Appetite: A Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food

by Ed Balls

THE  SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Charming' – The Sunday Times
‘Delicious’ – Daily Mail
'Wonderful' –  Stephen Fry
‘Delightful’ – Delia Smith
'Brilliant'  – Claudia Winkleman
'Joyous' – Caitlin Moran
'Entertaining' -  Observer
' Funny' - Ken Follett 
'Glorious' - Daily Express
'Touching'  - Robert Peston
 
Appetite  is a memoir with a each chapter is a recipe that tells a story. 

Ed Balls was just three weeks old when he tried his first meal in 1967: pureed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. From that moment on he was hooked on food.

Taught to cook by his mother, Ed's now passing her wisdom on to his own kids as they start to fly the nest. Reflecting on his life in recipes, Ed takes us from his grandma's shepherd's pie to his first trip to a restaurant in the 1970s (and ordering an orange juice as a starter); from the inner workings of Westminster to the pressures of parenting. This is a collection of the meals he loves most, and the memories they bring back.

The world may have changed since 1967, but the best recipes last a lifetime.  Appetite  is a celebration of love, family, and really good food.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Cookbooks, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

Published August 19, 2021

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appetite by Ed Balls

4.5 rounded down

Ed Balls. former MP for West Yorkshire and a Chancellor of the Exchequer who lost his parliamentary seat in the election of 2015 but then he gave us Strictly Come Dancing fans his unforgettable Gangnam style and so Westminster's loss is TV's gain! I knew from Best Celebrity Home Cook which he won in 2021 that love of food and family is of vital importance to him and inextricably linked, especially Sunday Roasts as taught by his mum.

I thoroughly enjoy this combination book of memoir and favourite recipes which I think works really well, with just the right balance between the two. Perhaps I might enjoy it a smidgen more than some because of things like Nottingham and Yorkshire, adjacent schools and villages growing up and a parent with dementia I know of many places he mentions so that gives it an extra edge for me! However, it's not just those things, he takes you on your own trip down memory lane as he goes on his life/food journey, reminding you of yours which is pretty special I think. Some of his political stories are fascinating such as Tony Blair and especially Gordon Brown and some are heart-warming as he writes of his family with some being poignant and moving. He comes across as a really nice, down to earth bloke you'd like to share a pint or glass of wine with down the pub and you'd have a darned good natter! Even better if he cooked for you!

I'm definitely going to try some of the recipes as many appeal. It's good home cooking but that suits me just fine. A memoir, friends, love and food, what's not to like? His mum would be so proud.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Simon and Schuster for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Jonida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice simple recipes, presented in a way where you appreciate their history and importance in Ed’s life. Can vouch for the Yorkshire pudding one and looking forward to trying lots more out.

[Jo Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and some good recipes to try too.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Balls' new book is part cookbook, part memoir, which is perhaps my favourite kind of food-related book. Food and its associations plays such a big part in all our lives - just look how nostalgic people get about their childhood favourites. Ed, who has a lifelong love of cooking and eating and does all the cooking at home, reflects very engagingly on his life and the recipes that have accompanied it.

He has a way with words and a nice line in self-deprecating anecdotes, which made me laugh and smile numerous times. Contrary to his reputation as a politician, Ed's warmth and sense of fun became apparent on Strictly Come Dancing, and it's in evidence here too.

Ed is around the same age as me - just a year older - and we share a number of similar memories of childhood in the 1970s. (I too remember those small bottles of milk at morning break in primary school. And no, we never went out to eat as a family either. I don't think many people did, unless you were like the Queen or somebody.)

There are some amusing, often food-related anecdotes about politicians: Gordon Brown's (entirely unsurprising) dislike of fancy food, Peter Mandelson serving Ed an exquisite but alarmingly small lunch.

I was inspired after reading it to watch the recent series Best Celebrity Home Cook (series still available on iPlayer), on which Ed was a contestant, and it was an opportunity to see some of the recipes in action, including the famous lasagne. I'll definitely try some.

A lovely read, and I'd really like to go to one of Ed's barbecues.

[Ann Dewar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a bit unsure but thought that I’d give this a try as an audiobook and I’m really glad that I did. Ed Balls is much more engaging when talking about his family and food than I ever found him as a politician and some of the incidental insights into life in the goldfish bowl were genuinely fascinating.

He provides us with some recipes that are perfect for home cooks, interspersed with Proustian passages of autobiography. Many of the scenes of family life will resonate, regardless of background.

My only gripe is that as an audiobook, it really needs an accompanying pdf or content bookmarks so that we can find the recipes. No one wants to start fast-forwarding through an audiobook looking for a recipe. Come on audiobook producers, please up your game in this respect.

[Schopflin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but wasn't blown away by it and the recipes were .. well, just what you cook at home but not inspiring the way Nigel Slater used to be. I did enjoy some of the personal stuff, he's a decent writer and some of it is moving. But nothing amazing.

[Lucie]

Full disclosure I thought Ed Balls was James Acaster when I started reading this, but enjoyed it nonetheless

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part memoir, part cookbook, this is a very engaging read. I found the descriptions of Ed Ball’s years working in government very interesting. I also loved snippets about Ed’s family life both then and now. Ed always seems likeable on TV and radio appearances and comes across favourably in this well-written book.

I’ve saved some of the recipes to try: including the baked chocolate mousse, the custard (I’ve never actually made custard from scratch, so when it comes around to apple picking time I might make a crumble and serve it with homemade custard, instead of my usual extra thick double cream. My husband will be pleased) the soups and Cajun beans, which I plan to cook this week.

I noted how the finer details of recipes were sometimes lacking, for instance: how big a shoulder of pork for the bbq recipe? Around how many bananas might be required for the stated 425g? Smaller shops do not have scales to weigh produce and it is useful to know in advance. Do you remove the garlic from their skins and eat in the chicken soup, or discard when serving? When making the Yorkshire puddings the instructions state to divide the batter equally, but it does not say around how many portions the roast beef and puddings serves, so it would be rather a guessing game the first time. We tend to take specifics for granted when reading the cookbooks of experienced food writers. None of these are insurmountable problems, but some recipes could be tweaked a little.

Ed’s observations of the Sundays of his youth with the rituals and the patterns of roast lunch, football, the BBC serial and Mum’s tea being a true day of rest made me chuckle. I’m certain that Mum didn’t get much rest! Although I enjoyed the nostalgia of recalling those quieter, far less commercial Sundays (albeit later in the decade.)

I quite often look up unfamiliar words when reading, my favourite in this book was policy wonk! I didn’t think it for a minute it would be in any dictionary. I thought it was probably political slang. Wrong!

I hope there are more books from Ed as I genuinely enjoyed reading his stories and would definitely read another of his books, if it was in a similar vein.

A note for the publishers: please, please add a line at the end endorsed by one of the dementia organisations regarding NOT IGNORING signs of memory loss or dementia, it’s imperative to speak to your family GP and arrange for a memory test. If this is done in a timely manner memory medication can really help to slow deterioration. Of course this may not have available when Ed’s mother showed signs, but I think it would be really responsible to have a note at the end of this book. Ignoring an issue will not help the person at all. It could really make a difference to readers who have noticed changes in a loved one, or whom are worried about their own memory.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC of this delightful book.

21/3/22

[Ian Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appetite is a lite-bite read. Sorry to say, it didn’t satisfy my taste in reading; I wanted more, expected more!

About a quarter of the way through, I wondered whether I’d misread the synopsis on Kindle. Going back to Amazon’s page, I’m surprised at the overwhelming number of five star ratings and very, very few lower ones. The majority of these though are clearly prior fans of Ed Balls, from his participation in the celebrity dancing show and his hilarious Gangnam Style moves; they mentioned this upfront so I suspect glowing reviews would still have been forthcoming had a book been about lifelong involvement in seal clubbing. He can do no wrong.

One lone “critical reviewer” (Amazon’s term) - who still found it in their heart to give three stars - simply wrote, “OK but nothing to get excited about”. I’ll echo that.

To be fair, from his account, he seems a likeable guy, enjoys friends, loves his family. Though why would I be interested in that? Things became a bit more interesting when he spilled the beans on PM Gordon Brown’s general disinterest, and sometimes abject distrust, of any plate put in front of him; or a senior colleague, Peter Mandelson’s exquisite minimalist presentation of tomato soup luncheon with a side of lettuce. This is what I hoped for, and more of it besides. Disappointingly, we were soon back to family gatherings and the banal logistics of Sunday roasts and Saturday BBQs.

The idea of memoir-recipes, we’re told, stems from a daughter’s request when she’s on the point of flying the nest. The parents collaborate to create a book along with old family photos as mementos. This sounds like a wonderful idea. Appetite, however, is image free which is its loss considering we live in a world of readily accessible imagery. It’s also, possibly from its original premis, lacking in memorable mistakes. Only the soggy bottomed meat pie, from TV celebrity bake-off, is mentioned and even here he disputes the ruling of the professional judges.

Who will reach for this book for culinary inspiration instead of, say, Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tom Kerridge or even The Hairy Bikers, on Youtube, fully demonstrating how it’s done? Ed Balls disagrees. In the final word, he celebrates the old fashion kitchen shelf cookbook, oblivious to its growing anachronism. Oh well, each to his own.

It’s well written and exceedingly positive, with warmth and love. If you’re already a fan of Ed Balls, more in his later celeb-for-hire career phase, this is definitely for you. For me, it’s OK but nothing to get excited about.

Two and a half stars (for the Gordon Brown insights).

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an enjoyable read that also made me a bit sad and a bit surprised.
It's a good format for a personal memoir, especially one which could be laden first with politics and second with TV work, both of which have the potential to be dull in the reading (I don't know if the fact I have seen nothing of the post parliament TV work would help or hinder the latter...). It was interesting to learn that the original idea came from his eldest child's request for a book of his recipes as her 18th birthday gift.

The account of his early years is one of those not really 'guilty' pleasures of recognition and I reflected on the subtle gradations, even within families... this tempered later with the realisation that for the Balls family the 'deprivations' were an early and sustained choice made by his parents (made easier by certainly personality features). I felt uncomfortably that he might almost have been sent away to boarding school rather than the city fee-paying boys' day school so little does Nottingham feature - from his teenage years! There's not very much about how he came to get his various courses and jobs, or indeed about his time at Oxford and what he ate there, catered for throughout. He is quite detailed about other things such as the family routine when both he and his wife were both in parliament and at times in government (I have since realised this may be, consciously or otherwise, because of a supposed expenses scandal) Details (several references to Quality Street), and the book as a whole, with a heavy reliance on meat, surprised me with their obliviousness to various issues of which I'd naively imagined someone centre left would be aware. I had been a little wary that the book might be somewhat Tom Watson-esque on the subject of obesity and I always find it salutary that the eminent seem just as prey as anyone else to adopting diet after diet according to what is on trend, but it is a very small part of the book and much more about the joy of family cooking and eating.

Those points aside and my keen awareness of what I view as 'New Labour' flaws too, I felt waves of sadness when he refers to various initiatives, realising anew that things have not always been the way they are now.

It's a warm book, not gossipy, and maybe it seeks not to repeat much material which may be in his other more politics focussed memoir.

[Gisela Hafezparast · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is nearly impossible not to like Ed Balls, even though he is a politician :). This book gives you carefully chosen insights into his life, family, and what has clearly influenced his life, and I for one prefer this type of politician and person to what makes up our Government now. Moreover, he is one of those people, you would always want around for a barbecue or dinner party and not only because he clearly can always talk to anyone and will be a fun addition to a party, but mainly because the man can cook and understands good food. I followed two of his recipes and they work a tried, easy, satisfying home cooking.

I found the honesty and love with which he describes his family and especially the strain his and Ivette's political career has put on their children as well as his mother's dementia and how the family tries to cope with it very moving. I also had to laugh when he described his children's reactions, especially as teenagers to his "new career" as one of Britain's most loved maverick entertainers. One always knows, when Ed Balls appears on the screen, this is not going to be boring. I loved his competitiveness when it came to his favourite family recipes in "Celebrity Best Home Cook" and it was very interesting to watch as the former and I would say life-long labour politician compete with the sister of our then future and now former worst-ever prime minister. Both did their best to keep politics out and to show the familiar side of themselves, but you could clearly see the class divide which so mirrors so many problems this country has. He doesn't refer to this in the book much, which was in my humble opinion, well done or a good editor?

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part memoir, part politics but mainly food! Ed is a likeable chap and was very nice and caring on the television programme Inside The Care Crisis, showing great empathy with everyone he met. Obviously a huge talent in the kitchen (lucky Yvette!). He has always loved his meals and learnt lots from his mother. After reading this book though I don’t feel as if I know him any better as there’s nothing very detailed. Same with politics, so anyone looking for that would be disappointed. Never mind, plenty of dishes to try, if you like the sound of them! I was given this ARC by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how Ed Balls real character shone through in this book, his humour, passion and personality is definitely on show here and it’s a fabulous read. part memoir, part cook book this is a well written and nostalgic read, the recipes are simple to follow and in an easy to read format and there’s a good selection. This is a lovely book about family, food , Ed’s childhood and that of his own kids, this is a lovely book and it’s like sitting down with a friend over a meal to share some tips. Thoroughly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

[Alžběta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say I ever cared much for Ed Balls during his years in politics, and I am generally wary of (former) politicians and their cultural efforts, but "Appetite" is a gorgeous feast of moving memories, extremely relatable family stories and mouthwatering recipes. I was moved to tears several times, especially when the author talked about his lovely relationship with his parents and his mum's fight with dementia.
Overall, moving, funny and surprisingly relatable, "Appetite" is a most delicious literary treat and one of the best memoirs I've read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a heavy read by any means, but a charming and disarming memoir based around family, friends and food - with a hefty selection of favourite recipes, many of which I'd be keen to try. It sounds like the dining table at Ed's house is a nice place to be, piled high with food and surrounded by friends and family. Not that there are any new revelations; it's personal, but carefully judged not to be too personal. That said, thoroughly enjoyable.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this - a charming memoir told through food, complete with recipes. I seem to be reading a lot of memoirs at the moment of people in my age group. This one was a lovely tale of happy family life, both growing up with his parents, and his own marriage and children. Nice to be reminded of life in the 60s and 70s - remember you needed both the Radio Times and the TV Times to know what was on 'all three channels'.

[Oscar Pimlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very heartwarming and filling (pardon the pun) memoir. Loads of great recipes laden with emotionally-told stories. Unlikely to win a booker prize for its prose yes but the stories are beautifully told and the provide a revealing insight into the role food plays in everyone’s’ lives. Easily recommend.

[Colin Swinburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had some interesting sections. I didn't particularly like Ed Balls as a politician, but I have warmed to him post politics particularly on Celeb Master Chef and the fact that he provided a cook book to his children going onto University. The recipes all looked appetising and I enjoyed the back story's about how they came to be used.

[R H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely wanted slightly more detail on Ed’s life - events were briefly described and then we were moved swiftly on - but I really enjoyed this book. It is so true that food defines your life, and I found myself really liking Ed by the end of the book.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it very interesting and gripping: a biography told using recipes, memories of food.
It was an interesting and compelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this, lots of interesting insights but didn't go deep enough - I guess that's not the purpose of the book though

[Kate Corlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light, fun read held together by depths of family, friends and food. What's not to like?!Not tried the recipes yet.

[Bebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly a kind and amicable person, makes me want to invite him round for a cup of tea and cake.

[Ian Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another perfectly OK book, interesting enough but nothing special.

[Lorraine Collyns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, enjoyed the way family life was linked into the stories and the recipes.

[Mark Laksevics · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book as comforting & heartwarming as the recipes therein.

[Fiona Macdougall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Loved the combination of recipes and life. Very open and honest about Ed’s life which I loved. Only problem was I was hungry though it. Haha

[Dani Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely example of this type of memoir, focused on food and family, with his favourite recipes woven in with reflections on how his professional exploits interact with being a son, husband and dad.

[Tonie Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable book

[June Churchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of memories of my childhood