Rick Stein's Cookery Course: Recipes and techniques from a lifetime in the kitchen

After more than sixty years at the stove, Rick Stein has gone back to first principles. Here are the 150 classic recipes and techniques he returns to again and again, arranged by the ingredient at their heart: eggs and dairy, vegetables, fish and shellfish, meat and poultry, rice and grains. Step-by-step photographs show how things are actually done, from the small jobs that underpin good cooking to dishes worth making a fuss over.

It is his most extensive book so far, and it reads like time spent in his kitchen, with practical tips sitting alongside stories from a long working life. Given his Padstow roots, the fish and shellfish chapter is a particular pleasure. This is a generous, sensible companion for the cook who wants to understand why a recipe works, not just follow it.