You have what it takes to be an amazing cook... and this is the jumping point you need if you want to discover all the skills to get you there.
Fancy yourself as the next big TV chef?
Perhaps you want to prove to your parents that you can cook just as well as they can… Or maybe you just love food and want to discover the art of cooking.
Whatever the reason you’re sniffing out recipe books, there’s a reason that you haven’t found the right one yet.
You keep finding delicious-looking recipes that you’d love to be able to whip up… but there’s a problem. There are all these mysterious new words and techniques standing in your way – and probably a few strange ingredients too.
You need delicious yet simple recipes that you can be sure you’ll pull off, racking up your skills and your culinary knowledge as you go. You need something that gives you a strong foundation so that you can later access any recipe book you feel like trying – and understand what you’re meant to do with the ingredients.
Written for teens to use at home, this books uses regular ingredients and common techniques - no reductions or fancy glazes here! - to give users a good grounding in techniques and food handling that will serve them well when they move out. Catering to every taste and skill level, this is a fantastic reference book for anyone to use.
Too many cookbooks assume that their users already know how to cook, usually complicated terms and difficult to prepare ingredients. This book starts right at the beginning, with kitchen and food safety tips and a list of common terms and techniques, giving readers something to refer back to as they work. The first recipe is literally a fried egg; it doesn't get much simpler than that. Each recipe starts with a list of ingredients, with utensils listed in the first step of the recipe, and moves logically through the steps one by one. I love the illustrations attached to some recipes, they look great!
The book is dividied into sections: Breakfast Basics, Lunch Time, Appetizers and Snacks, Dinner Mains, On the Side and Desserts. Be aware that as an American published book, it's (naturally) using American terms for food, so there's 'biscuits' that the Brits would call 'Scones' and 'Cookies' that might be known as 'Biscuits' elsewhere. Measurements in the recipes are largely given in spoons or cups. None of this is a big deal, it's just something to be aware of.
There's a wonderful mix of recipes here. From the very simple - fruit smoothies and pancakes in the breakfast section, each only taking a few ingredients and a few minutes to make - to more complex recipes like pork chops or shrimp linguini for dinner, with more ingredients and more complex skills needed, this book helps to build confidence and learn new skills. I'd have loved to see a few sample recipes for meals, suggesting appetizers, mains, sides and desserts that would work well together, but that's easy enough to find out elsewhere and there's plenty here to experiment with. It would have been nice to have more vegetarian main meals as well, but again those are easy to find elsewhere and there's plenty of choice here.
I'm looking forward to trying some of these out as they seem like exactly the type of recipe I need!
Easy Eats for Teens publishes on the 10th April, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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