As the new year turns, we look to how we can improve ourselves and our lives in general. One sure-fire way to improve your life is with great food – the key to a long, happy life, of course. With this list of the five cookbooks that we’re loving the most at the moment, you can ensure that 2020 will be your best culinary year so far. We’re going to Chile, Japan, and even Iceland to check out what they have to bring to your chopping boards, ovens and pans this year. 

A Taste of South America: Boragó Cookbook

With glowing reviews from the likes of The Financial Times: “It isn't every day that a restaurant knocks your socks off, but Boragó managed it with ease.” Boragó owner Rodolfo Guzmán is Santiago’s culinary pride. Using only native Chilean ingredients, and taking you through a visually gorgeous trip through the geography of Chile, Guzmán’s Boragó may do more than inspire your cooking, you’ll be booking a flight to Chile before you’ve even finished the book.

Something for the Experimental Chef: Octaphilosophy Cookbook

Octaphilosophy takes you into the kitchen of one of the world’s top 50 best restaurants for 365 days. Restaurant André’s chef-owner André Chiang focuses his menu around his ‘Octaphilosophy’, which encapsulates Chiang’s eight elements of gastronomy: salt, texture, memory, pure, terroir, south, artisan and unique. Chiang merges the French preference for produce, producers and seasonality with the technical precision of Asian cooking, something we can all learn a thing or two from.

Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About Japanese Cooking: Japan: The Cookbook

From cover to cover, food writer Nancy Singleton Hachisu gives us more than 400 recipes from one of the world’s most respected culinary cultures. Respected not only because of its huge variety and extreme scrumptiousness, but also its meticulousness – imbued with philosophy and tradition. This book has your covered, from soups to snacks, it’s all in here.

If You're Looking for a Health Kick: Raw Cookbook

Ready for your new year clean eating regime, celebrated Icelandic chef Solla Eiríksdóttir has put together 75 recipes of vegetarian, vegan, and raw recipes. The book is divided into 5 chapters: breakfast, snacks, light lunches, main dishes, and sweet treats. Expect light dishes bursting with flavours and nutrients.