Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Cooking Revealed with 235 Great-tasting Recipes by Shirley O Corriher, ISBN 0-688-10229-8, Morrow

Shirley Corriher got into cooking somewhat by accident. She began her career as a research biochemist at the Vanderbilt Medical School before she and her first husband started a boys' boarding school and she had to develop some kitchen skills fast. After she and her husband divorced, she left the boarding school and found herself starving with three children. Nathalie Dupree ran the Rich's Cooking School in Atlanta where Shirley had taken cooking classes to upgrade her skills and, because of her chemistry background, was able to explain why things when wrong when they did. Nathalie had often called her for advice and when she heard of Shirley's plight, offered her a holiday job setting up the classes, helping students and cleaning up afterwards.

"Pretty soon people all over the southeast were calling me with their food science questions." Shirley started running her own classes, Food Science in Everyday Language. Her book CookWise reveals the secrets of cooking, explaining the hows and whys. How to stop the meringue on lemon meringue pie from collapsing and weeping. Why pie crusts burn. What makes emulsion sauces split. She uses recipes to illustrate the chemistry behing cooking and how modifying ingredients can drastically alter the outcome.

Knowledge is power and the diligent student will soon learn what makes cakes tough, what causes them to go crumbly, or grainy, or peak like a volcano or be full of tunnels.

This is a great book to dip into. My latest piece of knowledge - chlorophyll loses its bright green colour after seven minutes of cooking. So, if you want those greens to stay green, take Shirley's advice.

This is Shirley's first book, published in 1997 but it's every bit as useful and informative a decade on. The writing style is easy to follow and the reader can't help but become a better, more informed cook.

Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors, by Lizzie Collingham, ISBN 0-7011-7335-1, Chatto & Windus

This is a fascinating trip from the courts of Delhi to the curry houses of Birmingham. It's one of those nice scholarly books that leaves you better informed with every page, and yet it is a painless journey of learning.

It's interspersed with charming pictures, interesting recipes. In fact the recipes tell a tale of their own - how British food was subtly influenced over the centuries by the food its citizens experienced in India.

The diversity of cuisines throughout India and the historical events that shaped them make for a good read. I am still savouring this book, taking it in bite-sized bits and digesting it as I go.

The Adventure of Food: True Stories of Eating Everything, edited by Richard Sterling ISBN 1885211376 Sterling

This was a Christmas present from my husband who is reluctant to buy me cookbooks ("in case you already have them") but has an eye for a good food tale. This one didn't let him down.

Some of these are quite short stories, little tastes. Others are meaty chunks. But that's life.

And then what happens when it comes to one's last meal? Certainly one of the most poignant tales concerns former French president Francois Mitterand's last orgiastic feast. Some years later a chef reiterates the menu and writer Michael Paterniti indulges. Marennes oysters (Mitterand had regularly eaten a hundred a week), foie gras, capon, the wines - and then the ortolans, little songbirds singing a final chorus in their own fat. The birds, illegal fare, are consumed beneath a hood to heighten the sensual experience.

These are travelling tales and contributing writers - Jeffrey Steingarten, Frances Mayes, Jan Morris, Harry Rolnick, and a brace of others, feast round the globe.

A well-chosen selection with something to suit every appetite.

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