Manju’s fifth book comes in a small, neat volume- rather like the author herself. As dependable as expected from such a down-to-earth voice, ‘Classic Indian Recipes’ is one to keep on the kitchen shelves, it’s enticing photographs destined to be embellished with stains and spatters.

Conran and co-author Peter Prescott are fair about the chain restaurants when they see merit; they don’t go in for the knee-jerk rejection as less-experienced eaters tend to do. Credit is given where credit is due and nor do they bow to popular opinion, possibly because it’s unlikely either of them use Twitter that much and so can make their own minds up.

A hefty tome this, as befits one written by one of the big beasts of […]

Between the toasted halves of this book you’ll find recipes, packed with flavour and light on the stomach. Sweetcorn ‘burgers’ with sun dried tomatoes and goat’s cheese, Chipotle Chilli black bean ‘burgers’, red lentil and celeriac ‘burgers’, Sweet potato ‘burgers’ with lentils and kale and of course falafel ‘burgers’.

Anecdotes and advice fill the book, as does Boulestin’s engaging personality. Pretention free and a good read into the bargain, Boulestin’s lovely little book deserves to be discovered by home chefs and budding recipe writers alike

Slightly cheaply printed, and with the odd typo creeping in, this is not a book for the coffee table. Instead, petit, precise and packed with sensible classics it’s a book the true home chef can turn to again and again for reliable recipes that will always hit the spot.

The book is set out by seasons, which is always helpful and encourages the reader to use what’s in the shops and cheap. A dish of Spring cabbage and pancetta is simplicity itself and you know it can’t go wrong. His idea of using up spare cooked pasta in a frittata is an odd one, but probably worth a try, while baby spinach, pasta and smoked salmon is nought to plate in about ten minutes.

With so many ideas for breads and meals, as well as some pretty tasty photography too, The Bread Revolution will have you waving a flag at the barricades and driving back the oppressive hordes of sliced white breadism and their running dog lackeys, the subwaybunists. Power to the people, right on.

It’s all here- recipes from the sublime to the quite frankly ridiculous. Although many of the titles might serve to send even the keenest of cooks straight to the cooking sherry, the methods themselves break the complex dishes down into achievable component parts. Cheffy, sure, but at least not impossibly so. Few guests could fail to be impressed that you’re feeding them Ballotine of rabbit stuffed with Alba truffles and porcini with fontina fondue and canderli- not least by the fact you can say it all in one breath.

With the current trend for quirky cookery books offering an esoteric range of recipes from celebrity chefs, restaurateurs and bloggers, Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook plays the role of wise mother to their naughty children. It won’t set you up as a here today, gone tomorrow pop-up or supper club host but it will make your repertoire much more varied – and your life a lot easier, as Joanna Biddolph discovered.