Homemade booze is all the rage and easy to make. Forget pea pod wine of The Good Life fame and instead put your trust in wine and all round drinks expert, Susy Atkins.

Already respected authors of Middle Eastern cookbooks, the Maloufs saw Persian food as the final key to the cuisine of the area. Food unlocks cultures, brings people together like a common language and often begins and then bedrocks friendships. For them it was to be an eye-opening trip both in taste and experience.

This is a book to take not just on a journey but also to bed. Its comfortable meander through cities and civilisations (even those that bristle with the bustle of the bazaar) brings restful calm and its fabulous photographs (of places and plates) ensure you end your day with the softest images imaginable. You’ll want it by your sofa and in your kitchen, too.

This book is a happy read for anyone who has ever dreamt of giving up the daily grind and breaking free to finally live their own personal dream. Filled with detailed, mouth-watering descriptions of delicious cakes and buns, and several delectable recipes, this book will fast become your missing kitchen utensil.

French wine; are you au fait or dans le noir? Do you know your Alsatian whites from your Rhone Valley reds? For anyone wanting to learn more about the many wines of France, this guide could well be the place to start.

To look at the Michelin Stars and the 50 Best Restaurant Awards, you’d think Italian food almost didn’t exist, so under represented is it on the lists. For many people, myself very much included, it would be better to be marooned on a dessert island with an Italian chef and a magic bottomless larder of provisions than with any other chef in the world.

I am ‘fired’ up myself by this book and have marked out the area required in my garden already. I may never get any further than that but I already feel rather proud of my efforts. The book is itself a fascinating read and one to pore over when it’s raining outside and your thoughts turn to comfort food.

This is a lovely book to read and cook from. As good to dip into on the commute to and from work as it is to use in the kitchen. So many cookbooks appear every week by people who are just after your money. Tim is after your soul or at the very least your yolk.

In his book, Dr. Peter Schleicher guides us with a thorough historical explanation of the power of alchemy, and the healing attributes of plants and other natural products, toward chronic illnesses, primarily cancer. By using the highest quality of ingredients and exact combinations, followed by traditional methods of alchemy like separatio (separation), purificatio (purification), Cohobatio (combination), to name a few, we get a pure result, a natural remedy which can be used towards the treatment of a specific ailment or disease.

Personally I miss Lloyd Grossman, who was running the MasterChef kitchen when the majority of Twatters were in nappies. The twisted vowels, the rather odd people who applied to be on and the palpable non-tension of the studio setting were all rather charming.