A River Cottage Industry
Categories: Cookbooks
Hugh Fearley-Whittingstall (don't you just love the name?) is a leading English food writer who in the past decade has established himself as a print and television guru for sustainable agricuture and cookery in Great Britain. His television shows have led to cook books and a farm deep in the English countryside where devoted foodies trek for cooking classes or just mucking around the pig pens.
His latest offering (with co-author Fizz Carr) is The River Cottage Family Cookbook. This is a fat, lush book filled with photos of food and recipes that may be daunting to younger cooks but are so appealing that any child who wants to learn how to make these smashing looking items will ask the resident grown up to help. They are equally appealing to adults, with a wide range of recipes that evoke homey comfort combined with sophistication, like gooseberry crumble or spicy lamb pie.
Lots of background information about how we get our foods fulfills the missionary part of the book and while HFW,as his fans call him, preaches sustainability he doesn't make you feel horrible if you can't grow your own peaches or butcher your own swine.
I admit, I was a little concerned about how graphic the photos would be in this book as the earlier The River Cottage Meat Book did not hesitate to show dead animals lying about. Thankfully, there is nothing nasty-looking here, just photos of beautiful children engaged in the kitchen or the vegetable patch and any animals are alive and gamboling through the meadows, though there is a nifty photo of a boy filling sausage casings that would appeal to the ick factor in small boys.
Recipes are converted for American kitchens and there is nothing too exotic in ingredients, though most kids would avoid the lamb's liver and bacon. However, they will find it fascinating to make their own salt or create an impromtu ice cream maker from basic kitchen gear. This is a great book to introduce kids to real food and cooking. It would be great for a long family weekend in the kitchen. HFW doesn't condescend to kids and adult cooks will enjoy this also. HFW has become a franchise, but he is a cut above most of the TV cooks/cookbook authors who establish their food empires. Also try The River Cottage Cookbook for more of HFW and company.
