Which Cookbooks?

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times recently, one of the things I want to work on are my cooking skills.

I’ve got quite a few cookbooks already and I have no need for “general” cookbooks at all, though if somebody thinks that a particular cookbook is a “must have” please let me know. You can never have too many cookbooks!

What I am looking for, however, is more specific ones ie. ones for specific cuisines or cooking skills.

Italian I have fairly well covered, though if anyone has any other recommendations of Italian cookbooks written by Italians in Italian please let me know. I was given a copy of Cracco’s “E nato prima l’uovo o la farina?” for Christmas and I plan to make several of the recipes from that in the coming weeks and months. I really like the way Cracco has laid out the book so I’ve ordered his most recent one as well!

So which cuisines?

French. What is the “go to” cookbook favoured by French cooks? I was looking at Julia Child, but while it’s a “classic” I also think it’s more than a little dated and I’d prefer a cookbook in French by a French chef. What would you use if you wanted to get a good grounding in the basics of French cuisine?

Chinese. I’ve been trying to cook a few Chinese and Asian dishes over the last while and it’s definitely a cuisine I’d like to explore more. But which cookbooks are the ones to look at? Ken Hom? Somebody else?

Indian. I’ve got a really awful Indian cookbook that has nice pictures but the recipes are terrible. I love Indian food and would really like to cook more of it but am currently stuck with a couple of rather rudimentary curries and butter chicken.

Are there any other cuisines I should be looking at?