Product Description

THIS IS A BOOK FOR ALL THE FAMILY TO USE. IT WILL ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO HAVE A GO AT COOKING WITH THEIR PARENTS. IT WILL PROVIDE TIPS AND ADVICE ON HOW BEST TOFEED YOUR CHILDREN NOW, ESPICALLY WITH THE ABUNDANCE OF READILY AVAILABLE JUNK FOOD AROUND, AND HOW TO START ENJOYING FAMILY MEAL TIMES AROUND THE DINING TABLES INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION. THE AUTHOR WILL COVER THE PROBLEMS OF THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY UNIT AT MEALTIMES, HE WILL LOOK AT SUPERMARKETS V SMALLER SPECIALIST SHOPS AND HE WILL UNDERLINE THE PLEASURES THAT CAN BE HAD FROM SITTING DOWN TO A FAMILY MEAL TOGETHER.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7768 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Independent on Sunday
‘Family Food is a sure candidate for recipe book of the year’

Daily Mirror
'An eye-opening approach to what little angels should eat'

Matthew Norman, Sunday Telegraph
‘This is a chef to be cherished’

Customer Reviews

Great Cooking, but is it really for kids?
Firstly, this is a great book - right up there with my all-time favourite cooking books. There are some inspirational recipes in there, and even the apparently more traditional ones are discussed in such thorough detail beforehand that you are forced to think through the whole process of preparation and cooking. It really does make you regard these recipes in a new light. Having just acquired a digital temperature probe, I'm especially keen to try the low-temperature cooking that Blumenthal champions.

The only quibble I have with the book is that for one that claims to be aimed at getting children involved in cooking, I could find very few practical techniques or methods or recipes for achieving this. There's a fair bit of theoretical discussion about the merits of getting children involved in cookery, which I fully endorse. There are also some interesting food tasting experiments, which kids could find fun (and so could adults!) Apart from that, though, the other references to children are almost exclusively about simply urging the reader to get their children involved, about how much Blumenthal's own children enjoy a particular recipe, or how they themselves enjoyed making it. Mr Blumenthal is lucky - I can't imagine my own children tackling those particular recipes (too daunting), and some more specifically children-oriented recipes would have been nice. Blumenthal does explicitly distance himself from "gimmicky...happy parent monthly magazine" style recipes in the foreword, but I can't help feeling that in trying to avoid that particular trap he's swung the pendulum too far the other way.

Nonetheless, for adults it's a great book. Don't hesitate to buy it.

Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking
I have never before read a cookery book that has excited me in this way. This book is revolutionary and worthy of it's many awards. I have heard of the author and his restaurnt The Fat Duck before and thought that the dishes would be difficult to follow and indeed they were the exact opposite! I have used the recipes with my two daughters age 4 and 16 and we have all enjoyed the experience. Mr Blumenthal manages to not only create delicious food but recipes that let you understand and respect the ingredients. My husband and i have used the recipes successfully for diner parties and also with the children for our midweek pasta nights. Well done Mr Blumenthal and Thank you. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!!!

Excellent book - really does what it says
If you read Heston Blumenthal's column in the Guardian - put aside your prejudices. His column is notable for its championing of weird and rather unappetising food marriages - innovation at the cost of edibility! However, this book is really thoughtful and a brilliant way of getting your kids into the process of cooking. Also some of his recipes are very good indeed - even some of the really basic stuff makes you stop and think - he actually has a recipe for cheese-on-toast that could be life changing (it's baked rather than grilled, with wine and scope for other additions). My son (who is 12) uses it all the time. It hasn't made him like aubergines (nothing short of magic would do that) but it has converted him to lentils!