IF you’ve never been a fan of cooking at home, perhaps it’s because you’ve never had the right tools at your disposal. As well as lots of shiny pots, pans and utensils, every good chef needs a great reference source — or what’s more commonly known as a cookbook.

But how do you know which book is right for you? Well, tastes vary, but there are certain essentials you should always look for.

Colorful pictures and clear illustrations are always are a good idea, as too are clearly written lists of ingredients.

And what about the methodology?

Lots of books look pretty, but all too many fail to deliver when it comes to explaining to the reader exactly how to make that perfect pasta, profiterole or pumpkin pie.

But fear not. Here at Shanghai Daily, we like to do the hard work for our readers, so we’ve turned our attention to the world of cookbooks and served up a tasty selection of some of the best on the market.

We can’t guarantee they’ll transform you into the next Nigella Lawson or Heston Blumenthal, but they might at least stop you spoiling next weekend’s family dinner.

By Lorraine Pascale

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: £20 (US$30.4) (Hardcover)

By Lorraine Pascale

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: £20 (Hardcover)

For some people, no matter how full they are, their stomachs always have room for dessert. You might think these savory desserts require great effort and years of practice. Yes, but no! With a carefully-chosen baking book, you can make some nice cakes and sweet treats with your own hands.

Lorraine Pascale earned herself a name in the fashion world as a supermodel and now is well-known as a best-selling model baker. Her first cookbook “Baking Made Easy” published in 2011 made her the apple of the media’s and readers’ eyes. The featured 100 dessert recipes, including cakes, tarts, pies and so on, are easy to follow and promise a high rate of success. Pascale knows well how to give traditional recipes a creative twist and also to suit different occasions. With years of training and experience in the baking world, Pascale is happy to reveal her secrets and tips as bonuses.

If you prefer a watch-and-learn approach, her namesake TV programs on BBC will help. You will find baking fun and easy if you are a novice, especially when you savor every mouthful of the deliciousness you’ve made. Pascale’s “A Lighter Way to Bake” is packed with 100 nourishing yet stress-free recipes covering from breads, pastries, and cakes to cookies and snacks. No more guilt for the sweet tooth now!

By Jamie Oliver

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Price: £26

Jamie Oliver is fun and revolutionary. He’s successfully turned a battlefield-like kitchen into a playground, a magic place where you can make something delicious and nutritious for a family within 30 minutes or, more incredibly, in 15 minutes.

But Oliver offers his insight, tricks, tips, cheats and even cupboard shopping lists, packed ready in his cookbooks “Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals” and “Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals.”

With more than 30 years of cooking experience and a 16-year TV and publishing career, Oliver has established a reputation not only as a celebrity chef but also as a healthy-eating advocate.

In August, he released his latest cookbook, “Everyday Super Food,” which focuses much more on how to lead a healthier, happier and productive lifestyle with delicious, nutritious and achievable food.

The featured recipes are “quite simple” and will help you to achieve a balanced diet with necessary nutrition. The index is organized by key ingredients, which makes it easier to search for the recipe you want. Furthermore, each recipe is accompanied by a mouthwatering photo.

For recipe collectors, Oliver’s dedicated food website can be a great community.

It is highly appealing for its urban style, function-oriented design, practical information and creative inspiration.

And, more importantly, it features a family food section, dedicated to get people inspired to cook for their loved ones.

The featured photos of the deliciousness are just hard to ignore! Why not choose one recipe, cook it up and enjoy it?

By Disney Book Group, Disney Storybook Art Team

Publisher: Disney Press

Price: US$15.99 (Hardcover)

If you have young children, cooking can sometimes be a best kill-time activity for the whole family. In search of a suitable cookbook? Here you go!

You may be surprised that Disney not only does great in animated movies but also has a say in the food world. The beautiful “Disney Princess Cookbook” is full of tasty recipes that are especially designed for little hands. Each recipe has a lovely name such as Rapunzel’s Towering Parfaits or Triple-licious Fruit Salad. The storybook-like cookbook features delicious ideas ranging from mains to sides, sweets and beverages with big mouth-watering pictures for each recipe.

The simple step-by-step instructions will help kids to get hands-on experience and enjoy cooking with you. Useful tips from Disney Princesses will guide little ones throughout the making process and also remind you of safety issues during the cooking. However, this cookbook is not only meant for young girls. Boys or even adults can have a shot at making the cute deliciousness as well. Ready to whip up some kitchen magic?

By Alice Medrich

Publisher: Artisan

Price: US$35 (Hardcover)

The book cover just looks so cool and appealing. So are its title and recipes. No matter whether you go gluten-free voluntarily or not, the awarded cookbook “Flavor Flours” by dessert queen Alice Medrich opens a new door for you to continue enjoying your favorite sweet treats. The cookbook features 125 gluten-free recipes, such as buckwheat sour cream soufflé with honey, cornflour chiffon cake, chestnut and pine nut shortbread, Sicilian chocolate gelato, and nibby nut and raisin cookies.

The recipes use wheat flour alternatives such as rice flour, oat flour, corn flour, sorghum flour and teff.

However, the switch to wheat-free flour offers surprising results.

You may end up with brownies made with rice flour tasting even more chocolaty.

Your tasting bud may notice the complexity in your favorite date and nut cakes when it uses buckwheat flour.

The more you explore, the more you may find it is not the end of the world as a foodie when you are not allowed to touch wheat-contained food.

As the cookbook is sorted by flour, you will be able to browse all recipes using the same flour in the index.

The ingredients are calculated in both cups and grams, which is a bonus.

Some recipes even feature a variation section for you to play with different ingredients for different flavors.

Recipe instructions are fairly easy to follow with useful information and handy tips.

Don’t worry about the challenges you may encounter during the making process. Medrich reveals her own baking secrets as well as new techniques to ensure a good result.

By Kian Lam Kho, Jody Horton

Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Price: US$35 (Hardcover)

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well, it’s time to cook something Chinese. The newly published “Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees” by Kian Lam Kho and Jody Horton will do the trick from the very basics, providing an opportunity to know more about Chinese food.

It’s more than a cookbook. You are going to learn about the history and geography of Chinese food, Chinese cooking glossary in both languages, and even functions of different cleavers in the first few chapters before you dig more into the cooking skills and recipes.

With more than 200 photos, the well-illustrated cookbook will help you to go through various Chinese cooking skills from pan-frying and oil-steeping to yin-yang frying. You will learn how to apply these techniques to different ingredients, for example, tofu and shrimps. The featured 158 recipes also have step-by-step images and detailed instructions with exclusively handy tips.

If you love Chinese cuisine and want to give yourself a challenge as a cook, this book will guide you on an amazing Chinese cooking journey. Don’t forget to share the dishes with your loved ones as sharing is “considered the ultimate sign of pride and respect in Chinese families.”

By Nigella Lawson

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Price: US$35 (Hardcover)

Nigella Lawson may be the first chef to have made cooking such a “sexy” thing. In her cooking TV series, the way she either explains instructions or describes the food is quite different from other TV chefs. To most people, her recipes are more attractive actually.

Her chocolate orange cake recipe has liberated many food allergy suffers as the flourless cake is free of gluten, wheat and even contains no dairy products.

What’s more is that it is very easy to make and tastes gorgeous. So far, more than 8 million copies of Lawson’s cookbooks have been sold around the globe.

With nine best-selling cookbooks under her name, she provides solutions on how to have a busy yet delicious life in her latest cookbook “Simply Lawson: Feel Good Food.” With little effort, you can make your busy life tastier for yourself and your family.

Lawson’s recipes are always inspiring but don’t require much effort. In “Simply Lawson”, she proves the concept. She offers plenty of handy tips and simple tasty recipes, from quick fixes such as Miso Salmon and Cauliflower & Cashew Nut Curry to cozy sofa potato favorites like Thai Noodles with Cinnamon and Shrimp. Be ready to get inspired by Lawson’s ideas!