Food Porn.
Where to start? So many influences upon my thinking, my being, my fridge, my bathroom scales.

My top five faves;

1. Delia Smith's "How to cook" Oh God! Her carefully presented treatise on how to slice an onion was a Godsend. I had been living in a fool's paradise until this book came into my possession. I now slice exactly as Delia demands! And so, so slowly, to best enjoy each delightful cut. Even now I hear Delia whispering gently in my ear as my knife gently slices. Tears well, eyes sting, but I persist. And her fish supper? Smells divine.

2. Jamie Oliver's "Happy Days with the Naked Chef" Covert reading by torchlight after lights out in the dorm. Oh, how the chaps begged for a quick glimpse of Jamies's wilted spinach.

3. Ainsley Harriot's "Low Fat Meals in Minutes" Low Fat? My arse! The man is huge. Too much for one mouth, he strides across the gastro-landscape, cheery bonce leering from each page.

4. Keith Floyd's "Floyd's China" Mirth abounds as bon-vivant Keith lurches from page to page, drooling and stumbling in his affable but unintelligible delivery as he none-too subtly backhands the locals for being mere simple peasants.

5. Stephanie Alexander's "The Cooks Companion" Classic raw, direct, no holds barred Aussie cooking. Don't f**k around, just f**cking cook it now ya big poof. And gimmie another beer.
( Ken Oath, Tue 20 May 2008, 14:43, 1 reply)

Don't take this the wrong way but
do you actually cook with them?

My go-to cookbook is... er... these days it's the internet, but I started out with something called the Good Cheap Cookbook. Published by Woman's Day, it's butcher's paper with 1970's Aussie recipes - sounds awful, and is, but contains the basics, such as pancakes, white sauce, soup etc. Nowadays I am a culinary genius and don't need it, except when I feel the urge to make pancakes and forget how much egg to flour to milk there should be. I like Delia Smith a lot, though.
(Emily Bruce-Dickinson http://jovialfellow.blogspot.com/, Thu 22 May 2008, 11:17, closed)