The Secret of Cooking

WINNER OF A GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS AWARD 2024 for BEST GENERAL COOKBOOK

A TIMES and GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

NIGELLA LAWSON'S COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Notes from a lifetime of reading, thinking, cooking and eating’ Diana Henry

The Secret of Cooking is packed with solutions for how to make life in the kitchen work better for you, whether you are cooking for yourself or for a crowd.

Bee shows you how to get a meal on the table when you’re tired and stretched for time, how to season properly, cook onions (or not) and what equipment really helps.

The 140 recipes are doable and delicious, filled with ideas for cooking ahead or cooking alone and the kind of unfussy food that makes everyday life taste better.

‘A lifetime of kitchen wisdom here’ Nigel Slater

‘A truly remarkable cookbook that will change lives' Rachel Roddy

‘It’s not often that a genuinely game-changing cook book comes out, but this accomplished, approachable and helpful book – its writing as nourishing as the recipes – is most definitely it. Quite frankly, there’s not a kitchen that should be without a copy of The Secret of Cooking’ Nigella Lawson

‘There is wisdom, and notes from a lifetime of reading, thinking, cooking and eating here. And it’s not just about food but about how we live, and how we look after ourselves and each other’ Diana Henry

Reviews

‘The very acest book…so utterly lovely and so utterly necessary’ Jeremy Lee

'Bee Wilson seems to help me in my moments of crisis – both when I’m struggling to find the right words and when I’ve got creative fatigue. Her award-winning book The Secret of Cooking reminds us to cut ourselves some slack. Bee focuses on probability rather than possibility. The book is brimming with clever tips, handy shortcuts and substitutions, with 15 pages devoted to the versatile and underrated box grater (NB it really isn’t just for cheese)’ Yotam Ottelenghi

‘It is my Book of the Year, across any genre…packed to the absolute gills with invaluable advice, hints and tips, so reassuring and warm in tone that you feel actual love for the author, and, of course, also full of fantastic, achievable, home-kitchen friendly recipes that I guarantee will immediately become part of your repertoire’ India Knight

‘I don’t need a lot of convincing to pick up a pan, but Wilson’s tips are so clever, her recipes so tempting, and her vignettes of family life so candid, that this is a book I can read for pleasure alone’ Niki Segnit, author of The Flavour Thesaurus

‘This book is the perfect cooking companion and Bee Wilson is the ultimate kitchen friend: smart, funny, conscientious and patient, this is a book you'll want to spend time with, in and out of the kitchen' Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, authors of Honey & Co: Food from the Middle East

‘One of those rare books that completely expresses the writer’s character. Everything she’s learned & feels about food and cooking is there’ Sheila Dillon

‘I have loved Wilson’s writing for years, but this is veering off into writing cookbooks is something else. As you would expect, beautifully done, but such simple recipes, so many top tips and so delicious. I want to cook everything in it’ Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon and author of Ravenous