This is a list to leave lying around so that anyone seeking to buy you a last minute Christmas present is steered in the right direction. Failing that it will come in very handy in the New Year when that crisp book token is burning a hole in your pocket. 2007 has been a grand year for books – there are new books from both Simon Hopkinson and Fergus Henderson  - and there have been a host of good, practical books with a British theme. Here are ten books that deserve a place on your shelves.

Persia in Peckham, recipes from Persepolis by Sally Butcher. Published by Prospect Books  £17.99  Prospect Books have cornered the market in eccentric, passionate, obscure books. Persia in Peckham is a collection of recipes from a rather good London food shop. It will both charm and inform.

British Regional Food, by Mark Hix. Published by Quadrille, £25  A good book. Plenty of painstaking research, plus a feel for our very own “terroir”. Well written recipes.

Crust by Richard Bertinet, Published by Kyle Cathie £19.99 A book by a baker that may just turn you into one. With a DVD whose rhythmical dough working sequences will leave you hypnotised.

The Apple Source Book, by Sue Clifford & Angela King with Philippa Davenport, Published by Hodder & Stoughton  £16.99. A specialist book with an overt agenda – we know that we should be greener. If you feel tree-hugging tendencies coming on there is no better tree to hug than an apple tree.

Beyond Nose to Tail, by Fergus Henderson & Justin Piers Gellatly. Published by Bloomsbury £17.99 From the great man himself, as you’d expect – quirky, useful, impassioned and eccentric. The dessert and baking sections are by Justin Piers Gellatly St John’s Goth master-baker.

Moro East, by Sam and Sam Clark. Published by Ebury Press,£25. Recipes from an allotment in East London that has been wiped out (collateral damage on the Olympic site). Good recipes and an insight into London's amazing multi-culturalism.

Angela Hartnett's Cucina by Angela Hartnett. Published by Ebury Press £25. A very genuine book from a chef who is my tip to make it to the very top of the tree in 2008. Lyrical Italian dishes in a simple, easily-accomplished, form.

Week in week out – 52 seasonal stories by Simon Hopkinson. Published by Quadrille £20. When these columns were first published in the Independent (during the early 1990’s) they were very good indeed. Firstly it is great to see them all together; secondly it is uncanny how good and how modern they seem over a decade later.

Modern Mezze, by Anissa Helou Published by Quadrille  £18.99 This is a good book on a specialist subject and explains how many of those delightful little Middle Eastern dishes can be run up at home.

Pork & Sons by Stéphane Reynaud. Published by Phaeton at £24.95. A very French book from the squishy plastic cover that looks like gingham to the line drawings and “family” theming. Good recipes for charcuterie novices and experts alike.

50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. Published by Kyle Cathie in paperback with a DVD - £14.95 A fine book. It tells you how to make decent curry in an informative and non-patronising way.

Merry Festives, Charles Campion