3 culinary books that provide food for thought

1) GASTROPHYSICS

By Charles Spence, published by Viking, R355

Gastrophysics  is touted on the cover as "popular science at its best". Charles Spence examines not just the science behind how our brains process and integrate information from our senses but how this translates into cultural experiences of food and eating.

It's fun: why does implied motion (for example, an oozing cheese or soft egg yolk pic) work best for food-porn shots, how does the weight and temperature of cutlery affect the eating experience, why does the engine noise of an aircraft lessen your ability to taste some but not all flavours? It's science-lite, but for a bedside book or novelty present, this is pretty cool.

2) THRIVE ON FIVE (FIVE-A-DAY THE EASY WAY)

By Nina and Jo Littler and Randy Glenn, published by Waterstones, R387

I only picked this up to scorn it. The "five fruit and veg a day" policy is one of the most annoying and unproven ideas that nutritionists and parents love to push. If they knew that the number was based on absolutely no research at all, but was fished out of thin air for an advertising campaign, maybe we'd all ignore that "magic" amount.

Anyway I'm delighted I picked it up for the wrong reason. The minute I was hit by the chic food shots and started reading the recipes, I was hooked. These dishes - obviously all with fruit and vegetables as their main ingredients - are utterly fantastic. Try the Warm Indian Chana Chai with pomegranate, the incredible Fragrant Cauliflower Soup, the Dal with Cherry Tomatoes, Courgette and Spinach.

Apparently the rationale for many of the recipes was about getting all five servings into one dish, to hit that daily target. Whatever. I think they taste incredible.

3)THE BIG FAT SURPRISE

By Nina Teicholz, published by Scribe, R255

Regular readers of this column will know that I've been banging on about the erroneous and ridiculous demonising of saturated fat for years, so of course when I found a hard copy of Nina Teicholz' book, from which I'd only read excerpts, I was ecstatic.

Teicholz joins journalist Gary Taubes and a legion of other researchers, doctors and scientists who've been taking on the tired dogma of the last decades, which has spun the fairy-story that cream, cheese and fatty meats are clogging our arteries. She is erudite and rigorous in showing how vested interests and bad science have fed us nutritional nonsense for 60 years.

•This article was originally published in The Times.