Wild Food from Land and Sea by Marco Pierre White - used book

Fascinating though it is, Wild Food from Land and Sea is a book that, in all probability, is not likely to send many readers racing to the kitchen. A collection of Marco Pierre White's restaurant recipes, it is more likely to be valued as a glimpse into the intensive, highly disciplined kitchens in which White's supremely refined food is conjured. Indeed, he says as much in his introduction, remarking that it amazes him that people buy books by professional chefs, the gulf between what is possible in a restaurant and a domestic kitchen being so vast. One might as well try (the comparison is not White's) to build a Ferrari in a garden shed. That this book assumes on the one hand the resources of a fully equipped and staffed kitchen, and on the other an intimate familiarity with the traditions of classic grand French cooking, is signalled by the presence of no fewer than 77 Basic Recipes, which are incorporated into the main dishes as sauces or garnishes. Quite a number of these basics are themselves built round others, such as the rich "Sauce Albufera", a confection of stock, cream and foie gras butter that finds its way into a number of dishes. In a way, to publish his restaurant recipes in their working form is a testament to White confidence and boldness. Here, he might be saying, are my "secrets"; take them if you want them. You'll find that the recipe, like a musical score, is merely the beginning. Like its companion volumes in Ebury's series of utilitarian paperback reprints, Wild Food from Land and Sea is challenging: stripped of any seduction of design or photograph, nothing survives but the recipes. But what recipes. "Panache of John Dory and Grilled Sea Scallop, Etuvee of Leeks, Sauce Lie de Vin"; "Bresse Pigeon, Braised Cabbage, Mushroom Ravioli and Thyme Juice"; "Creme Brulee, Pommes Sec, Jus de Granny Smith": Exquisite. --Robin Davidson