The Feed Zone Cookbook by Skratch Labs

There seem to be cookbooks for everything today, from the most niche food allergies to bizarre diets. One genre that we have not seen that much of is cycling specific recipe books. Step forward Skratch Labs with the Feed Zone Cookbook.

The book itself is 315 pages of cycling and health specific recipes from Biju Thomas and Dr. Allen Lim, both cyclists and chefs. There is an in depth explanation of who they are at the end of the book, where Biju Thomas explains how he has cooked for some of the world's most famous cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, a controversial figure to include in any cycling related product.

There is a foreword from Levi Leipheimer from the RadioShack team and Timmy Duggan from Liquigas Cannondale (the book was published in 2011 thus the old name).

It is divided into different meals, breakfast portables, ápres, dinner, dessert and basics. This makes it easy to find food for specific needs, but I feel that they have really missed a trick by not including pre-race, pre-training or week long plans for training camps and the like.

The recipes themselves are all simple to make and tasty, but they clearly have not amended the book for the UK market, as much of the phrasing can be confusing. I had no idea that molasses was treacle and I still don't know what Texas Toast is.

This phrasing should not take away from the recipes though, which as I mentioned, are all simple and quick to make whilst also tasting great.

Most of the ingredients are easy to source, in fact the hardest thing for me to find was quinoa, which says more about the quality of my local supermarkets rather than the complexity of the products.

Each recipe includes a useful breakdown of energy, fat, sodium, carbs, fibre and protein of the meal and at the end of the book there is a more detailed breakdown of all the foods within the book in a large table. This is useful for those who want to mix and match while staying healthy.

The end of the book also has a section that includes the basics of cooking some of the simpler things in the book, such as quinoa, romesco and various coleslaws, among many other foods.

The introduction to the book is also useful, with in depth look at much of the science behind eating right when cycling. It also includes the basics around creating the best drinks whilst you are out on the bike and even the science behind many of the ingredients that you find in some of the recipes later in the book.

In terms of the health or performance benefits, I can't give specific numbers. I felt good afterwards, but as a cyclist I try to eat healthily all the time, so the specifics of these recipes is hard to gauge.

Overall the book is useful for those looking to eat well and increase their performance on the bike. I was impressed with the simplicity and tastiness of many of the dishes. I think that more could have been done in terms of particular specific event preparations and if it is going to be truly successful in the UK they need to make sure it has UK phrasing to make it easier to find ingredients.

Oh, and it turns out Texas Toast is just really thickly sliced bread.

Verdict

Useful book, full of good healthy recipes to improve performance