I suspect that the true value of Loyd Grosman's selection of The 125 Best Recipes Ever will lie in the eating of the food featured in the book, rather than disagreement with his selection of recipes.
Certainly, there are countless dishes from countless books which one would argue should be here - I suspect everyone could haul together 125 favourites of their own in double-quick time, and there would be few duplications with Grossman's choices - but the fact remains that this is a sagacious compendium of great dishes, and it is smashing to encounter new names, such as Carla Camporesi and Irene Kuo - and to discover wonderful trivia such as that Valentina Harris used to be married to Bob Harris who used to present The Old Grey Whistle Test! Who would have thought that.
Grossman's introductions to the recipes are learned and entertaining, and they show someone who cares deeply about food and cooking. It is easy to dismiss the sort of books on food and cooking brought out systematically by television presenters, but I suspect this is a work from the heart and, disagreements or not, here is a book which will live in the kitchen.
Loyd Grossman, The 125 Best Recipes Ever (Michael Joseph £20.00 in the UK)