Product Description

Rick Stein, one of the UK's most popular and respected chefs, opens your eyes to the wealth of produce available on your doorstep with his book, "Rick Stein's Food Heroes". Now available for the first time in paperback, as well as hardback, this book is both an inspirational collection of recipes and a delightful celebration of British ingredients and those who create them. Rick has always encouraged us to think carefully about the food we eat, to seek out the best-quality ingredients and to cook them simply. In his accompanying TV series, he travelled around Britain, searching out the best of all British produce, from bread to beer and lamb to cheese. The book contains over 100 recipes, including all those broadcast on BBC2. In addition to a host of brand new recipes (including Smoked Duck Breast Salad with New Potatoes and Fresh Raspberry Tart with Hazelnut and Coconut Pastry), Rick adds his own variations on traditional dishes, such as The Definitive Welsh Rarebit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18424 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
What a likeable cook and writer Rick Stein is, apparently quite without side or any need to posture. Tirelessly generous, Food Heroes salutes those people who work hard, in the face of market pressures and often widespread indifference, to make available the very best British produce. Cheese, eggs, poultry, meat and game, fruit and seafood--the list of foodstuffs over which many of us have relinquished any claim to demand quality is a long and depressing one. Top marks, then to Stein for travelling the country and bringing a bit of publicity to those who labour in the vineyard. He is remarkably good at making clear just why quality matters so much, not only in terms of flavour, but on humanitarian grounds too. (He pointedly muses on how very much more cruelty might be prevented if single-issue anti-hunt campaigners broadened their concerns to include intensive farming.)

Some of the names here are more familiar than others: many people have eaten Mrs Kirkham's remarkable Lancashire cheese (though some apparently think she is no more real then Mr Kipling), or enjoyed the products of Loch Fyne and the Duchy of Cornwall; they are merely the most prominent among more than 300 producers and suppliers listed in the extraordinarily thorough and useful directory. One wishes them all well and hopes that this book (and the TV series) will have an appreciable effect on the nation's food buying. At least no-one can say that Rick Stein hasn't tried. The recipes he produces to demonstrate how to make the best of this fine produce are, as always, simple and impeccable, mingling a nice appreciation for tradition with a clear-sighted modern practicality. Roast Grouse with Bread Sauce and all the Trimmings rubs shoulders, as it were, with Medallions of Venison with Red Wine and Morello Cherries accompanied by Roasted Hazelnut Spätzle (a remarkable dish), while simple, old-fashioned puddings like Coeur à la Crème and Summer Pudding sit happily alongside chef's creations such as Fresh Raspberry Tart in Coconut and Hazelnut Pastry. The book is a feast and a pleasure, and if used as Rick Stein intends, may make the world a slightly better place. --Robin Davidson

Customer Reviews

Brilliant cookbook which supports real food
This is an excellent addition to anyone's collection of cookbooks. It has a good selection of recipes and makes the most of real food. The book is backed up with a helpful directory of food producers and outlets. Whilst Rick Stein is undoubtably associated with fish, this book shows an enthusiasm for other food as well and a desire to support quality food producers. This book deserves to be read and its support for British food is most welcome.

Make them all!
Anyone who has purchased a cookery book knows that they are unlikely to make every recipe contained in it. However, with this one there is such a wealth of knowledge, tradition and perhaps most importantly culinary passion that any home cook worth their 'maldon salt' will make most of them. And if it still doesn't inspire you and you can only muster the enthusiasm to make one recipe then make it the lemon tart on page 170 it's brilliant!

Brilliant results !
Instructions are simple and the results are brilliant everytime. Having had a number of successes from trying the recipes in the book, I also started to watch his series Heroes:Another Helping on TV. Made me want to get the book out and try more.