Having read, browsed and cooked his way through hundreds of books, Diacono has whittled them down to his ultimate list. The award winning writer knows a thing or two about food, he is the author of Spice (2022), Herb (2021) and Sour (2019) and hosts a monthly book club at chef Angela Harnett’s Café Murano Bermondsey.

We refer you to the full selection list, but have listed some of our favourites from Diacono’s ultimate 25.

The re-issued classic, Roast Figs, Sugar Snow (Aster) by Diana Henry. Diacono says: “Of course, the recipes are exemplary – who doesn’t fancy tartiflette or chestnut and jerusalem artichoke soup as the nights draw in – but, as ever with Henry, the evocativeness of the writing is all but unparalleled. Everyone should own this book, and even if you have the original, this re-issue is worth it for the redesign and seven extra recipes”.
His first book, chef Julius Roberts takes you through the year in The Farm Table (Ebury Books). “The combinations are often familiar – elderflower panna cotta with roasted strawberries and black pepper, and apricot tarte tatin – but they come with a sort of seasonal abandon that makes them so appealing”, writes Diacono.
Underpinned by scientific insight, the recipes in Veg-Table (Chronicle Books) are inventive and ensure vegetables are the main attraction of the meal. Diacono writes “This isn’t a vegetarian book but rather vegetable-centred: over 50 recipes are organised by plant family into suites of inventive recipes that encourage us to put vegetables at the heart of our diet”.
Where vegetables are the soul of the kitchen, Ravinder Bhogal’s Comfort and Joy (Bloomsbury) is truly engaging. “If you like the idea of modern, inventive and cross-cultural recipes, written with warmth and love, there’s no-one doing it quite like Bhogal”. writes Diacono.
Beautifully written by the late restaurateur and author Russell Norman, Brutto: A (Simple) Florentine Cookbook (Penguin) is wonderfully uncomplicated and everything but ‘ugly’. “This – his fourth book – is as fine a monument to his brilliance as it is a reminder of what we have lost. This beautifully written book focuses on the brutto ma buono – the ugly but good – food of Florence”, explains Diacono.