Michel Roux

New Creative Techniques from a French Master Chef
by Michel Roux

"I want to give life back to the ingredients I cook"

Why this book? Cooking is art, as Roux writes: "Cooks are artists; like painters, musicians, sculptors and singers, they all have their own unique style, one is not better than another; they are simply different."

To begin, Roux has been cooking for three decades, collecting laurels and culinary honors and delighting guests at the highly rated Waterside Inn, in Bray near London. Before we get to the food, let's take a closer look at the man: Born as the son of a charcutier in 1941, apprenticeship as patissier at 14 in Paris, cooking for the French Foreign legion in Africa, cooking for Great Garbo and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor as private chef of Cécile de Rothschild, opening his own spot with brother Alain in London (Le Gavroche Restaurant revolutionized British cooking in the late 60s), opening of The Waterside Inn in 1972, cooking at the Kremlin as the first foreign chef in 300 years in 1994, doing a birthday meal for Queen Elizabeth when she turned 70 and so forth.

Wouldn't you want this man cook for you? Or rather, have him teach you his tricks for creating a steamed poussins scented with ginger and lemongrass, roast-poached stuffed loin of pork, chateaubriand in a brioche crust, quail brochettes with almond stuffed dates and for dessert perhaps a millefeuille of crêpes soufflées with red currants. Our mouth is starting to water.

Equally mouth-watering are the accompanying photographs in lush, deep colors, so appetizing they look like they're going to hop of the page. If you don't know Roux yet, it's about time you get to know him.

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