The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall & Fizz Carr

This is a family cookbook in its truest sense with no PR spin. Literally cooked up by five families, all the recipes (photographs too) in the book were cooked by children. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr reckon that children aged twelve upwards can cook the recipes by themselves; 10 - 12 year olds with a little help and those under ten will need some assistance. Hugh and Fizz believe that you should start children young on cooking and this will herald a life long enjoyment of food.

One of the earliest things to learn in the kitchen is safety. There are sharp knives, boiling saucepans and spitting frying pans. All need to be respected. Where the element of danger is high, the recipes are marked with ‘Warning'. Of course, adults should always be close at hand but the aim of this book is to garner confidence in the young when handling food and its preparation, before sharing it with friends.

The River Cottage Family Cookbook doesn't hide behind political correctness. It gives you the facts about the podgy pigs in the field, giving your children the answers to the whys as well as the hows about the little piggy that ends up sizzling as a rasher of bacon in your frying pan. Both Hugh and Fizz believe that children have lost sight of the food chain and this family cookbook has been written to redress the balance. They both said, ‘It is our immodest intention to write a classic of this genre' and this is exactly what The River Cottage Family Cookbook achieves.

The book is based on key ingredients such as flour, eggs, meat and fish. Part history, part science, with two projects per chapter, there is much to keep the family busy in the kitchen and beyond. Projects include growing tomatoes, making your own sausages, making sourdough bread. The recipes even go as far as answering some of the questions that even the adults might be interested to learn about. The recipes are for good wholesome food, bought seasonally and where possible organic. If you're buying pork, make sure you get organic given the choice, or go for outdoor reared or free range. At least the animals will have had some quality of life before getting the chop.

Recipes get you stirring the pot with a white winter soup, a combination of leek, potato, cauliflower and celeriac. May be you could spend an afternoon undressing a crab, a pure demolition job that requires a hammer. Alternatively cook up a dish of the roast onion family, the red onions, shallots, garlic and leeks all giving a slightly different taste. Get your children eating roast squid, filleting fish, rigging up an impromptu ice cream maker. There are things for rainy days, fudge and marshmallow making and for sunny days, homemade iced lollipops. Naturally baking gets a good chapter with gooey brownies, jaw-sticking flapjacks and giant cookies.

The River Cottage Family Cookbook may go further than you would ever want but if your enquiring little minds say they want to cure bacon or make their own butter (which is surprisingly easy), you will know which book to turn to. It's brilliant and every family should own a copy.


Publication details:
420 pp. Photography by Simon Wheeler. £20
Published by Hodder & Staughton
ISBN 0340826363
2005

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