Food Heroes product reviews

This book captured my attention immediately with its cover. With such yummy looking loaves of bread proffered I couldn't wait to sit down and peruse this book. It is a heavy book and when you open it you immediately understand why. Good quality paper with absolutely stunning photographs of some of author Simon Farrell-Greens food heroes at work, producing good quality food with love.

I love the photos and photographer Duncan Innes has captured the essence of this book, which is to celebrate Farrell-Greens Food Heroes and profile how they came to be producing the food that Simon loves.

There are over 20 individuals and couples profiled in this perfect coffee table sized book. Each profile is accompanied by stunning photos and several pages of information about how they came to be at this particular point in their lives, and in many profiles a recipe of a signature food item that is produced by that particular artisan. I can't wait for my fig tree to produce to try the spiced Figs recipe from The Gorge and am inspired to be a bit more adventurous in my bread making by Paddy Griffith.

This book is fantastic just to look at visually for the photos, but when you have time it's well worth curling up with a good cup of coffee and immersing yourself in each artisans story. I finished this book (over several coffee cup sessions)feeling inspired by Farrell-Greens Heroes as they are all truly inspirational. What stood out for me is that whilst they may not be making millions from their chosen production all of these individuals love what they do and everyday they are producing their products with love and passion, and a personal touch, that we have lost through mass production. What a joy it must be to get up every morning to earn your living doing something you love and believe in. This book is such a beautiful celebration of the artisan method of producing food and left me inspired to cook more from scratch and to source out more artisan produced products. I feel guilty now at how easily I succumb to the ease of shopping at my local supermarket. I was really disappointed to see that there are no "Food Heroes" from the Waikato in this book, but they must be out there, so it's probably time for me to start checking out my local food markets and maybe try and become a Food Hero myself!

Thank you Simon and Duncan for such a beautiful inspirational book. This is a perfect Christmas gift and a welcome addition to my book shelf.