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Fish and Shellfish Master Chefs Classics
One of a series of small cookbooks with an emphasis on light and healthy cookery
Gordon Ramsay Cookbooks
Gordon Ramsays Three Star Chef
5 Stars It’s about time!
Gordon Ramsay is one of the most talented chefs in the world today. His TV antics only seem to diminish his reputation as such. And his tendency to publish “fast and easy” style cookbooks for the amateur home cook doesn’t help either.
For a serious foodie or chefs who appreciate Ramsay’s skill, this book is the one we have all been waiting for. Full of incredible photography and recipes of the food that earned Ramsay the culinary reputation he so much deserves (and those 3 Michelin stars). This book is perfect as a coffee table book, but it’s more than that too. The recipes aren’t the ridiculously complicated ones you find in the Alinea, Fat Duck, or Thomas Keller cookbooks; these are actually manageable dishes.
5 Stars Easy and fun to use
I am a hospitality professional and my wife is a great cook. Actually she is the one who runs the kitchen at home (why change is she does much better job then I).
By recommendation we started using this book and besids that it is very enjoyable reading, the items are “producable” at home too. It is easy to use as long as you have some affinity to cooking and the end product makes you understand why its author is one of the greatest Chefs ever!
4 Stars Half cookbook, half shrine
Where to begin?
This book is truly a coffeetable book; at over 13 inches in height, it won’t fit on any of my book shelves (and I own Peterson’s “Cooking”, which does.)
Literally the first half of the book (128 out of 256 pages) consists of photographs of food, photographs of Gordon Ramsay, photographs of Gordon Ramsay touching food and quotes by and about Gordon Ramsay. Well, the book *is* named “Three Star Chef”, not “Three Star Food”.
The second half of the book consists of 50 recipes: 16 appetizers, 17 entrees and 17 desserts, followed by a section called “Basics” which describes the procedures for making assorted stocks, sauces, purees, etc.
Another reviewer of this book asserted that it is not for the novice cook. This is something of an understatement. Let me give you a sense of what is involved in the production of what I consider one of the most approachable of the entrees, the roasted filet of beef with a truffle and root vegetable infusion:
This dish is composed from five elements: braised shank of beef, a clarified stock (made from the beef shank), vegetable garnish, beef filet, and a truffle and root vegetable infusion. The braising of the beef shank takes several hours, after which the meat is shredded and flattened into very thin wafers which are refrigerated overnight. The stock from the braise is then reduced and clarified. The vegetable garnish is simply blanched. The beef filet is pan-seared then oven-roasted. The truffle and root vegetable infusion is created by simmering the vegetables in the clarified stock and straining. The braised beef wafer (warmed to room temperature), the vegetable garnish, the beef filet and the infusion are then plated and served.
None of the ingredients in the dish are particularly hard to find if you live in or near a decent-sized city (or are willing to mail-order truffles.) None of the techniques described would strain the abilities of the experienced home cook. The directions provided are clear and unambiguous (there are exceptions in other recipes: tomato petals are what, precisely?) The recipes have been sized for a small group (4-6 servings in this example.) I think the dish described here is still a bit daunting unless you happen to have a sous chef or two hanging around.
This motif, the assembly of several complex elements into a highly refined dish, permeates every recipe in the book, making the appetizers and the desserts even more daunting than the entrees for the solo cook. The idea of such a cook attempting to make an appetizer, an entree and a dessert from this book for the same meal strains the imagination. If you are capable of accomplishing that, even spread over a couple of days, then I salute you.
The four-star rating resulted from the deduction of two stars for all of the fluff at the front of the book and the return of a star for the “Basics” section.
If you’re looking for a cookbook of simple recipes, this is not the book for you. If you’re interested in finding out how one of the world’s best chefs designs a dish, it might be.
5 Stars Three-Star Cooking: It’s the Most Dangerous Thing I Know
In what might be the best cookbook of the year, Gordon Ramsay’s Three Star Chef may be less a cookbook, and more simply a coffee table book for the foodie. These recipes are not for the inexperienced home cook. They are complex and detailed, requiring a firm knowledge of not only kitchen basics, but also an intermediate skill base and presentation experience. The many oversized full page illustrations turn are what makes this book feel more like a high-end art book, whose subject is food, and not a cookbook ready to be propped up on the counter, to be splashed with sauces as you whip up a dinner for the family. Ramsay’s quote on the back cover is “People say that three-star cooking is safe, but it isn’t. Its the most dangerous thing I know.” This book reflects that, with dishes that require that can very easily go wrong, and yet have been on the menu at his restaurants for many years and are the basis for the multitude of Michelin stars he has earned. And, none of this should serve as a warning for you not to purchase the book, for yourself or for someone else. For yourself, its a challenge, making you work at being a better cook, even if for only one three star recipe. For someone else, its a complement, telling them that you think they can rise to the challenge. Either way, its a book that will be shown off, poured over, and discussed with other food obsessed chefs, amateur or otherwise.
2 Stars Exspected more
I found Chef Ramsey’s book alittle disapointing. Much of his dishes seem to be “old fashion”. As a resturant Chef I guess I was exspecting more!
Gordon Ramsay Cookbooks
