Gordon Ramsay: In the Heat of the Kitchen

By JULIETTE ROSSANT I hesitated to open up Gordon Ramsay's cookbook, In the Heat of the Kitchen (Wiley 2005), for fear of reading expletives or blacked-out sections. Would I be under the same torrent of abuse as the hapless contestants of his reality TV series, Hell's Kitchen on Fox, and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares in the UK? The cover blares Gordon's name in print more than twice the size of the title, as if to say, "Watch Out!" This is the recently published paperback edition of the book which was published two years ago in Britain by Quadrille Publishing: a number (if not all) of Gordo's books are being reissued as paperbacks this year in the U.S. Gordon was already famous when he wrote this one, already involved in over a half-dozen restaurants in Britain, a restaurant in Dubai, and upcoming restaurants in the works for Tokyo and New York. He had already been featured on British television. In short, he jumps right into his brief introduction where he denies that he is a tyrant in the kitchen. "It isn't a madly ambitious character or a competitive nature that drives me. It is simply my passion for great food, and my desire to share that with others" (p. 6). I've never bought that in any super chef I have written about. Ambition and drive are the backbone of empire-building. Hard work, relentless perfectionism and a strong ego are key. The package works as long as you share credit with all the chefs who are doing your food in your kitchens and all the partners and financial backers who make you a star. One might wonder whether In the Heat of the Kitchen was written "with" Roz Denny and Mark Sargeant, since Gordon does not explain their contributions in his introduction, nor is there is a preface, nor acknowledgment, nor any explanation about how this book came about. The photography by Georgia Glynn Smith is elegant: she makes a fondue of lettuce in chicken broth look great (p. 127). Knickerbocker Glories (p. 163) look wonderfully unbalanced, the glass listing to one side, as if eating the sundae would make one giddy and drunk. My Roasted Tomato Soup on page 121 has two photos (p. 122-3), the first of which shows the roasted tomatoes, onions and fresh basil. The second photo shows the finished soup where the basil's green is now found in the color of a bowl framing the soup and the tomatoes, as if resurrected in their pre-roasted form, are still in a cluster tied together by their vines floating in the soup. These two photographs capture the playful magic of Gordo's superb cooking of excellent ingredients. The beginnings of each chapter feature a black and white photo joking with the reader of ex-athlete Gordon with the food being written about. In the Meat chapter the photo is just him. In Poultry and Game Birds chapter he cradles a small live chicken under his arm. In Pasta, his arms are tied together as he rests his head (or prepares to be whipped?) This is a book for the home chef, but one willing to seek out luxury ingredients and spend the time to prepare them well. Ramsay warns against slavish following of his or any other recipe. Good advice, and he does provide excellent tips for a home cook who wants to be inspired by rather than chained to a recipe. I was keen to try My Chicken Pie (p. 55), a chicken version of Blanquet de Veau under a crust of puff pastry. The instructions are straightforward, and the buttery sauce is wonderful under the crisp lid. Gordon is instructive. Take his recipe for Quail with a Spicy Honey Dressing (p. 56) which introduces an extra step, poaching the quails in stock before grilling them so that they do not overcook and dry out and then marinating them in a sweet-spicy dressing. The technique is further explored in photographs, though it is perfectly clear in the recipe why and how to do this. The same kind of thorough exploration of technique occurs in Braised Pork in a Rich Glaze (p. 68) Accompanying photos (pp. 70-1) lead you through how to roll and tie the country-style pork ribs, but oddly he does not show how to cut out bones without damaging the meat. It might be easier to just cook a pork loin in the same manner and skip the messy trimming and tying, and skip some of the fat on the ribs. In the fish chapter (featuring a photo of Gordon holding anchovies in his fist) Gordon's cuisine shines. There is a recipe for Snapper Baked in a Salt Crust (p. 30) using the age old Mediterranean technique, Skate with Sherry Vinegar and Caper Sauce (p. 40) and the lovely Sea Bass Baked on a Bed of Herbs (p. 41). He uses caramalized lemon slices to bring out the full range of lemon flavor while baking the fish in a foil package. The results, displayed in a double-page photo on pages 42-3 are stunning. The lightly fried fish lies on a bed of sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, basil and lemon grass like some feast in a seaport restaurant on Crete, except on Crete they typically use only a bit of the local thyme or oregano, skip the foil and grill the fish. There are many British touches in Gordon's cuisine, like his use of Scottish Finnan Haddie as in Smoked Haddock and Aspargus Open Ravioli (p. 94) and Smoked Haddock and Clam Chowder (p. 13) and Omlet Arnold Bennet with Finnan Haddie (p. 148). This last recipe is in one of the most facinating chapters: Eggs. It reads a bit like an Iron Chef America competition since he offers brunch dishes, like Eggs Benedict with Minted Hollondaise (p. 140), a lunch dish, Cobb Salad with Quail Eggs (p. 146) several omlettes and then desserts: Chocolate and Tiramisu Parfait (p. 151), My Baked Alaskas (p. 154) for which you need a blow torch and even a Gordo take on Sweet Potato Pie (p. 156). The book's recipes certainly explore some Gordon Ramsay's cuisine philosophy with interesting rethinking of classic dishes. If you forget about Gordo's TV personality, you can start to understand why his restaurants are sucessful and why he has something to add about cooking. 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