The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain [Hardcover]

Bought the book because I loved the TV series. Excellent set of recipes. Very easy to follow and made me try out some new stuff. Love the way it encourages you to use British products. Contains both the recipes the boys cook plus the professional chef recipes. Would make a lovely present.

I am really enjoying this book. I have enjoyed the series and the book is a
perfect reflection of the tv episodes.

This is a well produced and glossy book with lots of photographs (including
one for each recipe, always invaluable) and clear text. The recipes include
both those made by the Hairy Bikers and by the chefs that they visited on
their travels. The Recipes are well laid out and easy to follow. The book is
organized by area, alphabetically, and there's a small map of the UK to show
where each area actually is geographically.

Each chapter is introduced with a swift lok at the area visited, with
various producers mentioned by name. At the end of the book there is a list
of producers and suppliers (telephone / web) followed by an Index which is
organized principally by ingredients (e.g. to find a recipe for trout look
under "fish").

The recipes are very varied, which is excellent. There's a good mix of meat
and seafood, with lots of sauces and vegetable accompaniments. Some of the
recipes, like Kevin Viner's Fillet of Monkfish in Cornish Wine with Pickled
Celeriac and Cucumber are delicate, finely dressed and very modern, whilst
others, like the bikers' steak and kidney pudding, are solid, full-flavoured
and traditional. That's a nice balance.

I have two small reservations, both of which echo the tv series.
- Many of the ingredients are difficult to source
- Many of the combinations delivered on the plate are far too extreme

The first of these is impossible to criticise in any meaningful way because
the whole point of the series was to visit different areas and use the
ingredients local to those places. It was always going to be a challenge to
get hold of some of the ingredients if you live somewhere which doesn't
produce similar types of food. That's okay when replacements are obvious,
but sometimes they aren't. Seaweed types, for example, which can be
absolutely delicious, are either difficult to source or horrendously
expensive for those of us who live in London. The same goes for some of the
seafood, like cockles, and meats like snails. A very minor complaint.

On the second point I find that the recipes provided, particularly by the
authors rather than by the visited chefs, pile too many different flavours
and textures onto one plate. That's not really a problem because you can
cook the bits together that you think will work well for you and leave out
the elements that don't appeal to you. An example is the Gloucester Guinea
Fowl with Apple Risotto and Baby Leaf Salad. It sounds relatively straight
forward until you look closer. The guinea fowl is divided into breasts with
fatty streaky bacon, and thighs which are stuffed with pesto made of basil,
rocket, hard cheese, pine nuts and garlic. The apples in the risotto are
caramelized and are added to the rice with bacon lardons, parmesan cheese
and sage. The baby leaf salad is dressed with orange juice, lemon juice,
vinegar, garlic, mustard and sugar. That's a right old mix of flavours and
far too much for my taste buds. But I could happily isolate one or two of
those elements and serve just those on a plate.

For me there are two many foaming sauces, mini mousses and cute little
jellies - they are simply too fussy for me.

Having watched the TV series I knew that I would be making those
observations before I ordered the book, so I really have no gripes on the
subject but thought that they would be worth pointing out.

This book is all about main courses. There are no starters or desserts.
That's perfect for me because I don't bother with either starters or
desserts at home.

The first two recipes that I have tried worked perfectly - one recipe by the
Bikers and the other by one of the chefs that they visited.

Very enjoyable.

This book is both informative and entertaining. Recommended as an ideal Christmas Present for all.

The research and travel that was necessary for the production of the book must have been endless and, at times, frustrating. The Hairy Bikers give good insight into the counties that they visit, and make you want to visit them. If you want a good night out at a good restaurant in any given area then this is the book for you.

it is also recommended that you arrange to view the TV series. The cheery disposition of the bikers, and their great cookery knowledge, can readily be seen.