A Chef for All Seasons

by Gordon Ramsay

Book Overview

A Food & Wine Top Cookbook of the YearKnown for his irresistible dishes and volatile public persona, Gordon Ramsay is London'??s most talked-about chef, an international sensation whose eponymous... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580087426
• ISBN13: 9781580087421
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.9" x 10.5"

Customer Reviews

Not meant for home cooks, but an excellent pro-level book!

It's true that this book contains recipes that are not all that well-suited to home cooks, although there are certainly several that home cooks could reproduce quite well. But this book is called "A CHEF for All Seasons", not "A Home Cook for All Seasons". I've noticed a lot of people will give poor ratings to cookbooks like some of those from Gordon Ramsay, Eric Ripert, Thomas Keller, and other high-end chefs because the recipes are difficult to duplicate at home. That's because these books were not meant for home cooks! These books have no place on the shelf of the standard home cook, except as coffee table books. If you love looking through cookbooks you will never cook from, then by all means buy it and do that. But don't expect to buy a cookbook from a top-tier chef and think you can duplicate every recipe. If you could, you would have little reason to visit their restaurants! If you want to buy a cookbook from a high-level chef like Gordon Ramsay, look for keywords like "Made Easy", "Makes it Easy", "for Friends", "at Home", etc. Most of the time you can tell from a book's title who that book is meant for. As an aspiring culinary professional, I find this book very delightful. It's not as "high-end" as his book "Three Star Chef", but the recipes are easier to duplicate at home. I would say at least 10% to 20% of the recipes in this book can be duplicated at home by novice cooks. The rest can be made at home by people who have a little more cooking skill, time, and money for high-end ingredients. Not all recipes require truffles or lobster. Some contain common ingredients you can buy in any grocery store. If you buy this book for what it is, it's a fantastic piece of work... truly five star material. But it's not a book that you would use as a home cook on a regular basis. You're not going to be cooking Wednesday dinner or even Sunday lunch from this book, but you could certainly use it for special occasions. It's also very enjoyable to just read and study!

Beautiful and practical!

Not only is this cookbook chocked full of interesting recipes, but it is gorgeous! The photos accompanying each season are breathtaking - if you can appreciate the subtle beauty of food itself. First off, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Chef Ramsay enjoys the flavor of lavender and chocolate as much as I do! I used to make white chocolate and lavender truffles for the spring and I was thrilled to see a recipe for "Mille-Feuille of Chocolate with Lavender": a light dark chocolate ganache with steeped lavender piped over layers of puff pastry. He even serves lavender flavored ice cream on the side! Simply beautiful. Obviously, the chapters are divided by the four seasons. At the beginning of each chapter, Chef Ramsay informs us as to why the vegetables, fruits and meats belong in each season. Followed are the recipes which may seem a bit daunting to the average chef. As in his other books, there is a good mixture of easy dishes that make this cookbook worth its weight. Spring recipes that were fun and easy included "Whiting with Lemon and Parsley Crust", "Ricotta Gnocchi with Peas and Fava Beans" and "White Chocolate and Lemon Mousse". Summer recipes include "Lobster with Mango and Spinach Salad", "Poached Salmon with Gewürztraminer Sauce" and "Loin of Beef with Watercress Puree". Fall recipes that were a joy to make are "Lentil and Langoustine Soup (I substituted Cray Fish for the Langoustine)", "Tomato and Parmesan Gratinee Tarts" and "Monkfish with Creamy Curried Mussels" (a bit expensive but makes a great romantic dinner for two!). Winter recipes we enjoyed were "Smoked Haddock and Mustard Chowder", "Seafood in Nage with Carrot Spaghetti" (you do have to make the Nage(a vegetable broth) ahead of time but it is totally worth it!) and "Veal Chops with a cream of Winter Vegetables" (we actually substituted the Veal for Chicken and it worked well. Pork chops might also work, but you are not going to get the same texture.) Again, at the back of the book is a plethora of cooking techniques, broth recipes and miscellaneous kitchen information.

Great Read, Great For Super Special Occasions

Gordon Ramsay's A Chef for All Seasons is a cookbook you can use for those super special occasions: when you want to impress those friends, who love to cook themselves, or when you just want to eat really awesome food yourself. A lot of the recipes call for expensive ingredients, like lobster, goose fat, the obligatory truffles and foie gras. But there are also quite a few recipes with more common ingredients, which are real gems. I just want to mention the Veal Chops with a Cream of Winter Vegetables (even Gordon calls this "a nice recipe for a mid-week dinner") and the Pillows of Ricotta Gnocchi with Peas and Fèves. The recipes is divided into four chapters, one for each season, which is a great plus in a cookbook. Each chapter contains recipes for starters, entrees and desserts. The last chapter is Basic Recipes and Techniques, which contains instructional photographs. Finally, the index has entries for each ingredient used. It's great fun to read about how things are done in Gordon Ramsay's restaurant, e.g. "Boil the potatoes still in their skin until just tender. Drain and peel them while hot. (We do this wearing rubber gloves to protect our hands.)" in the recipe for Pillows of Ricotta Gnocchi with Peas and Fèves. His perfectionistic style makes some recipes seem harder than necessary. After following his recipe closely the first time I make it, it is usually easy to see some shortcuts without sacrificing the quality of the end product (I imagine that Gordon will wholeheartedly disagree with this). To conclude, I would highly recommend this cookbook for the experienced cook, who wants to surprise others (or her/himself) with great food.

Outstanding Cookbook

I purchased this book and Alfred Portale's 12 Seasons Cookbook at the same time. Both are gorgeous to look at and flip through, but I find myself going to this one time and time again for recipes I actually plan to try. Clearly, Gordon Ramsay is a man in love with food and his craft. Don't let what you may have heard about him (e.g., he does not roam through the dining area of his top rated restaurant to glad-hand patrons and solicit their thoughts, believing that anything leaving his kitchen is perfect and beyond criticism) deter you from picking this up!I found the one theme, intended or not, that makes this a favourite is that many components of the various recipes are interchangeable. For example, there is a great recipe for a lobster and mango/baby spinach salad. I was shopping for ingredients and found the lobster sub-par, so I managed to substitute his marinated tuna recipe in with great success. Same goes with recipes for various pureed sauces and soups. And particularly useful are discussions on the best of seasonal ingredients (notwithstanding that many may not be available to the average cook due to cost, or geographical limitations)Overall, a top notch book and highly recommended.

A Cookbook Of Purity and Elegance

These are the words Charlie Trotter described Ramsey's cooking. I bought this based upon a recommendation about new, hot cookbooks coming out. Sometimes one is really disappointed with the final product.By first inspection, I imagined this was another of those letdowns. Beautiful photos, seasonal recipe organization,and what appeared to be bland style recipes.But upon trying several, this book delivers Trotter's assessment: purity and elegance. Although tried only Cauliflower and Sorrel Soup, Tomato And Parmesan Gratinee Tarts and Duck Breasts with Endive Tarts, this food is elegant and tastes are clean, distinct and so, so satisfying.Anxious to explore this hot London cook even more.