Hugh Jackman’s Attempts at Recreating His Mother’s Recipes Will Warm Your Heart

My favorite recipes are the ones I’ve stood around and watched my mother cook countless times. But still, no matter how many times I’ve seen her make them (which probably accumulates to hundreds by now), I couldn’t put one of her dishes together if I tried. Because unlike me, who learned my way around the kitchen with YouTube videos as my sous chef and mimicked recipes from celebrity cookbooks, all of my mother’s recipes were handed down from her mother and only live through memory. 

Hugh Jackman recently shared an Instagram story of a chickpea burger recipe and a tray of chickpea patties. The recipe came from a handwritten cookbook his mother gifted him a few years ago and truthfully, it warmed my heart. 

This isn’t the first time he’s shared one of his mother’s recipes. Jackman has slowly teased dishes over time. He’s posted his Mum’s Sunday Special Lentil Shepherd’s Pie and on Mother’s Day in 2020, he shared an Instagram post about the book and recipes for Roasted Vegetable and Halloumi Bake and Butternut Squash & Spinach Risotto.

“Several years ago, my Mum gave me a special gift … A handwritten book of my favorite recipes over the years,” says Jackman in the post. He spent a few weeks recreating the recipes, and to show that he’s just like any of us, his creations didn’t live up to his mom’s cooking. “They’re pretty good (if I do say so myself) but … never as good as the way my Mum makes them!” the celebrated actor added.

One day, I hope that he’ll publish the recipes either as a printed book or maybe an Instagram “In the Kitchen with Hugh” series because after watching him in character as Wolverine, I want whatever Jack’s eating. 

Though it’s not his mom’s recipe, you can try your hand at this simple spinach risotto or shepherd’s pie and add your own twist. And, if you’re looking for another celebrity meal to mimic, you can always smell (or make!) what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is cookin’.