Each week Her.ie will look at a new cook book, giving you the inside scoop whether the recipes cut the mustard. From health kicks, to wholesome foods, we find out what books offer the best insights for budding cooks!

This week: The Kitchen Magpie, by James Steen (Icon Books)

As a respected food writer, and having worked as a ghost writer for a number of chefs’ autobiographies including Marco Pierre White (The Devil in the Kitchen), Raymond Blanc (A Taste of My Life) and Keith Floyd (Stirred But Not Shaken) Steen has built up a collection of food facts and storytelling.

The Kitchen Magpie is a collection of food facts, anecdotes and recipes to discover. From medieval customs to food for astronauts, the book is a completely new approach to adopting a cookery book.

As well as a collection of recipes from household names like GBBO judge Mary Berry and Marco Pierre White, the book acts as an entertaining sidenote to cooks.

The Kitchen Magpie is like an introduction to food and history, while having some fun with recipes that reflect childhood favourites like roast beef, a cure to that hangover, or the key to perfect banana bread.

The book also acts as a practical guide to novice cooks – from treating burns to a first aid kit to keep in the kitchen.

Offering advice on fruits and herbs to nurture at home, the recipes are interspersed with history and tidbits of information that might be of interest to the chef in the kitchen.

Personally, this book is more suitable for a food lover who might want to copy down a recipe to try later in the kitchen. The Kitchen Magpie is broken into 22 sections and although it is thorough in referencing and bringing together the background to the recipes, there is little guidance in the method.

Another fault for us is the lack of any imagery in the book (ok, so we might rely on the picture to know we’ve made the right dish). The richness of the food history, and attention to detail lends to the recipe, but it’s a pity that some of the classic dishes from famous chefs aren’t displayed throughout the book.

The book is a brilliant read, but deserves a spot on the nightstand rather than the kitchen counter.