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Tough Cookies
British food was never renowned for its flair and inventiveness until the 1980s when Marco Pierre White led an extraordinary revolution in British cuisine. Passionate and unpredictable, he inspired many of the top chefs in Britain today. In this insightful book, Simon Wright exposes the revolution for what it was and shows how the passionate idealism of the early years has been compromised. He travels inside the brotherhood of chefs and tells the very distinct tales of Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal, Shaun Hill, and Marcus Wareing—four men who have risen through the vicious climate of the kitchen to make a special mark. Theirs is an elite band, tough to join, and these are the stories of how they qualified for membership.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 18, 2014
As a 2013 Christmas gift, this only recently hit the TBR pile. But I promised family members who gave me books that I'd try to read them right away, and this one was first.
For some reason, I have a fascination with the recent crop of celebrity chefs. Maybe it's because my father used to watch Julia Child many years ago, and i'd sit with him and help in the kitchen. I read Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly a few years ago, and then A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines and Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection soon after. Tough Cookies seemed like a good way to learn about other chefs-Heston Blumenthal, Shaun Hill, and Marcus Wareing, all of whom I'd heard of but knew little about.
Having read Ramsay's own book, the first mini-bio (of Ramsay) didn't really hold anything new. There were allusions to incidents I already knew more about. I pushed through that section to get to the others, but maybe that initial experience colored my reading of the other three bios. Although each chef had a different sequence of events leading to his culinary aspirations, there seemed a lot of sameness to it all. I suppose that's really the case. As different as each chef's demeanor, food style, and kitchen management are, underlying it all is the process of getting good food out in a timely manner.
I think I would appreciate more in-depth bios about each individual. that said, this book was an excellent quick introduction to the rejuvenation of British cuisine in the 1990's and to some of the key figures of the time. It just didn't hold my interest as strongly as I thought it would.
For some reason, I have a fascination with the recent crop of celebrity chefs. Maybe it's because my father used to watch Julia Child many years ago, and i'd sit with him and help in the kitchen. I read Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly a few years ago, and then A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines and Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection soon after. Tough Cookies seemed like a good way to learn about other chefs-Heston Blumenthal, Shaun Hill, and Marcus Wareing, all of whom I'd heard of but knew little about.
Having read Ramsay's own book, the first mini-bio (of Ramsay) didn't really hold anything new. There were allusions to incidents I already knew more about. I pushed through that section to get to the others, but maybe that initial experience colored my reading of the other three bios. Although each chef had a different sequence of events leading to his culinary aspirations, there seemed a lot of sameness to it all. I suppose that's really the case. As different as each chef's demeanor, food style, and kitchen management are, underlying it all is the process of getting good food out in a timely manner.
I think I would appreciate more in-depth bios about each individual. that said, this book was an excellent quick introduction to the rejuvenation of British cuisine in the 1990's and to some of the key figures of the time. It just didn't hold my interest as strongly as I thought it would.
December 28, 2012
Really interesting and well written account of the lives of four of our most successful chefs.
June 27, 2009
Awesome book; amazing short biographies on 4 of England's culinary heavyweights. The only thing I hate about this kind of book is that it makes me think I joined the wrong profession.
April 7, 2012
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11023467
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11023467
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews