Seven Dials is to publish a new collection of recipes and anecdotes from The Hairy Bikers. The book, which was planned by both of them before Dave Myers’ death from cancer in February aged 66, has been completed by Si King in tribute to his friend.
Our Family Favourites, a celebration of the food they both loved to cook for themselves and their families, will be published in hardback on 24th October having been acquired by Orion’s executive publisher Vicky Eribo.
The television chefs and motorbike enthusiasts had been travelling and cooking together on screen at the BBC for two decades. They are known for their hearty food, big flavours and simple recipes.
In Our Family Favourites, the duo share more than 100 new recipes, including their cowboy breakfast, curried Welsh Rarebit, bacon, sausage and egg pie, coronation chicken pancakes, ginger beer-glazed ham hock and rum babas with grilled pineapple.
King said: “I know Dave would be very proud of this book. We planned to write this together and include all of our family favourites in one place at last. This is a tribute to my best mate, and it’s been my honour to work on it. He was a massive miss during the process, but I really wanted to finish it for him and our families. We hope you, and all those you love, enjoy the book. It’s written with love to you all.”
Eribo said: “We were devastated to hear of Dave Myers’ passing earlier this year and all miss his infectious energy and creativity enormously. Working with Dave and Si has been a pleasure and privilege for all of us at Orion and we are immensely proud to have published the Hairy Bikers for over 14 years – and so we are honoured to have the chance to build on and celebrate that history with the publication of Our Family Favourites. This is the book that Dave and Si wanted to write next – a book they started together, which Si has now completed on Dave’s behalf.”
“Dave was always passionate about sharing delicious food with the masses. He was a firm believer that cooking should be fun, and that recipes should be simple enough for everyone to have a go. That’s the spirit we hope we’ve captured with the memories and recipes included in this book.”
The Hairy Bikers met on the set of a TV drama in 1995 and spent their next three decades cooking and riding motorbikes together. They have written 30 cookbooks, including The Hairy Bikers’ Ultimate Comfort Food, The Hairy Bikers’ Veggie Feasts, The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders, The Hairy Bikers’ British Classics and The Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure. In 2012, they shed more than six stone between them on the TV show The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight and launched a publishing phenomenon. They have also published a joint autobiography, Blood, Sweat & Tyres.
The Hairy Bikers’ books have sold more than six million copies in total.
