Life Kitchen: Quick, easy, mouth-watering recipes to revive the joy of eating

by Ryan Riley

' Life Kitchen is a celebration of food' Lauren, Sunderland
'The recipes are just really simple, really easy and delicious' Carolyn, Newcastle
'His book is better than a bunch of flowers because it's going to last forever' Gillian , Sunderland


Ryan Riley was just eighteen years old when his mum, Krista, was diagnosed with cancer. He saw first-hand the effect of her treatment but one of the most difficult things he experienced was seeing her lose her ability to enjoy food.

Two years after her diagnosis, Ryan's mother died from her illness.

In a bid to discover whether there was a way to bring back the pleasure of food, Ryan created Life Kitchen in his mum's memory. It offers free classes to anyone affected by cancer treatment to cook recipes that are designed specifically to overpower the dulling effect of chemotherapy on the taste buds.

In Life Kitchen , Ryan shares recipes for dishes that are quick, easy, and unbelievably delicious, whether you are going through cancer treatment or not. With ingenious combinations of ingredients, often using the fifth taste, umami, to heighten and amplify the flavours, this book is bursting with recipes that will reignite the joy of taste and flavour.

Recipes
Carbonara with peas & mint
Parmesan cod with salt & vinegar cucumber
Roasted harissa salmon with fennel salad
Miso white chocolate with frozen berries

With an introduction from UCL's taste and flavour expert Professor Barry Smith, this inspiring cookbook focusses on the simple, life-enriching pleasure of eating, for everyone living with cancer and their friends and family too.

'This book is a life this is not gush, but a statement of fact' Nigella Lawson

Genres: Food

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I only seemed to receive a part of this book not the full book but the short amount of the book I received both both interesting and touching as well as a very clever way to help give cancer patients back some enjoyment from eating and food again.
The recipies I read sound and look delicious and I wish I could have read more of them.

[Jen Tidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ryan Riley is a young entrepreneur and chef, who was formally the carer for his terminally ill mother. After her death, he was inspired to design recipes that would appeal to the diluted tastebuds of cancer patients, and this collection of 70 easy to prepare recipes is the result.

With guidance from Prof Barry Smith (an academic at UCL with an interest in the multisensory nature of perceptual experience), Ryan has designed this collection of recipes that focus using acidity and umami to amplify flavour, using key ingredients such as black garlic, citrus, garam masala, maple syrup, nigella seeds, parmesan, pomegranate molasses, rose harissa, sherry vinegar, sumac and za'atar,

Interestingly, I am autistic and have sensory processing disorder which means I am oversensitive or undersensitive to various sensory inputs. In terms of food, I am sensory seeking and find big, bold, hot, sour, salty and savoury foods particularly pleasurable, so this collection really appealed to me, but I'm sure all of the recipes appeal to anyone with an appreciation of delicious, fresh, and seasonable food, whether they have any form or diagnosis or not.

[kepz_lovesreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance sampler of Life Kitchen for my review so I've only seen about a dozen of the recipes in the book.
The book starts out with Ryan's introduction for why he has created this book and the story of his Mum having cancer. It is a book designed for cancer sufferers that may have lost their sense of taste due to treatments and this book focuses on recipes and elements in food that will get them enjoying the taste of food again.
The recipes I've seen were interesting and many of them I'd never seen before and would enjoy making myself. The photos do a good job of showing off the food. I hope the rest of the book is as good as the sampler I've seen.
Thanks to Netgalley.com and Bloomsbury Publishing for this ARC review copy.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't receive all of the book for some reason but the recipes that were included were great, Very simple, easy to make but still really interesting flavors. Although these recipes are created with the consideration of cancer patients, don't let that put you off buying it. I will definitely be trying these out at home for me and my husband-to-be.

The book was interestingly laid out and the introduction at the beginning was really touching and eloquently put.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will make your mouth water! The photography that accompanies the recipes is lovely, and the write-up for each is open and descriptive. It was interesting to read of the author's journey, and I appreciated the kitchen tips when provided.
The only disappointing thing is that the review copy provided does not seem to be a full copy, as there were only 50 or so pages. I would love to see the whole book!!

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of mouthwatering and easy to follow recipes. Well written and clear explanations.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Jay Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice recipes, great ideas but reading them made me realize that there are many ingredients I can't find where I live. So, not easy to create those recipes. I suppose the book will stay on a shelf!

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was interesting and well laid out. The introduction at the beginning was really touching as the author learned to cook when he became the main care provider for his terminally ill mother. After her death, he was determined to focus on creating recipes that would appeal to the tastes and needs of cancer patients.

Ryan's focus is on using acidity and umami to amplify flavour, using key ingredients listed at the beginning of the book. They are the focal points of the 70 recipes within this cookbook but as a cancer patient myself I wouldn't eat many of these foods as they don't agree with me. I have Found a few recipes that I can use and many of the sauces and homemade oils are delicious.

This book is fun with bright and interesting Illustrations as well as appealing photos of the prepared food.

The recipes are fairly straightforward but use ingredients (I am not necessarily familiar with) that are almost wholy specialty ingredients.

This is not necessarily a bad thing but do be aware you won't have these ingredients on hand. I have picked up ingredients for several from a specialty store here in town.

The desserts are what actually interest me the most. I wasn't a fan of all the ingredients in many of the other recipes so I would need to get creative and find alternatives to tackle the recipes but probably won't because to do so would not even resemble the actual original recipe.

However, the Lemon & Pomegranate Sherbet cake is tasty. And the Musi White Chocolate with Berries yummy.

Overall the story behind the book is very touching and I enjoyed reading it. This book is stunning in print and I actually think it's a beautiful book

I received this book from NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an honest review.