Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking

by Heston Blumenthal

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 to feed your children now, specifically 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.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking

Paperback

First published November 28, 2002

About the author

Heston Blumenthal is chef-patron of The Fat Duck in Bray, a three Michelin-starred restaurant known for its whimsical, scientific and creative style of cookery and famed for being named World’s Best Restaurant more than once.

At the age of 16, Heston travelled to France with his family for the first time and became fascinated with the world of food. He spent the next decade learning the basics of French cuisine from books and working as everything from a photocopier salesman to a debt collector to fund annual research trips to France. One of the books that most influenced him was On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, which questioned the fundamental rules of the kitchen and explored the science of cooking.

Heston opened The Fat Duck in 1995 with no financial backing. On the second day of opening the oven exploded, and Heston spent the rest of service with a bag of frozen peas on his head. Gradually, the restaurant eventually moved from serving simple French bistro food to the innovative, rule-breaking, multi-sensory tasting menu it serves today. Perhaps what is most extraordinary about the success of The Fat Duck is that Heston is entirely self-taught, save for three weeks spent in a few professional kitchens.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing unfortunately.

I've read other books by Heston so am used to the long cooking times etc., but had hoped some of these would be a bit more accessible by virtue of being family-oriented. Alas this is not the case - be prepared to cook dishes for many hours, at temperatures my oven dial won't go low enough for and with some mad ingredients (375g of basil for a pudding to serve 4!)

There are good insights nonetheless, and some more accessible recipes and experiments, but on the whole this one overshot the mark a bit for me.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Heston dearly, but for family food, I think I'll stick to Preston (Matt).