Customer Reviews

Gordon Ramsay's Three Star Chef

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a home cook, things were simple and fulfilling.

I opted to purchase this book to see what makes a 3 star Michelin service. I was pleasantly surprised that Gordon Ramsay had the same (relatively) approach. Simple, fantastic food. This book opened my eyes to making simple dishes into what he has made fantastic food.

I do have this warning: THIS IS NOT FOR THE NOVICE COOK.

However, for the conditioned chef/cook, this has really openened my eyes, nose, and tongue for the intricacies that make a Michelin 3 star chef. Be prepared to prep chicken, veal, fish, stock the night before, however you will not only understand why sous chefs report at 7am the day of service, but you will benefit from the taste that all of that effort takes.

AGAIN NOT FOR THE NEW COOK.

There are only a few instances where a genious will let us glance into his notebook, and this is it. So for you cook's who want to expand your repetoire, GET THIS BOOK! Even if you don't like the recipes, you'll undoubtedly get ideas to make your home cooking miles from what it is now.

5 Stars on Amazon, a definite 3 stars for Michelin.

Happy Cooking.
FJV

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.

What an absolutely gorgeous book. This book is a large coffee table style cookbook 13 inches tall (or more). This book has a ton of photos of each 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. A few of the recipes included are: Lobster Ravioli, Corn Reared Beef Fillet with Marrow Crust, Ginger Mousse, Raspberry Compote and a Bitter Chocolate Cylinder with Coffee Granite. My personal favorite is the Raspberry Compote recipe. It's very simple and very delicious, but it looks fabulous when served as Gordan suggests.

Some of the ingredients might be hard to get if you do live in a rural area with no specialty food stores. I've made a few of the recipes and if I don't have an ingredient Chef Ramsey calls for I just improvise.

These really are not recipes for a cooking novice. Though, if you are a confident & experienced home cook, you could pull off many of these recipes if you have lots of time. Gordon does breakdown each recipe simpler than any other cookbook of this class.

This book also includes Gordon's cooking tips, life experiences and how he has earned his 3 star Michelin rating. This also makes a great cooking reference for those foodies who like Chef Ramsay's style and they want to learn as much as they can.

I really love this book! I saw it in the bookstore for more then $60 and got at amazon voor little over $40!
Its a beautiful book just to go trough and look at the pictures, or find something facy to make for dinner. So far I have just used parts of recipes to cook and I can't wait to try a full 3 course meal!!
The recipes are indeed, not for a starter cook, but you can give your own twist to the sometimes, pretty complicated recipes and ingredients.
The book is standing on my sofa table and it looks gorgeous!!

If you are not already familiar with the term 3-Star Chef, then this book is not for you. If you are looking for a typical cook book, this book is not for you. If you just cook on occasion, and are looking for some new recipes, this book is not for you. Gordon Ramsay, and many other Chefs, have plenty of other books for those people.

However; if you are a challenge seeker, AND you love to cook, AND you love to spend hours in the kitchen perfecting one single dish, then this book IS for you. Or, if you just admire what the best-of-the-best are able to do in the kitchen, then this book is for you.

This is book is not for everyone. However; it is perfect for some, because most cooking books just provide the most basic recipes. This is the closest thing that you can get to working in a world class kitchen.

What this book contain:
1) Lots of wonderful tasting dishes by one of today's best chefs.
2) High Resolution Photos of each dish, so that you know how the finished product should look.
3) Fairly detailed descriptions of all the steps required to complete each dish.
4) Very complex dishes to create. Most single dishes will take several hours, if not days, to complete.

What this book does NOT contains:
1) Quick and easy recipes for the novice cook
2) Calorie counts and macro-nutrient breakdowns
3) Ingredient lists that are available in the typical grocery store: i.e., most stores don't carry truffle oil
4) Hundreds of recipes

What I wish the book contained:
1) Video demonstrations of the recipes. After following Ramsay, for a while, I find that his video demonstrations are better than his books.

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.

Of course, anyone aware of Ramsay's reputation as one of the top chefs in the world won't be surprised at the amount of preparation and commitment needed to create most of the dishes in this book; however what was surprising was how simple most of the ingredient lists are considering what the end results are. Great solid flavors and simple platings that Ramsay has become famous for. A must have for any foodie, if you only buy one of Ramsay's cookbooks this should be it. From here you can extract his sense on how to deal with ingredients in a simplified form that can be more attainable by the average home cook and exactly what his more home cooking based books are all about

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!

[I am about to say things that will horrify some of the purists among you. Think of my approach as "training wheels" for baby home chefs.]

The first half of the book is what, in the vernacular of the Internet, could best be described as "food pr0n". (If you don't know what pr0n is netspeak for, you might want to be a little careful about doing a search on the term - just ask the nearest college student - or not). I am not big on this sort of thing, nor am I a big fan of "artsy-fartsy" presentation of food. But the photography is simply perfect, and the food is quite pleasing to the eye. So, to my surprise, I found this a positive attribute of the book. Some of the accompanying commentary was interesting as well. So I will disagree with those who found this section to be a negative. In this particular book, I think it was a strong positive. I don't think I am ever likely to say that about this sort of thing in any other book, but this one is special.

Now, as to all the dire warnings about the recipe section. It is probably valid that a beginning cook could meet disaster with some of these recipes. But even a beginner could find value in reading it, especially the "Basics" section. It would be an intimidating read for some because of the various terms of art, but that's what the Internet, library, and Amazon are for - finding references to explain those terms. Don't fear this book - look to it for inspiration, and use it to stretch your capabilities. And never see disaster as a bad thing, it is an important part of learning.

Try something from the "Basics" section - you'll probably end up with a palatable result, if less than perfect. After a few times of preparing it you will have it down, and it will be yours. For example, start with the Shallot Confit. The first time you will worry over it - "Is that shallot sweating? Have I cooked it too long? Not enough?". Don't worry too much though - you can always toss it out if you ruin it, (taste it to make sure it is actually ruined though) and, worst case, you are only out the cost of a few shallots. You can use it with just about anything you happen to be fixing for supper. It ought to really dress up a hamburger, and it will really impress your family, when, instead of hamburgers with onions, you serve them "pan fried ground beef au shallot confit".

From there you might graduate to the Madeira Sauce. But don't take on everything at once - the first time or two use a good quality commercial stock - Read the Cook's Illustrated web site for a review of ready made stocks if you aren't sure which one to buy (some are really bad). Again, this would perk up all sorts of things. Don't be afraid to go off on an adventure (just try it before you serve it). Does Madeira Sauce over Frosted Flakes sound good to you? Try it. (Not suggesting this, it sounds really terrible to me, but the point is, don't be afraid and let fear of mistakes cramp your learning and creativity. I have learned far more from mistakes and disasters than I have from the easy successes).

For me, while there is always a new technique to learn, or an old one to improve, the most difficult thing can be obtaining some of the ingredients used by Ramsay, or obtaining them with adequate freshness and quality. For instance, believe it or not, the local Publix grocery had just run out of fresh Bresse Squab. Not only did they not know when the next shipment would be in, they didn't know what kind of fish a squab was - fresh or salt water. Yeah. Well. What can you say? Some things can be found on the Internet (even some quality meats if you can bear the cost of next day shipping in a dry ice cooler). But if you are someone just starting out with expanding your skills, just skip that stuff and do the things you can find. Over time, you will find sources for many of these things, and there is so much to be learned before you really need them.

While I don't really disagree with the assessment of others that there are some demanding recipes to be found here - I disagree profoundly with placing self-imposed limitations on oneself because someone said that a goal was beyond your reach. I personally have learned a lot over the years by jumping in to the deep end of the pool, running with scissors, playing with fire, etc., and I think it is a good approach to life. But, you have to appreciate the value of failure. Love your harshest (constructive) critics - an honest friend who will tell you when a dish stinks is valuable beyond measure. Although, hopefully, you will know a dish is in trouble without having to rely too much on others. This shouldn't be about ego, it should be about working for perfection. Just be sure not to confuse naysayers with critics.

One last thought for the fledglings. Bad cookware can hamper even a good cook. While many of us use very expensive cookware, there are some excellent inexpensive alternatives. For many tasks, quality cast iron (example: Lodge, which works just as well as my more expensive Le Creuset) is excellent. For other tasks, it is now possible to get very good multi-ply stainless over aluminum cookware at a very modest price. Wal-Mart sells an 8 pc. set (Tramontina) for around $150.,. My son owns it, and I must admit that while my $200/pan (avg) All-Clad Copper Core is better, I am almost as happy cooking with my son's $20/pan (avg) set. Just be sure you get the "Tramontina 8-Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel TriPly-Clad Cookware Set" as unfortunately, Tramontina makes some junk you would hate. They have a 10 pc. set, but it is quite a bit more money. The single ply stainless is horrible, so please don't make that mistake. The tri-ply "bottom plate" pans are serviceable, but not comparable to the fully clad pans. I also think non-stick should be avoided for health and safety reasons, although I admit I use it in a few very limited situations. Stainless cookware should only be cleaned with a cloth and some "Barkeepers Friend" Bar Keepers Friend® Cleanser & Polish: 12 OZ. BTW- There are some individual Tramontina tri-ply pieces here on Amazon, but I couldn't find a tri-ply set (I think it is exclusive to W-M). Individual pans are, unsurprisingly, more expensive than the pans in the aforementioned set, so look for the set if you are looking for more than a single pan. The set is frankly, an incredible bargain, and very favorably reviewed by Cook's Illustrated. For reference, here is a link to an individual (and pricier) Tramontina Tri-ply pan here on Amazon Tramontina Prima 12 inch 18/10 Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Base Saute Pan. The other great bargain for beginning chef's is sold here on Amazon, and not at Wal-Mart. That bargain is the excellent collection of knives by Victorinox (yes, the Swiss Army Knife guys). Here is an example: Victorinox Fibrox 8-Inch Chef's Knife

Although I am more an admirer of Chef Ramsay than I am some of his books (I own most of them, and none of them are really bad), this is definitely a book worth having. Maybe not the first food book you should buy, but a really nice thing to own, enjoy, and be inspired by. Just be sure to wear a drool cup when perusing it.

I read many of the reviews of this book before I bought it but did not listen to the things people wrote. Basically they said this book was not for the beginning cook. They were right. The book is about 20% pictures and information about Ramsey and the rest receipes. But the problem was that most of the items are for people who really want to get to the top level of cooking.
Basically Ramsey is a professional cook. By that I mean the best of the best. He came from a poor background but worked his way up to the best restaurants in France and England. He was once awarded as having the 3rd best restaurant in the world (this was his restaurant in London) The reason he is so demanding on television on Hell's Kitchen is that he demands the best from his cooks. If you want a perfect meal you go to his restaurants. However you might be eating an item made with quail eggs or something that includes champaign foam or hazelnut ice cream or things of that sort.
There is no question in my mind that his foods taste great. But as for cooking them in my kitchen - thats a different story. I have no idea where to get quails eggs and such.
So if you are a really good cook and want to get better buy this book. I do suggest you might go to your local book store or library and flip through the pages to see if its what you want. The price of the book is high but on Amazon much better of course.