According to online culinary resource 1000 Cookbooks, these are the Top 30 English language cookbooks of all time, as chosen by hundreds of chefs, food writers, food professionals and bloggers. To find out what the other 970 are click here

London-based Egyptian writer and anthropologist Claudia Roden wrote this influential book in 1968, inspiring countless cooks to try Middle Eastern recipes. Take it from award-winning food writer Diana Henry: “The prose is elegant and the recipes are terrific”. Buy it on Amazon

Jane Grigson helped put English food on the map with her 1974 publication, writing about its surprising range and reach over the years. Chef and food blogger Neil Buttery extolled it as a book with “amazing coverage… from a historical perspective.” Buy it on Amazon

Published in 2009, David Chang and Peter Meehan’s trendsetting book is already a modern classic, thanks to its innovative but accessible Asian-Western fusion recipes and the writers’ vibrant voices, which led Lucky Peach editor-in-chief Chris Ying to call it “a great book, not just a great cookbook”. Buy it on Amazon

Former Microsoft strategist Nathan Myhrvold, along with Chris Young, Maxime Bilet and a team at The Cooking Lab have compiled the most comprehensive collection yet on modernist cuisine – six volumes and 2,400 pages of reference and recipes that are both scientific and inspirational. New Zealand celebrity cook Annabel Langbein described it as “quite frankly extraordinary”. 

Patience Gray travelled around the Mediterranean with her sculptor partner while living off the land. The resulting book, which was published in 1986, “connects food to place” said writer Jason Goodwin, and teaches us “more about cuisine than fifty plump illustrated cookbooks”. Buy it on Amazon

This 1903 tome from Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, is described as “a bible” and “a must for all chefs” and is, quite simply, a masterpiece. As well as an essential reference book it offers a fascinating insight into culinary history. Buy it on Amazon

This 2008 veg-heavy cookbook was a game-changer. Nigella Lawson said of Jerusalem-born authors and chefs Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi that “Ottolenghi changed the way we cook [in the UK]… brought into our kitchens bold flavours, a vivid simplicity, a spirited but never tricksy inventiveness”. Buy it on Amazon

Shizuo Tsuji’s book, which is close to 40 years old, is largely regarded as the definitive book on Japanese cuisine not just for recipes but for techniques, and for readers looking for a deeper understanding of how Japanese food works. “It’s not hip, it’s not counter-culture, it IS culture,” is how Australian food writer and critic Jill Dupleix explained it. Buy it on Amazon

Richard Olney’s 1974 classic offers everyday French recipes for everyday people and remains an important work, even if today’s readers are more aware than previous generations of the book’s once novel dishes and ingredients. Tamsin Day-Lewis, food writer, filmmaker and sister of actor Daniel, loves its “unpretentious local recipes” and “life in food/food in life feel”. Buy it on Amazon

Almost 20 years after the publication of A Book of Middle Eastern Food, Claudia Roden released an updated version – an ultimate collection of recipes. Today, she’s not only thought of as a cookbook writer but, as historian Simon Schama put it: “A memorialist, historian, ethnographer, anthropologist, essayist, poet.” Buy it on Amazon

Useful, realistic, but also written with flair and eloquence by one of the world’s most famous food lovers, Nigella Lawson’s 1998 book is admired by professional chefs and home cooks in equal measure. Food writer Barbara Sweeney called it “personable, real and clever.” Buy it on Amazon

As much a social history book as a compendium of Jewish recipes, Claudia Roden’s reputation is up there with the most respected cookery writers of all time. Nigella Lawson wrote that “one can’t imagine a better food book than this, ever: for the reader and the cook.” High praise indeed. Buy it on Amazon

The first of three in an Italian cookery book series, from author and cookery school owner Marcella Hazan who died in 2013, this 1973 Classic Italian Cookbook is credited with introducing British and American audiences to traditional Italian cooking. Ken Hom remarked: “Marcella, through her classic book, taught me what a great cuisine Italian can be.” Buy it on Amazon

It’s hard to disagree with chef and author Skye Gyngell when she said that Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers “changed the face of cooking in London and so much produce is available here now because of their work.” The 1995 cookbook complements their River Café restaurant, which was one of the eateries at the forefront of the UK’s food revolution. Buy it on Amazon

It’s just 20 years old, yet restaurateur Stephanie Alexander’s influential reference and recipe book is, as chef Richard Corrigan said, “a tome, a work of a lifetime and a nod to my love of quality and luxury”. Buy it on Amazon

When this book, written by Sam & Sam Clark to accompany their London restaurant of the same name, was published in 2001 it was a game-changer, introducing to the British public predominantly Spanish, North African and Eastern Mediterranean flavours just as Britain’s food revolution exploded. Food blogger Danny Kingston called it “a great step towards using exotic ingredients and techniques”. Buy it on Amazon

Nigel Slater is one of Britain’s best-loved cookery writers, known for his recipes as well as his engaging, enthusiastic prose. The seasonal recipes in his 2005 Kitchen Diaries include, in the man’s own words: “fast food, slow food, big eats, little eats, quick pasta suppers, family roasts and even Christmas lunch.” Allan Jenkins, Editor of the Observer Food Monthly, describes it as “the purest pleasure to read. Open it on any page.” Buy it on Amazon

The longer title for Judy Rodger’s 2002 cookbook is A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant. True, the food at Rodger’s eatery is cherished but it’s also her useful advice on ingredients, dishes and cooking in general that makes her book invaluable. “This is one of those rare books that actually teaches you how to become a better cook,” said food writer and historian Bee Wilson. Buy it on Amazon

This is not so much a book as a bible, and the most extensive account of Thai cuisine in the English language. Written by Australian chef David Thompson, whose Thai restaurants are highly respected, this is a must-have book for fans of Asian cooking. “Like Roden, Thompson is a cultural conduit. A fascinating, meticulously-researched masterpiece,” is how author David Prior described it. Buy it on Amazon

The second of three Yotam Ottolenghi’s books to make it into the Top 30 pays homage to vegetarian fare. The secret of this 2010 book’s success is probably that Ottolenghi isn’t a vegetarian so he produces wonderful recipes to tempt carnivores as well. Ann Yonetani, founder of NUrture Food in NYC, loved it because it encourages her “to use and combine new plant-based ingredients in such delicious ways.” Buy it on Amazon

Published in 2012 this book, written by Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, is a culinary love letter to the city they were both born in – Ottolenghi in the Jewish west and Tamimi in the Arab east. The Little Library Café blogger Kate Young called it “a fascinating commentary on the power of food to unite cultures and people.” Buy it on Amazon

Described as “brilliant” by Heston Blumenthal, and regarded as Marcella Hazan’s masterpiece, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is a go-to book for authentic Italian recipes. “The one Italian cuisine book you really need,” wrote Just Hungry blogger Makiko Itoh. Buy it on Amazon

Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker’s home cook bible was self-published in 1931 then picked up by a publisher – it has been continually in print since 1936 and has sold more than 18 million copies. “THE classic American cookbook – from which millions learned to cook,” said publisher Stephanie Jackson. Buy it on Amazon

Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham’s 1994 book is, said restaurant critic and food writer Tom Parker-Bowles, “a great British classic”. Arranged by ingredients, respectful, unpretentious and reliable, Roast Chicken and Other Stories is as much revered by home cooks as it is by professional chefs. Buy it on Amazon

Before Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential there was Marco Pierre White’s 1990 seminal book, White Heat. Perhaps better known today for its insight into the heady world of kitchens and the mind-set of the original rock star chef than for its recipes, it “made a generation of young men want to become chefs,” said Australian chef Shane Osborn. Buy it on Amazon

Elizabeth David’s 1960 book on French regional cuisine is timeless. As well as teaching cooks how to make the perfect omelette, soufflé and cassoulet, it evokes France on every page. It’s a favourite of American food author Bill Buford: “David understands the narrative of making a dish of food. She also knows how to wear her enormous knowledge lightly. Eternal.” Buy it on Amazon

Thomas Keller’s acclaimed Californian restaurant, The French Laundry, is more than 20 years old and is one of America’s best restaurants – the New York Times called it “the most exciting place to eat in the United States”. This accompanying book, which came out in 1999, is “the quintessential fine dining restaurant book… hugely influential on all restaurant books since,” said Lisa Q. Fetterman, co-founder of WiFi sous machine company Nomiku. Buy it on Amazon

This giant compendium is perhaps the ultimate culinary reference book. Originally crafted by Prosper Montagnè in 1938, it’s been revised numerous times and is a must-have for any chef starting out. Wine writer Jon Bonné wrote that it “not only taught the basics, it put the entire [French] cuisine into context, including comparison to other cuisines. It’s canonical.” Buy it on Amazon

Fergus Henderson’s 1999 cookbook shows great respect for his ingredients – on eating animals he wrote that “it seems only polite to use the whole thing.” Loved by professional chefs, writers and home cooks, Nose to Tail Eating “is the source text for so many other books, restaurants and philosophies… one of a small group of cookbooks that are important beyond their culinary value,” explained Chris Ying, editor-in-chief of Lucky Peach. Buy it on Amazon

It won’t come as a great surprise that Julia Child’s 1961 book comes top in 1000 Cookbook’s list. Childs not only sells dishes, she sells an attitude and a lifestyle. “This is the foundational book for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of classic cuisine. Who else would describe an omelette as ‘a smooth, gently swelling, golden oval’,” wrote Robyn Metcalfe, founder of Austin’s Food + City. Quite. Buy it on Amazon