"It is certainly not a coincidence that some of the rites of the Catholic Church are centred around bread, which is given to people as a representation of something pure—of life itself," Antonio Carluccio writes in the introduction to his book Baking which forms part of The Carluccio Collection. "In fact bread has been the symbol of basic food in Western Society for the last four or five thousand years, just as rice has been for Eastern cultures." This book will teach you how to make the whole range of Italian breads, from "Focaccia" to "Cantucci" (Tuscan Almond Biscuits) to "Panfote" (Traditional Tuscan Cake). Carluccio's delicatessen in Covent Garden, London, is famous for it's bread and if you can't get there to buy it, this book is the next best thing. The photographs—by Carluccio's wife Priscilla—are also excellent. —Dale Kneen

Big flavours indeed. The Eagle, in London's Farringdon, has good claim to be the first gastropub, the progenitor of that stripped-back combination of good food and farmhouse kitchen furniture that has spread so rapidly. Food that asserts itself successfully in such an environment must be robust in flavour and not too finicking in presentation. It will be cooked with skill and dedication, whacked on the grill, bunged on a plate, banged on the table still looking and tasting great. Hence the title. It's high time the cooks of this excellent establishment passed on a few of their specialties, and the results collected here do not disappoint. This feels like the real thing. The flavours are mostly Mediterranean, with an emphasis on Spain and Portugal and a sideways reach out to Brazil. Potaje de Garbanzos (Chickpea Soup/Stew) and Caldo Verde (the great Portuguese national soup of potato, shredded greens and sausage) are highlights of the Soups section. A close look at the simple Roast Pumpkin and Red Onion Salad reveals that the onions are roasted with balsamic vinegar to caramelise them, and that the finished salad is tossed with rocket and covered with parmesan shavings... wonderful. Fish and meat get a variety of treatments—grilled, baked, braised, for preference—while vegetables are, as often as not, roasted, all procedures that intensify flavour and add to the overall funkiness. Great stuff: irresistible food and stylish photographs of the equally laid-back cooks, waiting staff and customers. —Robin Davidson

You wouldn't expect to find plums, cherries and beef being the star ingredients of a book titled The Big Red Book of Tomatoes, but that's exactly what you will find between these pages. Along with momotara, pomodorino, rochelle and sunburst, they are varieties of the fruit we love to eat as a vegetable and food writer Lindsey Bareham insists they take centre stage.

This book is about the pleasure of eating tomatoes. Take a tomato that has been allowed to ripen on the vine: the plant will have sent its roots deep into the earth in search of food and water while the sun turns the skin of the fruit a deep, dark red. Slice this tomato, sprinkle it with salt, add cracked black pepper and some good olive oil, then eat it. Pure pleasure.

Bareham tells the history of the fruit that originated in South America, where it grew wild. By the time Cortes conquered Mexico in 1523, the tomato was ubiquitous, later spreading up the coast of North America. She also explains how tomatoes should be peeled, how to make purée and even how to carve tomato roses. Then there are 400 recipes, including Green Tomato Tarte Tatin, Roast Tomato and Goat's Cheese Clafoutis, Huevos Rancheros and the ultimate Bloody Mary. There are also inspirational ideas for salsas, chutneys, soufflés relishes and sauces. It's an inspiring book and deserved its shortlisting for the Glenfiddich Food & Drink Award in 1999. —Arabella Buckingham-White

Finally, the definitive reference on sausages, complete from andouille to zungenwurst. Within its four parts ("Regional Sausage Dishes", "Making Your Own", "Sausages of the World" and an "International Glossary of Sausages") Antony and Araminta Hippisley Coxe include 60 recipes from America to Switzerland, instructions for making 45 varieties, and the history and ingredients of nearly 600 types of sausages found worldwide. With appealing concoctions such as Caillettes de Foie de Porc à la Pugetoise and Doong Gwoo Lap Cheong Jing Ju Yook, these pages are for those who dare not only to cook with sausages, but also to know what goes in them.