The Guardian's 'How to Make' food columnist Felicity Cloake is on a mission to find the perfect recipes for staple dishes, from spag bol to apple pie and from brownies to fish pie, in her first cookbook Perfect - 68 essential reciepes for every cook's repertoire.

How can I make deliciously squidgy chocolate brownies? Is there a foolproof way to poach an egg? Does washing mushrooms really spoil them? What's the secret of perfect pastry? Could a glass of milk turn a good Bolognese into a great one?

Perfect will answer all these questions and many, many more. Having rigorously tried and tested recipes from all the greats - from Elizabeth David and Delia Smith to Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson - Felicity Cloake has pulled together the best points from each to create the perfect version of 68 classic dishes. Never again will you have to rifle through countless different books to find the your perfect roast chicken recipe, mayonnaise method or that incredible tomato sauce - it's all here in this book, based on Felicity's popular Guardian column, along with dozens of invaluable prepping and cooking tips that no discerning cook should live without.

Whether you're a competent cook or have just caught the bug, Perfect has a place on every kitchen shelf.

'Brilliant. . . finely honed culinary instincts, an open mind and a capacious cookbook collection...Miss Cloake has them all' Evening Standard

Guardian and New Statesman food columnist Felicity Cloake is the winner of the 2011 Guild of Food Writers awards for Food Journalist of the Year and New Media of the Year; follow Felicity on Twitter @FelicityCloake.