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Greece (the original in our collection): Fairly basic recipes that often seem to contain routine ingredients, these have obviously been well-tested because they really do work well - they taste authentic (says he who's never been to Greece!) and the mix of ingredients tastes much better than might have been expected. My only small complaint is that the recipes are all salt-free - fine if you must avoid it, but otherwise a trifle health-conscious for my taste. However, just season to your own taste.

Among the remainder, we've found plenty to go at from France, The Middle East and Italy. But that's not to denigrate the others that we've tried, North Africa, The Caribbean and Mexico - it's an excellent series of cookbooks to lift everyday cooking to the realm of special, and there are choices suitable for more formal occasions.

I picked up this established classic at an ethical bookstore in Edinburgh, and it's given us many a fine meal, with dishes from all over the East - India, China, Japan, Thailand, The Phillipines, Korea, Indonesia..... they're all represented. The book is divided into food-types - vegetables. beans, grains etc., so it's particularly useful in constructing a nutritionally-balanced meal.

A relatively slim volume, helpfully divided into seasons, these are deceptively simple yet top quality recipes, written in an easy laid-back style. Pretty liberal with the chillies, which suits me fine!

We saw this reviewed before it reached the shops, so had to splash out on the hardback. Like the above entry, it's organised by food types, but there's no repetition between the two volumes. Despite it's title, I haven't seen any of the extreme latitudes represented - perhaps they just eat meat with everything in Australia, Canada, Scandinavia....! Still, that's not to fault the book: it's a classic.

The book that introduced us to the flavours of Mexico, indeed defined them for us. There's notes on essential ingredients, meal structure and customs as well as a good selection of recipes. Heavy on the cheese in places, but just substitute with a soya-based alternative: Cheezely is possibly the best for this type of cuisine.

A compact book containing a wealth of quick and easy recipes, suitable for everyday use but not lacking anything for that. There's a broad range of cuisines covered, and you'll find yourself coming back to this many times.

I found this little-known gem at a bookstall at the BBC Good Food Show. The recipes are divided into various sections e.g. tomato-based stove-top dishes, stuffed/filled etc., with super-quick prep recipes clearly marked. Most recipes provide a complete nutritional balance, and vegans shouldn't disregard the dairy section - try some of the soya-based substitutes. Brits may struggle with the cup-based measures and U.S. terminology, but it's well worth familiarising yourself with these as you'll keep coming back to this time and again.

Probably for many (well, those who've been around a while), the name Cranks remains synonymous with the early wholefood movement that effectively encompassed all that vegetarianism was back then. For those people, this book would come as a shock. The recipes range from health-conscious to downright hedonistic, very modern, cross-cultural stuff with a certain emphasis on the Mediterranean rim. The photography is stunning and Nadine Abensur's text is a delight to read, packed with anecdote and wisdom.

The book as a whole is totally inspirational, and many of the dishes are naturally vegan with most others being convertible using suitable analogues. This gets my top recommendation for producing meals to a standard of modern professional catering.

One of our oldest books, we had to buy a new copy as the original was in tatters from heavy use! Less representative of what we eat these days, this is still a classic. Plenty of dietary information as well as a large selection of recipes, this is particularly suitable for less experienced cooks and those not so keen on spicy flavours.