He screams, he grumbles, wrecks others, curses incessantly. Gordon Ramsay is a bastard and a master of theatrical performance. Brutal but honest. With his legendary outbursts of anger in TV shows such as “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Hell’s Kitchen”, the Scot has inscribed himself in the annals of pop culture, which made him world famous. But the bad boy among TV chefs is much more than just an excellent show master – he cooks in the culinary top division. In the ranking of top international chefs, he is in third place with 16 Michelin stars and 39 restaurants. Ramsay knows what he’s doing. Now the bad boy has released “Quick and Good”. His new cookbook is packed with 30-minute recipes.
Homemade food is not only healthier and cheaper, it also makes you more satisfied than any ready-made meal. “By the time the often bland, ready-made food from take-away has made it to your table, you can have any of the stunningly delicious dishes in this book ready-made and on your plate,” he claims in the foreword. He personally never compromises when it comes to taste, but over the years he has learned tricks “that preserve the aroma, but still save time”. You just have to know how to help yourself. Ramsay shows which ingredients and spices give the taste boost – furikake spice mix, harissa and fennel pollen, for example. But also, with which abbreviations you can save a lot of time when cooking.
100 quick Ramsay recipes
“There’s a reason my chefs can’t use their smartphones while they work,” says Ramsay. “Preparing an impressive dish in a short time requires full attention.” Ramsay knows no mercy for anything that is distracting. On the other hand, he breaks a lance for good preparation and organization. It starts with purchasing. Those who buy excellent ingredients have already half achieved their goal – “the tastier the products, the less you have to do to bring out their flavors”.
100 new, creative Ramsay recipes have made it between the book flaps. According to the star chef, they should all be prepared in a maximum of half an hour. Starting with soups and salads, fish and meat, to desserts and dips – the selection of dishes is varied and international. It ranges from hearty to sweet, from Sichuan sesame noodles to juniper berry venison steaks, blood orange, radicchio and fennel salad to white chocolate parfait. We present five of the quick Ramsay recipes in the photo gallery above.
“Quick and Good” by Gordon Ramsay is published by Südwest Verlag, 256 pages, 26 euros. The book is available here.
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