Celebrity chefs snubbed on top 10 cookbook list

The most useful cookery book of all time is not written by a celebrity chef such as Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson, but by the founding chef of London's Bibendum restaurant.

Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories was the top choice of an expert panel of restaurateurs, chefs, writers and consumers who picked the top 10 recipe books for the August issue of Waitrose Food Illustrated.

“If you had to pick one book in the whole world to have on your shelf, this one will never let you down,” said the magazine’s editor William Sitwell. “It is fantastically useful and it does not exist because of a celebrity cooking show.”

On the celebrity front, only TV veterans Delia Smith and Rick Stein made the top 10.Â

The panellists were scathing about the encyclopaedic Larousse Gastronomique, which remains highly-regarded in culinary circles. They branded it the most useless cookery book ever and described it as “over-rated, esoteric and stuffy”.

Sitwell said it was too heavy, too expensive and too French. “It does not work as a cookery book, although it is fine if you are obsessive about detail and want to win pub quizzes,” he claimed.

“British cooking has come a long way and we don’t need to rely on French gastronomy,” he added. “We have our own culture and we don’t need books like this any more.”

Waitrose Food Illustrated top 10 recipe books

1. Roast Chicken and Other Stories: Simon Hopkinson with Lindsey Bareham
2. Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course
3. Real Fast Food: Nigel Slater
4. The River Cottage Meat Book: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
5. A New Book of Middle Eastern Food: Claudia Roden
6. Leith’s Techniques Bible: Susan Spaull and Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne
7. Elizabeth David Classics
8. Rick Stein’s Seafood School Cookbook
9. Chez Panisse Café Cookbook: Alice Waters
10. The Cook’s Companion: Stephanie Alexander