Tweaked is perfect for all the worried parents out there – when the kids fly the nest and you hope they won’t eat too much junk food. But, really, it’s a cookbook for everybody, and you’ll find most of the ingredients in your cupboard.
Well, I really wanted to give Samuel, our son, something special for his 21st birthday present. Something he could keep.
I’ve always shared a passion for food with Samuel, just as I did with Samuel’s wonderful Dad, Peter, who we lost to a work accident when Samuel was just 11.
Peter had an amazing palate and I used to love cooking for them both.
So this is for Peter as well as for Samuel.
Both of my parents could cook and that’s where I learned, just as our son learned from me. He was cooking with me in our kitchen from the age of just two. And to think he just recently scored a job in a kitchen. Sometimes things just work.
Samuel would come to me and ask, “What’s in this dish mum”? Not just once, but most times. Well finally, a light bulb sparked above my head and the idea of a cookbook sprung to mind.
Having cooked so many different meals over the years for all of Samuel’s mates, friends and family, it seemed a top idea.
So I jotted down some ideas and here’s the result: a cookbook full of the food he grew up on; all the family favourites from both sides; good basic food, and different cuisines. But most importantly, I wanted to share a little story behind some of the dishes. I thought it would be a great way to keep the family recipes going.
‘Tweaked’ came about after talking with a group of close friends. We were talking food and I was saying how I change every recipe I try – even some of my mum and dad’s!
One of those close friends said, “So, you tweak them?” “Yes,” I said. The name was born. I would always try the original first, but they were right: Tweaked was perfect.
