Live to Eat

We have long reckoned Annie Bell as one of the very best food writers. Her taste and judgement are instinctual, and her prose is simply beautiful to read, no mean feat for someone producing regular columns in The Independent and The Mail, not to mention a steady stream of fine books that have made her a cult figure in the world of food. Annie's newest book is one of the most imaginative we have seen in a long time. "Living and Eating" is a collaboration with the minimalist architect John Pawson, famous for his ultra-austere buildings (and famous for his ultra-austere kitchen which features in the book, and about which our 8-year-old, when asked what she thought of it, replied, "It's very tidy"). Whilst this is ostensibly a recipe book, it is also a book about how we eat, how we cook, and how we entertain.

"We share a passion for the details of living and eating", the authors write. "This book is intended as a record of those details and of the choices we have found support perfectly the way we want to live". Another title for this inspiring book might have been: "How to Choose", for that is the crux of the book: why this thing is better than that thing, why this thing works, why this thing pleases us, whether it is a vase, a knife, or a roast chicken. The sections on Equipment and Home Making, to take some of the practical elements of the book, are only fantastic, full of common sense and ­ that rarest of things ­ good sensible judgement. The food, of course, is terrific: mature, delicious, achieveable, experienced. This is a great book, and in itself a beautiful, pleasing object.

"Living and Eating" by Annie Bell and John Pawson (Ebury Press £25stg)