Rick Stein’s Christmas is his very first festive collection, blending recipes with warm recollections of holidays past.

It’s a book that feels like sitting down at his own family table. Already tried and tested: the cocktail pigs in the hole (a cheeky twist on pigs in blankets) and the clementine, almond, olive oil cake — fragrant, moist, and utterly irresistible.

Stein’s gift is making tradition feel fresh, and this debut is set to become a classic.

The outstanding title this year is Ben Lippett’s How I Cook. Think of it as a chef’s guide to really good home cooking, stripped of fuss but full of know-how.

With 100 recipes, Lippett reveals the tricks, techniques, and the “how’s and why’s” behind everything we do in the kitchen. His mantra? Bake in grams — the most precise way to get it right Every. Damn. Time.

It’s practical, empowering, and the kind of book you’ll keep reaching for long after the decorations are packed away.

Nigel Slater’s A Thousand Feasts is described as “small moments of joy” — part memoir, part celebration of food as memory.

It’s the perfect companion by the fire, a book to savour slowly. Who else could dedicate half a page to a chocolate éclair and make it feel like poetry?

Slater’s gift is intimacy, and this latest work is less about recipes and more about the way food stitches itself into our lives.

Diana Henry’s Around the Table:52 essays on food and life  is a selection of some of Diana’s very best essays, handpicked from over two decades of her much-loved cookbooks.

Each chapter is a vignette, a meditation on the rituals and rhythms of eating. From the bustling Turkish groceries of the Edgware Road to the kitchen table of a cottage in rural France, a trattoria tucked away in the suburbs of Rome to the chilly Vermont countryside famed for its maple syrup, Diana Henry has followed her tastebuds around the world.

Diana Henry writes with wisdom and warmth, reminding us that food is never just fuel but a way of gathering, remembering, and celebrating.

The bean queen herself, Amelia Christy Miller, returns with her second book Full of Beans.

It’s playful, inventive, and brimming with ideas that make pulses exciting again. Our latest obsession? Cheesy Marmite butter beans on toast with pickled shallots.

Comfort food with a twist, and proof that beans deserve centre stage.

Miller’s enthusiasm is infectious — this is a book that will have you stocking up on jars and dreaming up new combinations.