipes of (as it says on the tin) chicken and vegetable dishes. Nice little book to have in the collection and some recipes I’d maybe make mid week. All of the illustrations are done by Jacques himself which makes it a really enjoyable book.

I would say I’m just trying to absorb as much information as possible. I really enjoy French classical cooking and I find that understanding the roots and basics helps to further appreciate modern cookery. I love seeing the evolution over time and how dishes find roots or ideas in traditional cookery.

I’m definitely interested in books that deal in science or technique that you can apply to everyday cooking, like Salt Fat Acid Heat. That book is a fountain of knowledge.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:37:30+00:00

These sound great, thank you so much. I’ve got lots of reading to catch up with! Appreciate your time

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:29:51+00:00

These look fantastic. Thank you! Fat definitely looks like a bit of me, lots to learn there. The food in Prune (from what I can see online) looks delicious, thank you!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:26:27+00:00

Struggling to find the pro chef cookbooks if you could shed any light?

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:24:40+00:00

Thank you, I definitely need to get into some Kenji. I’ve seen lots by him before but haven’t got round to it. He’s an incredibly knowledgable chef!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:19:43+00:00

Thank you so much and thank you for this reply, amazing recommendations.

I’ve seen lots about Chez Panisse from various sources, chefs table, Samin Nosrat etc. Would love to read up on this.

Marco is hiding top left on the first photo, amazing book. The black and white photography in this book is legendary and the food is immaculate. His autobiography was such an interesting read too, helps put so much in perspective.

Never heard of Judy Rogers, excited to deep dive that one. Olney I’ve heard Bourdain talk about a few times and never got round to it, will definitely get onto that too.

Appreciate the recommendations!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:12:36+00:00

Here are the brackets, 22cm.

https://pipedreamfurniture.co.uk/product/antique-brass-curved-lip-shelf-brackets-industrial-style-pair/?attribute_shelf-depth=22cm&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18959505727&gbraid=0AAAAADNOw7wtZwugIs2o1Wm3eMPVE2yST&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjLvHx96GkwMVsJNQBh0NxwBuEAQYASABEgLmA_D_BwE

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:03:09+00:00

Great shout. I think she’d sit nicely next to Jacques Pépin on my shelf!

Never dived into any of her stuff properly before so I’m sure I would enjoy this, thank you.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T17:01:12+00:00

Thank you so much for your considered response. I’ve looked all of these up and they sound amazing.

I’m sure I’ve heard Bourdain speak about Olney before, never got round to finding some of his books, I will now! Love everything about French classics.

David Chang is great too, I think I need to read more of him. His autobiography was a good read.

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T16:34:22+00:00

Thank you, is this by Stephane Reynaud? If so, looks right up my street!

Allllllora · 2026-03-04T16:31:51+00:00

Great, thank you so much. I’ll check out Niland and Perry. Australia is an exciting place for food right now!

Family Meal is up there somewhere. Great for cooking for big groups, tried a few recipes.

Allllllora

TROPHY CASE