Appetite

A Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food

By: Ed Balls

Narrated by: Ed Balls

‘Delightfully different’ – Delia Smith

Ed Balls was just three weeks old when he tried his first meal: pureed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. While perhaps ill-advised by modern weaning standards, it worked for him in 1967, and from that moment on he was hooked on food.

Appetite is a memoir with a twist: part autobiography, part cookbook, each chapter is a recipe that tells a story. Ed was taught to cook by his mother, and now he’s passing these recipes on to his own children as they start to fly the nest. Sitting round the table year after year, the world around us may change, but great recipes last a lifetime.

Appetite is a celebration of love, family, and really good food.

Critic reviews

'It is a book that shouldn’t really work, and yet does, quite charmingly so. […] What I really like about this book (apart from an intriguing recipe for pulled pork) is that it isn’t yet another weighty ideological tome or political diary, it is an honest account of what it feels like to run a home and raise your children while pursuing a high-profile career, written from the perspective of a man. There is guilt, there is worry, but there is a lot of love. Whether it’s the book of his favourite recipes he gives to each of his children on their 18th birthday or the time he spends teaching his father to make a cheese soufflé, he demonstrates that food is a way of showing he cares.'

‘Ed is tremendous and I love his cake. This is a brilliant book.’ (Claudia Winkleman)

‘A big, joyous hug of a book – like drinking a pint of the best word-custard. Every reader will immediately put “Have a chatty lunch with Ed Balls” on their bucket list. It’s so lovely to be able to point at an author and exclaim, “This is clearly just a very lovely man.”' (Caitlin Moran)

‘Just wonderful. This is food writing as it should be: a triumphant mix of childhood memories, family feasts, political machinations and always good food.’ (Stephen Fry)

‘To be a really good cook you have to be passionate about really good food. Ed is such a person and in this delightfully different book the passion shines through.’ (Delia Smith)

'A memoir like no other'

‘Whatever your political persuasion, this is a delicious treat of a book. Balls is immensely likeable – and so is his cooking. Recipes such as his mum’s lasagne, and apple and blackberry crumble aren’t fancy or fiddly but they’re a glorious celebration of family food at its finest.’

‘An entertaining memoir … The British political food book is not a crowded field, but it’s fertile ground. Balls knows his onions.’