Over the next few weeks, we’ll be compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.

Here, our food and gardening columnist Chris Gordon shares a quick and handy guide as to what to gift foodies this festive Christmas.

For a cookbook that will sing Melbourne…

Are you looking to buy a cookbook for an out-of-towner and want to send a very clear message that you live in the foodie capital of Australia (if not the universe)? Here are three of the best of the crop in 2018.

• Cellar Bar by Guy Grossi
• Eat at the Bar by Jo Gamvros & Matt McConnell
• Smith & Deli-cious by Shannon Martinez & Mo Wyse

For a cookbook that will encourage cooking…

Do you want your partner, or your kids, or your housemate to actually cook a meal for a change? These books may inspire a New Year’s resolution that involves putting these tourists at the kitchen bench.

• The Cook’s Apprentice by Stephanie Alexander
• Ottolenghi SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi

For a cookbook that will make someone smile…

These books are perfect for those that live hectic lives, juggling multiple tasks, gallons of wine and a frenetic work/life balance.

• Special Guest by Annabel Crabb & Wendy Sharpe
• Jamie’s Friday Night Feast Cookbook by Jamie Oliver
• Family by Hetty McKinnon

For a cookbook that will transport the reader over oceans…

Looking for a gift for someone who wishes they were travelling the world? Filled with beautiful images of foods and locations, these books are are both recipe collections and travelogues.

• The German Cookbook by Alfons Schuhbeck
• New York Capital of Food by Lisa Nieschlag & Lars Wentrup
• Destination Flavour by Adam Liaw
• Time: A Year and a Day in the Kitchen by Gill Meller

For a cookbook that will suit an adventurous chef…

These books are for those who actually cook for a living, or for those home cooks that like to be challenged. I’m talking about the type of person, like my bloke, who will happily spend an entire weekend cooking.

• The Nordic Baking Book by Magnus Nilsson & Josefin Skullbacka
• The Noma Guide to Fermentation by Rene Redzepi & David Zilber
• Lateral Cooking by Niki Segnit

For a cookbook that will make the world a better place…

Finally, a gift for the socially conscious cook, complete with a varied range of delicious recipes and all profits going to Unicef’s Syria Relief Fund.

• #Bake for Syria by Lily Vanilli