The 23 most mouthwatering cookbooks to tickle the tastebuds of your foodie friends and

For the Love of Lemons by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant £28, 256pp)

Suffused with Italian sunshine, this is a love letter to the humble lemon.

Clark, who lives in Sardinia, adores the versatility of lemons, from savoury dishes – spaghetti with tuna and lemons, or a shaved fennel and lemon salad – to sweets like a lemon self-saucing pudding and a lemon tiramisu. Buonissimo!

How I Cook by Ben Lippett (HarperCollins £26, 320pp)

Unusually, the introduction to this book is every bit as good as the recipes. Lippett, an experienced chef, reveals all sorts of insider secrets, from looking after your kitchen tools to choosing the best meat and how to use herbs – ‘often and with abandon.’ Recipes range from simple yet delicious omelettes, salads and home-made pastas to more complex dishes like crispy pork belly with sesame sauce or baked cod with chorizo and peas. Instructive and entertaining, this is a cracking read.

Sama Sama by Julie Lin (Ebury £28, 288pp)

Brought up in Scotland by a Malay mother and a Scottish father, Julie Lin mixes up both countries’ traditional dishes to create a tasty ‘mish-mash ­cuisine’.

With recipes such as pork and prawn dumplings, masala beans with poached eggs, and a hibiscus and tamarind ­posset, it’s a charming and original cookbook.

Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh (Murdoch Books £26, 336pp)

Baking, writes Helen Goh, is ‘an act of connection, of celebration, and a way to express love and care.’ With a bumper 100 recipes, both sweet and savoury, any keen baker will find lots of new things to try in this exciting book. Malaysian-born Goh loves to experiment with unusual ingredients and her sweet bakes incorporate durian, dandelions, pandan, ginger beer and even spinach. There are also plenty of recipes using everyday ingredients in an inventive way, like the chocolate mousse tart with ginger-poached pears.

Sour Cherries and Sunflowers by Anastasia Zolotarev (Quadrille £22, 208pp)

With a Ukrainian father and a Belarusian mother, Zolotarev writes lovingly of her East European heritage and its distinctive cuisine.

There are blinis, borsch and dumplings, and plenty of pies and stews – such as stuffed sweet and sour onions in plum sauce – plus delectable puds including a layered apple and cinnamon sponge cake.

Pull Up a Chair by Martha Collison (Kyle £26, 208pp)

Former Bake Off finalist Martha ­Collison has a knack for delicious yet uncomplicated food, perfect for either a family supper or a smart dinner party.

Savoury dishes range from crispy mushroom udon noodles to Earl Grey roast salmon; the baking section, with treats like autumn blackberry blondies, is equally tempting.

Mexican Table by Thomasina Miers (Quadrille £28, 256pp)

Miers, founder of restaurant chain Wahaca, builds this exuberant book around 12 staple ingredients of Mexican cuisine including tomatoes, chillies, ­citrus, and chocolate.

You’ll need to source some unfamiliar ingredients but it’s worth the effort – ­recipes such as spatchcocked chicken with a mango salsa, and a chocolate sorbet with smoked chilli oil are packed with flavour.

Stay for Supper by Xanthe Ross (Hardie Grant £25, 192pp)

Ross, who started her cooking career running pop-up supper clubs, specialises in no-stress, inexpensive food with plenty of zest. Highlights include a burnt courgette, basil and cannellini bean stew and a showstopping tart with wild mushrooms, ricotta and caramelised onion. Twentysomethings will love this book.

Mary 90 by Mary Berry (BBC Books £28, 304pp)

To mark Dame Mary’s 90th birthday this year, here are 90 of her favourite recipes, from a ­succulent cauliflower and potato curry to pepper pot chicken stew and that legendary lemon drizzle cake. Illustrated with ­nostalgic photos of Mary throughout her long career, this is a delightful book from one of our national treasures.

Sweet by Alexina Anatole (Square Peg £27, 240pp)

Anatole, a 2021 MasterChef finalist, loves desserts that balance sweetness with some tartness.

In this sumptuous book she reimagines many classic teatime treats, from date, fennel seed and lemon scones to a rice pudding soufflé cake and a green apple, vanilla and basil tart. The result is fresh, exciting baking for modern tastes.

Indian 101 by Karan Gokani (Bluebird £28, 288pp)

Chef Gokani demystifies home-cooked Indian food as he guides you through classics such as black dal, paneer shashlik, and Bengali lamb curry. There is a useful section on how to use spices, tips on achieving the ­perfect fluffy rice, and a list of dishes that can be whipped up in half an hour.

Eat Yourself Healthy by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph £30, 320pp)

Now (amazingly) aged 50, Jamie wants to stay fit for the future. There are a bumper 120 recipes here, with low-calorie, high- protein breakfasts, lunches and dinners and some wholesome sweets. 

His tasty and colourful omelettes, stir fries, stews, salads and wraps, packed with vegetables, make healthy eating look like fun.

Persiana Easy by Sabrina Ghayour (Mitchell Beazley £28, 240pp)

In the third in her Persiana series, Ghayour offers up fuss-free Middle Eastern food. Along with snacks, dips and ­salads, there are hearty main courses such as her grandmother’s fragrant chicken, and hashweh, a spicy Lebanese rice dish topped with pine nuts and almonds. Desserts include a pineapple, spiced caramel and thyme tarte tatin.

Beyond Baking by Philip Khoury (Quadrille £30, £256pp)

Can you make indulgent ­patisserie without using butter, cream and eggs? Pastry chef Khoury shows how with a collection of vegan biscuits, cakes, ­pastries, pies and mousses: the standouts include molten chocolate biscuits, a coconut mille­feuille and a yuzu meringue pie. These are sophisticated recipes for confident cooks.

Lugma by Noor Murad (Quadrille £28, 288pp)

Lugma – Arabic for a bite or mouthful – celebrates the cuisine of the Middle East with recipes such as sweet date and sour tamarind sea bass, melt-in-your-mouth okra, and pistachio cake with labneh cream. Murad, born in Bahrain but raised in Britain, is a likeable guide to this enticing food.

Around the Table by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley £20, 320pp)

This isn’t a recipe book but a collection of 52 essays, full of inspiring ideas for things to eat and flavour combinations to try. Henry writes vividly about food, from her first taste of French ­cuisine to the joys of Turkish breakfasts, and why soup should never be dull. A captivating book to dip into.

Padella by Tim Siadatan (Bloomsbury £25, 368pp)

Siadatan, a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant, knows his rigatoni from his ravioli and this hefty book is full of mouthwatering pasta: gnocchi with nutmeg butter, linguine with wild turbot, and ‘assassin’s ­spaghetti’, a fiery dish where the pasta is cooked like risotto. The sections on perfect pasta preparation and mastering basic sauces are excellent.

The Spanish Pantry by Jose Pizarro (Hardie Grant £28, 256pp)

Spanish food relies on fresh, simple ingredients like tomatoes, peppers, lemons, almonds, rice, beans and chorizo.

This vibrant guide show how best to use these staples, with starters such as chilled roast tomato soup with figs and heartier mains like clams with creamy white beans and bacon. There are some wonderfully decadent ­puddings, too.

(Almost) Instant Noodles by Lily Martin (Hamlyn £16.99, 176pp)

For speedy, nourishing and good value food, you can’t do much better than noodles.

 The Asian-influenced recipes here go from fragrant broths to salads and stir fries. With sections on the many different types of ­noodles, and suggested sauces and spices, it’s a great introduction to the world of noodles.

Full of Beans by Amelia Christie-Miller (Kyle £22, 192pp)

Beans are virtuously high in fibre and protein, but aren’t they rather dull?

This book shows just how tasty they can be, with dishes such as black bean, beetroot and walnut dip, a traybake of chipotle, red kidney beans and baked feta, and a warming chickpea, tomato and harissa stew. Read this and you’ll be a bean convert.

Cooking Fast and Slow by Natalia Rudin (Penguin Life £25, 256pp)

Written by a busy professional chef who struggled to prepare healthy food for ­herself, this is a collection of nutritious, quick-to-assemble meals. 

Preparing a kimchi noodle stir fry or sticky chicken skewers takes a mere 15 minutes, while the miso mushroom gnocchi needs just half an hour. There’s an inspiring selection of ­colourful salads, too.

In For Dinner by Rosie Kellett (Vintage Digital £27, 203pp)

Aimed at those who are intimidated at cooking for big groups, these 101 recipes range from beetroot, black lentil, feta and walnut salad to pasta with porcini mushroom ragu and a spectacular chocolate and white miso cake. A terrific manual for anyone cooking for a big family or for a household on a budget.

Modern Indian by Cyrus Todiwala (White Lion £22, 208pp)

Small plates, like tapas or antipasti, are currently all the rage, so why not apply this idea to Indian food?

This appealing book presents light bites and smaller dishes to serve as part of a spread, including a warm smoked fish salad, baby corn fritters in chilli sauce, and potato cakes in green chutney.