Gurdeep Loyal's best new cookbook recommendations, 2025
Trends expert Gurdeep Loyal's best new cookbook recommendations for food and drink inspiration from across the globe
Whether you're looking for food and drink inspiration, wanting to add to your kitchen library or searching for the perfect gift for the foodie who has everything, cookbooks are the answer. Our trends expert Gurdeep Loyal brings you his favourite new books that'll have you cooking up a storm. Discover new and emerging voices from across the globe, whose books allow them to share their stories and recipes.
From Ukraine and Nigeria to Armenia, cook your way across the world with Gurdeep's favourite new cookbooks of 2025.
Looking for other inspiration for the latest trends? Check out Gurdeep Loyal's guide the best homeware brands.
Gurdeep Loyal's favourite new cookbooks 2025 at a glance
- Fusão by Ixta Belfrage, £21.35
- Sama Sama by Julie Lin, £21.35
- Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria by Ozoz Sokoh, £24.93
- Green Mountains by Caroline Eden, £20.69
- Bayrūt: Recipes from the Heart of a Lebanese City Kitchen by Hisham Assaad, £20.15
- Bread & War by Felicity Spector, £15
- The Snack Hacker by George Egg, £15.89
- Boustany by Sami Tamimi, £23.83
- Long Day? Cook This. by Justin Tsang, £20.25
- Sunny Days, Taco Nights by Enrique Olvera, £22.99
- Roti by Anuradha Ravindranath, £16.99
- Kapusta – Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe by Alissa Timoshkina, £20.97
- Danube: Recipes and Stories from Eastern Europe by Irina Georgescu, £20.93
Best new cookbooks to buy 2025
Fusão by Ixta Belfrage
- Available from Amazon (£21.35), Waterstones (£23.99), Bookshop.org (£26.60)

The second solo cookbook from best-selling author and chef Ixta Belfrage is playfully subtitled “Untraditional recipes inspired by Brazil” and is a vibrant celebration of culture, identity and flavour. She grew up absorbing food traditions from Italy, Mexico and Brazil, which is embodied in this colourful new book, the title of which translates to ‘fusion’ in Portuguese. Inside, Ixta brings her signature creativity and flair to the food of her mother’s homeland. It’s divided into sections for flavour bombs, meat, seafood, vegetables and sweets, with every recipe offering up a fresh take on traditional Brazilian dishes. Culture-straddling dishes include stir-fried papaya with crispy basil, moqueca fish burgers, grilled fish with mango curry butter, and lamb with pineapple pimenta and toasted cassava.
Available from:
Amazon (£21.35)
Waterstones (£23.99)
Bookshop.org (£26.60)
Sama Sama by Julie Lin
- Available from Amazon (£21.35), Waterstones (£24.99)

Julie Lin grew up learning how to toss pasta with chopsticks, listen to the sizzle of her cooking sensorially and create a banquet out of leftovers – lessons integral to embracing both her Malaysian and Scottish heritages. This is a joyful celebration of this journey and all parts of her identity, with 90 delicious recipes and heartwarming stories of food and self-discovery. Her ‘agak-agak’ style is about cooking with soul and creating accessible dishes with explosive flavours, like curry leaf chicken legs, chilli crisp puttanesca and sticky tamarind prawns.
Available from:
Amazon (£21.35)
Waterstones (£24.99)
Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria by Ozoz Sokoh
- Available from Amazon (£24.93), WH Smith (£27.60), Waterstones (£30)

Ozoz Sokoh is a Nigerian food writer and educator who began documenting her food journey on her blog Kitchen Butterfly. Her research explores the roots of West African and Nigerian cuisine, and the impact of these cuisines on global culture. Chop Chop is an introduction to Nigerian home cooking, with 100 delicious recipes. In Nigeria, the word 'chop' is all about food and feasting, and 'chop chop' a nickname given to someone who loves to eat. The book explores the rich food culture of the six regions of Nigeria, giving you historical and cultural context of dishes along the way, with recipes like Nigerian-style jollof, seafood okro soup and chin chin fried dough bits.
Available from:
Amazon (£24.93)
WH Smith (£27.60)
Waterstones (£30)
Green Mountains by Caroline Eden
- Available from Amazon (£20.69), WH Smith (£25.76), Waterstones (£28)

Travel and food writer Caroline Eden’s book is an enlightening on-foot exploration of Armenia and Georgia. There are recipes woven throughout, bringing to life the encounters she has along her journey and weaving together the unique geographies and culinary cultures of the two countries. She tells tales of testing hikes and the relationships she forms with her hosts, punctuated by the food she eats along the way: citrus fruits, unique teas, apricots, mountain greens and ‘magical’ cheeses. The evocative recipes include lamb with plums, green beans and cinnamon, omelette with dates and tarragon panna cotta.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.69)
WH Smith (£25.76)
Waterstones (£28)
Bayrūt: Recipes from the Heart of a Lebanese City Kitchen by Hisham Assaad
- Available from Amazon (£20.15), Waterstones (£27)

Hisham Assaad, chef and author of the blog cookin5m2.com, explores how the amalgamation of rich culinary cultures in the city of Beirut has shaped its unique cuisine. Dishes include comforting mains like köfte, potato and tomato casserole or chicken, sumac and caramelised onion rolls, sides like butter beans with lemony garlic, and sweets like walnut baklava. The stunning location photography takes you right to the heart of the alleyways, centuries-old buildings and the homes of people that have remained resilient and fruitful throughout the city’s tumultuous history.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.15)
Waterstones (£27)
Bread & War by Felicity Spector
- Available from Amazon (£15), Waterstones (£20)

A senior producer for Channel 4 News, Felicity Spector has been a television journalist for 34 years, covering the fall of the communist bloc and the end of the old Soviet Union. Bread & War is a compelling account of feeding, eating and resistance in wartime Ukraine. Bread, bakeries and bakers have become a central part of Ukraine’s war effort, a means of survival and powerful symbol of national resilience.
The book tells the extraordinary stories of military kitchens that cook for soldiers and volunteers, and chefs that pivoted from fine dining to turning out loaves of bread for families in need. There are also a handful of recipes that bring you closer to the people, like syrniki curd cheese pancakes, a poppy seed cake with plums from Katrya in Lviv, and energy bars inspired by Dou Bakery in Odesa.
Available from:
Amazon (£15)
Waterstones (£20)
The Snack Hacker by George Egg
- Available from Hive (£15.89), Amazon (£15.89), Waterstones (£22)

This is a collection of over 90 inventive, playful, rule-breaking recipes for everyone that is sure to thrill your tastebuds. There are clever hacks for fast food favourites and recipes using surprising combinations, unexpected ingredients and unconventional methods. George is just as happy to reach for ingredients like Babybel, crabsticks and salad cream as he is for gourmet ingredients like date syrup, tahini and seaweed. There’s a deep-fried Pot Noodle recipe, Twiglet brownies, peshwari toasties and even beer-battered Celebrations. This is an inviting and spirited celebration of food that revels in the joy of playing in your kitchen.
Available from:
Hive (£15.89)
Amazon (£15.89)
Waterstones (£22)
Boustany by Sami Tamimi
- Available from Amazon (£23.83), Waterstones (£25.99), Bookshop (£28.50)

A homage to Palestinian food and culture, Boustany is the first solo cookbook from Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi. The word translates from Arabic to ‘my garden’. Growing up in Palestine, Sami’s family’s garden was a vibrant, verdant space filled with vegetables, herbs, grains and pulses, cleverly transformed into plentiful, flavourful dishes. The recipes and stories in this book reflect these roots, the way he grew up eating and the dishes he returns to again and again.
There are over 100 colourful vegetarian recipes for breakfasts, sharing plates, big celebrations, simple breads, moreish sweet treats and easy dinners. Every recipe is filled with emotion and memories, like the maftoul with tomato, okra and yogurt, quick makdous (pickled aubergines), courgette and leek ijeh, and garlic-infused broccoli and labneh dip.
Available from:
Amazon (£23.83)
Waterstones (£25.99)
Bookshop (£28.50)
Long Day? Cook This. by Justin Tsang
- Available from Amazon (£20.25), WHSmith (£23.92), Waterstones (£26)

Born in north London to immigrant parents from Hong Kong, Justin’s family opened a Chinese buffet in 1993, where Justin spent his evenings after school. The sights, noises, smells and delicious ingredients are where Justin’s passion for food began. Experimenting with traditional recipes, Justin took inspiration from his heritage and influences from growing up in 90s London.
He began sharing his passion online and quickly went viral with videos showing his trademark style of walking through the door and cooking up something quick and delicious. This is a book of home-cooked Asian food with fun twists, including recipes like fish finger sando with lime, wasabi and chive mayo; chicken thigh and honey gochujang instant noodles; and chilli and sesame dumpling salad.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.25)
WHSmith (£23.92)
Waterstones (£26)
Sunny Days, Taco Nights by Enrique Olvera
- Available from Amazon (£22.99), WH Smith (£27.99), Waterstones (£29.95)

From much-loved Mexican chef Enrique Olvera comes a definitive guide to everyday tacos for home cooks everywhere. The 100 vibrant recipes include classic tacos like barbacoa or pork with orange and sinaloa fish, plus original creations like brussels sprout, wagyu-yuzu kosho and rabbit tacos alongside delicious salsas like Yucatecan habanero sauce, red morita salsa and green Serrano salsa.
The colourful photography is playful, with every taco-filled page bursting with unexpected ideas and new flavour combinations that will thrill your tastebuds in the most delicious ways.
Available from:
Amazon (£22.99)
WH Smith (£27.99)
Waterstones (£29.95)
Roti by Anuradha Ravindranath
- Available from Waterstones (£16.99)

This charmingly captivating cookbook celebrates South Asia’s most iconic flatbread, the roti, in all its multiple guises. Blending the Delhi-based author’s personal stories, step-by-step DIY guides and easy tips, there are more than 90 unique recipes to discover that transform the humble roti into a flavour-packed meal, including matar bhari roti with zingy peas, pudina mint naan, bakarkhani flaky mugal sweetbreads, and sheermal flatbreads brushed with saffron milk. There’s also expert advice on the ultimate pickles and accompaniments, roti-making tools and guides to making your own ghee, yogurt and paneer.
Available from:
Waterstones (£16.99)
Kapusta – Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe by Alissa Timoshkina
- Available from Amazon (£20.97), WHSmith (£25.76), Waterstones (£28)

This stunningly original cookbook is a celebration of vegetable-based cooking across Eastern Europe – dishes filled with vibrant culinary traditions and history. It honours five humble vegetables – cabbages, beetroots, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms – and places flavour at its heart. Unique dishes include cabbage strudel, potato babka, pierogi, tzimmes carrot cake, and Bulgarian mushroom and walnut pâté. Filled with beautiful illustrations and photography, it’s a feast for all the senses.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.97)
WHSmith (£25.76)
Waterstones (£28)
Danube: Recipes and Stories from Eastern Europe by Irina Georgescu
- Available from Amazon (£20.93), Waterstones (£28)

This stunningly photographed, poetic cookbook celebrates the simple and vibrant everyday cooking of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria, a “diverse cuisine, whose main ingredient is generosity”. The 80 inviting recipes include potato stew with cheese filo crust, quince and rice with rosemary, and semolina milk soufflé.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.93)
Waterstones (£28)
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