Paul Howell, chef at Twenty Seven Steps and Downstairs, remembers growing up with Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course (1982).

“It was probably the first cookbook I came across. It was my mum’s and brother’s – they were a big influence on my cooking.”

His favourite, though, would be The Complete Nose to Tail. A Kind of British Cooking, by Fergus Henderson (2012). It’s about eating all of the animal and is unapologetically an offal bible. “It’s groundbreaking in its style of photography and design. It’s not just photos of perfect dishes but also steps along the way. So there’s photos of pigs’ heads and so on. Many others are trying to emulate that approach now.”

Paul, a native of Port Talbot in South Wales, also likes that it is British and celebrates the nation’s ingredients and techniques. “I’ve used some of the recipes in the restaurant. Roast bone marrow with a parsley salad. Roast beef cheeks.”

Fiddlesticks’ Sam Lineham narrows his favourites down to two – Al Brown’s Eat Up New Zealand (2017) and Yotam Ottolenghi’s Sweet (2017).

“With Al Brown, I remember him from his TV days, driving around the country in a blue Holden for the series Hunger for the Wild. I was a big fan of that when I was 8 or 10 years old.”

Sam’s favourite Al Brown recipe is spiced braised pork, buttermilk pancakes, smoked chipotle butter and maple syrup – “sweet, savoury and indulgent”.

His love affair with Ottolenghi’s recipes came just after graduating as a chef, when Sam was getting into the more creative side of working with pastry. “He has odd combinations that really pay off.”

There’s no hesitation from Shafeeq Ismail, head chef and owner of Odeon and Story – “Ottolenghi, books 1 and 2.” To the unitiated, that’s Ottolenghi: The Cookbook (2008) and Plenty (2010). Shafeeq loves them so much he has copies at home and at work.
Why? “Little things done well and tasty.”

Shafeeq even did a stint in Ottolenghi’s restaurant. “He gives people the freedom to be creative.”

Ottolenghi’s recipes are easy even for the home cook. There’s not too much fuss yet “you can feel the emotion, the love that’s in there”.