No Place Like Home, By Rowley Leigh

Along with The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book and Simple French Food by Richard Olney, this is one of the few recipe books that you can sit down and read.

One of our foremost chefs, Leigh is a literate and amusing writer, who sets his recipes in such amusingly sketched contexts as picnics ("I have never had a picnic in France that was not ruined by wasps"), barbecues ("that strange combination of driving rain and burnt sausage") and a club dinner for the rich uncle (after oyster and onion tart and roast grouse, "he will be very gratified and there could be a return on the investment").

Unlike most cookbooks by chefs, this is intended for home cooking. Recipes are inspired, practical and delicious – especially griddled scallops with pea purée.