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Ed Balls was just three weeks old when he tried his first meal in 1967: pureed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. He provides us with some recipes that are perfect for home cooks, interspersed with Proustian passages of autobiography. On radio and TV, he is best known for his series Travels in Trumpland: with Ed Balls, his appearance on the 2016 series of Strictly Come Dancing and his regular broadcasts on BBC's The One Show, Radio 2 and Radio 4. 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.Balls has said that he’s comfortable with the idea people will remember him for his Gangnam Style routine rather than his achievements in government. Both did their best to keep politics out and to show the familiar side of themselves, but you could clearly see the class divide which so mirrors so many problems this country has. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.

When politicians are still in office, these pastimes can have a whiff of being deployed for electoral effect. Since then we have been trading online, at PBFA fairs and Bloomsbury Book Fairs, as well as showcases at select antique centres in Lincolnshire. It is about facing up to your fears and misgivings, and tackling your limitations - on stages public and private. This is food writing as it should be: a triumphant mix of childhood memories, family feasts, political machinations and always good food.

By contrast, his reflections of food in Westminster were somewhat cynical, where meals with the likes of Tony Blair or Peter Mandelson were almost weaponised as platters became political. My only gripe is that as an audiobook, it really needs an accompanying pdf or content bookmarks so that we can find the recipes. It’s also true that the pandemic has provided utter vindication to a Ballsian view of stimulus spending.

Appetite’ is a memoir with a twist: part autobiography, part cookbook, each chapter is a recipe that tells a story. This is more like Yvette’s kitchen,” he adds, throwing his wife, Yvette Cooper MP, under the slovenly bus. The recipes here are a way for him to transmit a whole way of life to his children; it’s an act of filial piety.During the pandemic, with his mother in full-time care, his dad started to experiment with dishes he would never have tried before. It's so lovely to be able to point at an author and exclaim, "This is clearly just a very lovely man. I like the idea that I cook different things from my mum and dad, but I also like the idea that part of what I cook I inherited from them,” he says. View image in fullscreen ‘She’s like a snail, you can see wherever she’s been’: Ed Balls with his wife Yvette Cooper. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.