Taking Meals creator Daniel McCaw launches new digital recipe book this Wednesday, 16 September, recreating the takeaway classics people love with fewer calories, without compromising on flavour.
NORTHERN IRELAND 14 September 2026: A Northern Ireland food creator is putting a fresh spin on the nation’s love of a takeaway with the launch of “Fakeout” a new digital recipe book from Taking Meals founder Daniel McCaw.
Launching this Wednesday, 16 September, Fakeout is built around a simple idea: eating better shouldn’t mean giving up the food you love.
From Chinese and Indian favourites to dishes inspired by the takeaway and chip shop culture that is such a familiar part of life in Northern Ireland, the book recreates much-loved comfort food with a lower-calorie approach, without losing the flavour, indulgence and enjoyment that make those dishes so popular.
For Daniel, the book represents the next chapter in a food journey that began in Northern Ireland and has grown into a community of almost 200,000 people across social media, with followers regularly recreating his recipes and sharing their results.
“Taking Meals has always been about showing people that eating better doesn’t have to mean boring food. I love a takeaway as much as anyone, so I wanted to take the dishes people actually crave and find ways to make them lower in calories without losing what makes them so good. Fakeout is really everything Taking Meals is about, brought together in one book.”
What began as Daniel sharing his passion for food online has developed into Taking Meals, a platform focused on making the food people genuinely enjoy work within a more balanced lifestyle.
“When I started Taking Meals, I never imagined it would grow into what it has today. To now have a community of almost 200,000 people across social media following along, making the recipes and sharing their results with me is pretty surreal. The book feels like the natural next step and something I’ve wanted to create for a long time.”
The Northern Ireland food scene is also an important influence on Fakeout. While the book features takeaway staples recognised across the UK, Daniel wanted to make sure it reflected the dishes and food culture familiar to people here.
“I really wanted the book to reflect the kind of takeaway food we actually eat here. There are plenty of the Chinese and Indian classics everyone knows, but there are also dishes inspired by the takeaway and chip-shop culture I grew up with in Northern Ireland. I wanted someone to flick through it and immediately recognise food they genuinely order and love.”
Rather than presenting healthy eating as a complete change in lifestyle, Daniel’s approach is about finding a way to enjoy familiar food while being more conscious of what goes into it.
After months of developing recipes, photographing dishes and bringing the book together, the launch marks a major milestone for the Taking Meals creator.
“Fakeout has probably been the biggest project I’ve taken on since starting Taking Meals. Every recipe, photograph and page has had a huge amount of work put into it, so finally being able to release it is a massive moment for me. I’m proud that something which started with me cooking and filming food at home in Northern Ireland has reached the point where I can launch my own recipe book.”
Fakeout will be available to purchase from Wednesday, 16 September, through Taking Meals.
Readers can sign up now for early access and receive 50% off on launch:
Sign up for early access to Fakeout
Fakeout launches Wednesday, 16 September 2026.
Early access: taking-meals.kit.com/b66f37f938
Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/takingmeals?stkn=ZzVyazI2NXp3Y2lv
