Product Description

Rick Stein offers over 100 new recipes, based on the best of all British produce, as well as a directory of the producers that he has met and recommends. He includes his own variations on traditional British dishes, such as Welsh rarebit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49406 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 204 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

Review
Rick Stein's "Food Heroes" is not about his favourite chefs as might at first be assumed. It is about the top food producers in Britain today. His love of fresh ingredients is well-known and here he travels the length and breadth of the country in his hunt for people of like mind, people who care more about their produce than their profit. Whilst acknowledging supermarkets today offer a range of foods far more global and wide-ranging than ever dreamt of, he draws the cooks attention to ingredients fresher and better than those sold by profit-making conglomerates. Handmade cheeses, organic watercress, free-range chickens and ducks and his favourite, freshly caught fish. Stein meets the people and explains their philosophy behind what could all too easily be loss-making ventures. But such is their belief in what they do they can translate it to chefs like Stein to promote and educate the general public. Accompanied by over 100 scrumptious Stein recipes, and attractively illustrated with colour photographs, this is an ideal gift to anyone wanting to cook and taste the very best of British produce. - Lucy Watson

Owner of the acclaimed Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, television presenter and writer of countless award-winning cookbooks, Rick Stein is probably the best-known champion of fish cookery in Britain. So it comes as some surprise that this latest book doesn't have fish in the starring role. This time around Stein is showcasing the very best of British produce, including handmade speciality cheeses from Dorset, locally reared beef from Suffolk and British breeds of poultry farmed near Lancaster. Stein has joined the crusade for a return to quality local produce and is adding his voice to the steadily growing chorus. The recipes here will certainly not disappoint, and although he remains confident of the virtues of good seafood, Stein shows us that he is capable of a much broader repertoire. The recipes range from a simple dish of Roast Chicken with Tarragon - the fresh tarragon exuding a luscious aniseed flavour into the juices - to the more unusual Red-Cooked Wild Boar with Star Anise and Dried Tangerine Peel. Desserts are well covered too: Lemon Posset with Grilled Figs is superbly refreshing and ridiculously simple, while no British cookbook would be complete without a recipe for Summer Pudding. Naturally there is also a chapter on seafood that more than lives up to Stein's formidable reputation. While the recipes and photographs in this book are superb, the very best thing about it is the comprehensive listing of suppliers in the directory at the end. Stein has compiled the names and contact details of hundreds of top-quality British suppliers, the majority of whose products can be purchased by mail order. Published to accompany the television series of the same name, this is a book not to be missed. (Kirkus UK)

Synopsis
Rick Stein offers over 100 new recipes, based on the best of all British produce, as well as a directory of the producers that he has met and recommends. He includes his own variations on traditional British dishes, such as Welsh rarebit.

Customer Reviews

So useful
This book is great - great recipes of course, but also a really useful list of suppliers. My favourite though is the section at the back of recipes for accompaniments to serve with the main dishes. It's so nice to have a bit of help working out what the perfect foil to your hard work should be!

A great TV series though!
I like Rick Stein - a lot. He comes across as being passionate about food and it's production. I would go so far as to say that 'Food Heroes' was the best ever TV 'cookery' program ever!

So what's the problem with the book. There are two in my opinion. They say that you taste food with your eyes before you eat. The book therefore numbs all interest in cooking two thirds of the recipes included as there is no photo of what the dish should look like on the plate. I am sure that myself and thousands like me who have bought this book will not try those recipes without a photo. This is a big shame. My second gripe is that the names and address of the food heroes as well as being catalogued by type of produce should have been listed by geographic area.

Can't wait for his next TV series though.

Rick Stein's Food Heroes
I couldn't help but buy this book having watched it being televised on BBC 2 and being amazed at how much research Rick had done towards it. Food Heroes is a wonderful book, with lots of exciting recipes, fabulous pictures and it is great that we have seen Rick do recipes which contain more than just fish which we normally associate with him!

Rick comes across as being extremely passionate about buying fresh and good quality produce from across England and highlighting those businesses which many of us have never heard of.

I have made the Mascarpone Ice Cream with Blueberry Compote which was delicious and have also cooked the Sea Bass with Stir-Fried Vegetables which has the most amazing flavours running through it!

I just wanted to thank him for making my Thursday evening's more interesting, I so look forward to 8.00pm!