Eat Up: Food for Children of All Ages - Softcover

Hix, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007146779 ISBN 13: 9780007146772

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2003

Synopsis

Nursery food recipes that adults can enjoy too. First serious book on ‘comfort food’ that explores ways to get kids to enjoy a diverse, nutritious diet and why we all love those nursery favourites.

Mark Hix, much praised executive chef of The Ivy, Le Caprice and J Sheeky, brings all his experience to help parents create that rare phenomenon – the child who will happily eat food that is not camouflaged by a crispy coating. He believes children should be introduced to a variety of foods and natural flavours at an early age, getting away from the culture of separate meals for children as soon as possible.

‘Eat Up’ is his solution: a range of simple and delicious nursery food recipes that can be easily adapted to make dishes adults can enjoy too.

Hix discusses his experiences with his own children and how he encourages them to explore food. He has also invited a few other chefs to reveal innovative ways to feed kids, such as the chef who has invented a tomatoless tomato ketchup to overcome his daughter’s allergy. Hix also delves into the reasons why adults are obsessed with comfort food.

Mouthwatering recipes, practical tips, and beautiful photographs of children having fun with food make ‘Eat Up’ a must for anyone fed up with fish fingers.

About this title

Product Description:

The author has written a child-friendly food book containing nursery food recipes that adults can also enjoy. This serious book on comfort food explores ways to get children to enjoy a diverse, nutritious diet and also why we all love those nursery favourites.

Review:

Mark Hix and Suzi Godson's Eat Up: Food for Children of All Ages was developed in response to the lack of recipes for "proper food" for children that could be enjoyed by the whole family. Eat Up is a selection of recipes that don't compromise on quality and will satisfy the palates of both children and adults.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, Hix does concede that preparing fresh food from scratch may initially be time-consuming, but the end results are undoubtedly worth it. The book begins with the very basics of weaning babies away from milk, offering guidelines on introducing new textures and flavours at appropriate stages. Conversion charts for weights and measures and oven temperatures are helpfully included, as are freezing guidelines. There's also a chapter on shopping for food with children in tow, an experience which for most parents usually results in being pestered into filling the trolley with junk food.

The recipes themselves are somewhat eclectic. These range from the traditional (Toad in the Hole, Bangers and Mash with onion gravy) to vegetarian options often with a strong ethnic slant (Butternut Squash Risotto, Caribbean Vegetable Hot-pot). There are "real food" versions of children's favourites--Real Fish Fingers, Hamburgers and Double Chocolate Rice Pyramid. Occasionally Hix's credentials as executive chef at The Ivy and food writer for The Independent become apparent and the recipes veer into pretentiousness; for example the recipe for Fergus Henderson's Crispy Pig's Tails. Each recipe includes details of the number of people it will feed (typically two adults and two children), the age that it's suitable from and any modifications (usually the omission of salt or any strong spices) needed for babies. Harriet Logan's colourful photographs accompanying the recipes consist of pictures of the finished dishes themselves, kitsch toys and novelties that echo the main ingredients (eg: a plastic shepherd and lamb from a nativity crib next to the recipe for Shepherd's Pie) and children enthusiastically (and often literally) getting stuck into their food.

Minor quibbles aside, Hix and Godson have produced an enthusiastic, fun book that does inspire you to get cooking regardless of whether or not you have children. Eat Up would likely be appreciated as a gift for new parents, or indeed by anyone who wants to reduce their consumption of convenience food. --Alison Drury

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0007146779
• ISBN 13: 9780007146772
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208