Sally Butcher. Salmagundi: A Celebration of Salads from Around the World.

Salmagundi is a 17th century English expression denoting a salad dish comprising, well...everything. The nearest modern equivalent is Fiambre, a Guatemalan salad containing in excess of twenty ingredients. This comprehensive book looks at salad bowls across the world in 150 recipes. The recipes feature a number of archaic, traditional and staple dishes - and a whole lot of funky new stuff as well.

Divided into fourteen chapters (Herbs and Leaves; Vegetables; Beans; Roots; Grains and Pasta, Rice, Cheese, Fish, Meat, Dips, Fruity Salads, Salads for Pudding, The Dressing Room, The Prop Cupboard), no stone is left unturned in pursuit of the ultimate salad recipe. Recipes are flagged where relevant with tags such as ''super-healthy'' or ''skinny-minny'' or ''main course'' to make it more user-friendly. Heavily punctuated with Sally's trademark mixture of folklore and anecdotes, this is an essential update for the foodie bookshelf.