Post Punk Kitchen Forum

wasn't sure whether to put this in the living room or not... but I don't think many people outside of the UK will know who Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is.

Anyway, his new series on Channel 4, currently 2 episodes in focuses on making vegetarian meals with lots of lovely fresh produce, and whilst it does include dairy and eggs, there are actually very many vegan meals he creates on the show. I'm thouroughly enjoying it. Especially as, whilst I have agreed with his advocation that factory farmed meat is not the way forward, his previous programmes have concentrated on furthering more sustainable varieties of animals and fish. So its good to know that he hasn't ignored the simplest solution of all: plants! He really does enthuse over plant produce (brilliant to see this instead of a slab of flesh with a load of foodies wanking all over it) and I recommend giving this a watch

This article is a good summary of his reasons for eating the way he is now doing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... vegetables

I haven't watched the programme yet, though it's on my SkyPlus. I did buy the book though - there is a fair bit of dairy but the vegan recipes are all labelled and substitutions should be very easy. Its a good book for when you don't want tofu, tempeh or seitan, yet unlike other similar books I've seen, it doesn't use ridiculously hard to find types of mushrooms or veg you'd need to get from a specialist. It's all about basics, really.

It sounds great but I can't stand him. I don't know why but I just can't watch the man.

Maybe I'll have a look at the book though.

that baby beetroot tarte tatin on this week's show... good grief. WANT.

I keep missing the programme but I've got a hold placed on a copy of the book at the library so I'll probably get it in a couple of months. I did notice last Friday's Guardian column had meat in every recipe...

he's said that he'll never become entirely vegetarian, but that the idea of the book and tv show was to try to educate people that, generally speaking, "we" (obviously not present company!) eat too much meat.
it's a bit of a shame really, but i'm not surprised by his views either. if i was more cynical than i am these days, i'd dismiss the show (and his guardian columns of late) as purely being publicity for his new book however i'd like to believe that he is one of the few celebrity chefs that genuinely does care about people and the planet in general. unlike ramsay, for example, who only cares about his bank balance...

this makes me want to start a contest to find the most british-sounding name ever.

because i'm pretty sure HFW* is near the top.


*do you call him that? if not, you may begin doing so, as long as you cite your source.

Thank you for making me laugh, calcuhater.

I haven't seen his show but like the look of his recipes. I really should get a library card and put it on order *runs from Interrobang?!*

Do you remember the "vegan baking" series the Guardian ran earlier this year? The "master baker" clearly decided that he would neither research nor practice the recipes, and just made excuses about the texture being wrong and his pastry falling apart and concluded that vegan baking is crepe. I actually wrote to them and complained.

Anyway, I might watch this! Glad to see it's enthusiastic!

haha, me too! i always thought he had this smug, self-important air about him that put me off, and the orgiastic meat binges i saw on his tv show didn't help. but somehow seeing this book in shops is turning me around - he's cut his hair, is eating vegetables, and isn't making that obnoxious-looking facial expression he normally seems to.


oh god, yes. that was a trainwreck. i'm glad you spoke up to them about it.

I was so disappointed in that because I am such a fan of Dan Lepard ordinarily, his breads have never failed me and I've successfully veganized many of his other recipes. Such a let-down.

I misread that as Def Leppard for a minute there and was like huh, what thread am I in?



I think it's cuz I saw him eat placenta once and it made me gag so he still makes me gag.

i saw him fry & eat freshly-removed bull testicles :x

eeww. see, he's vile!

I haven't seen this, but I may try to watch it on 4OD, as beetroot tart tatin sounds amaing.

I haven't bought a non vegan cookery book in a long while but was gifted this one

I go with EFCLiz's review in that the recipes are mainly vegetarian but easy to substitute to make vegan in many cases. They feel slightly odd in that the vegetarian ones are all eggs and dairy rather than any other products, but perhaps this fits into HFW's philosophy on growing and producing his own food?

Although he states that he will remain an omnivore, as a main stream chef at least he is trying to promote eating less in the way of animals. The book is clearly aimed at omnivores with the idea that they will cut down on their meat/fish consumption

Too much to hope that he might bring out a vegan one next :)

I have to say that I've been really impressed with both the series and the book. Yes, quite a lot of the recipes are unsuitable for vegans but I'd say a good majority are easy to sub. Around a third or so is vegan already, at least another third could be made vegan, because the only reason that is isn't suitable is because he's using butter, but I'd say that there are pretty few that couldn't be subbed at all.

Interestingly though, he looks much less like a walking heart attack in this series!

Mat.

I agree, he once made black pudding and said "You need to strain the blood to get the clots out"

The word clot does not belong in a recipe.

Mat.

I watched black pudding be made once and nearly yakked everywhere. When the mixtures is all combined it looks like a giant bucket of shiitake! BLERGGHH.

I can't believe I used to eat that stuff in my omni days. Vom.

I loved black pudding. I'd still much rather people made their own with all that it entails than buy it ready sliced at the supermarket, with no idea what's in it.

it's catching on!

(but seriously, cite your source.)

I'm sure I called him this first. Scotland invented everything. Come now.

My apologies for unwittingly abbreviating Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to HFW© without acknowledgement to source (whoever that turns out to be!)

Planning on making the baked squash recipe this weekend with subs