A little price of some far away place at home.

This book is a clever idea which almost works. Part recipe book, Homemade Food seeks to showcase our passion as people everywhere for food which, more than a simple sustainer of our physical well-being, is part of our national identities. The book takes the reader around the world, sailing recipes from Africa to Japan, through Europe and Asia, to the Americas, Canada and Australia. Dividing the world into general regional areas, each is then subsided to showcase a single dish from different countries to offer a representative taste of each. The meal is the given a brief history before it's preparation is described sufficiently for the reader to try making it for themselves.

Whilst it might seem easier to follow a recipe if it is written out for the cook to see and check as ingredients are gathered and and worked together, in fact this audible presentation actually works well as it is not a book of cooking perfection but more one of enjoyment of experimentation and discovery: perfect for the cook who is not tied to precise measurements. After all, this is about home cooking and so each meal will have it's own differences from home to home.

Fascinating little facts abound in the introduction to each dish, such as Bolivia is the only South American country where MacDonalds went bust. Perfect for readers who enjoy collecting trivia bits and pieces.

This cannot have been an easy book to narrate given that there is no story as such, no conversation to give added texture and it is littered with a multitude of unusual and often difficult to pronounce foreign names or phrases. Denise Kahn is a perfect choice, her pleasant to hear voice is very easy on the ears, she reads with good intonation and understanding and an ability to tackle all of the different food titles with aplumb. She sustained this reader's interest despite the quick changing areas being presented, and the formal structure of the book.

My grateful thanks to the rights holder of Homemade Food, who gifted me a complimentary copy, at my request through FAFY. I enjoy cooking and experimenting with food and this book should appeal to those who, like me, rarely bother with precise measurements and are actively excited by improvisation. It is a great source of ideas. Additionally, even for non cooks, this fast world-wide trip of local tastes and brief histories, should prove fascinating. It is just a shame that scents cannot somehow be incorporated.

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