Blumenthal and Cookbooks

British chef Heston Blumenthal penned a piece on "desert island cookbooks" for the Times, a subject he has strong feelings about, having taught himself to cook mostly via reading cookbooks. Not surprisingly, a lot of his picks relate to culinary history, like Fancy Ices, an obscure ice cream cookbook from 1894, and even a book from 1660 called The Accomplisht Cook. If he had to pick one? On Food and Cooking by food science writer Harold McGee. [Times UK]