The chef's home recipes (and no, not easier version of the restaurant ones) that reflect where he came from, where he's been, where he is now, and where he's going. I really liked his personal introductions to every recipe and the tips about preparation and serving accouterments. His background is similar to mine (we even went to the same vocational school - he for cooking, me for photography - and our school cafeteria had the best food in the world!), so it's really fun to see my standard Swedish recipes with his family's twists. There is a lot of name-dropping going on, but try to see through that to Samuelsson's love and passion for world cuisine and his ideas of how to put (or sometimes smash) them together. There's also a kids' section in this book which has some easier recipes and ideas of how to introduce kids to cooking: knife-skills, respect for heat, cleanliness, and tasting. ( )