Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No other dessert book comes close, 1 Jan 2007
I work as a pastry chef and own dessert books by authors such as Rose Levy Beranbaum, Maida Heatter, Marcel Desaulniers, etc. But none come close to this book. Maybe it is unfair to compare "baking" books to this cookbook, which could only be classified as a "dessert" book, but other "dessert" books (ie Michel Roux's Finest Desserts, Jacques Torres' Dessert Circus) still fall short of this book.
Gordon is clearly in a league of his own, his flavour combinations are original, creative, and ahead of their time, whilst still retaining a simplicity that allows any intermediate cook to approch them. I say this from experience, because I have owned this book well before I started my pastry apprenticeship.
To give you an understanding of why I admire this book so much, I will compare two fairly standard recipes from two different authors. Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Pie and Pastry Bible" contains a fairly comprehensive recipe for an apple pie. Those who are familiar with Beranbaum's books will no doubt be aware of the extensive research and time she would have spent in search of the "perfect" apple pie recipe. Her recipe is quite complex, although still straightforward, for an apple pie. The chunks of apple are basically "macerated" in sugar, lemon and spice for several hours, so that excess liquid (which may result in shrinkage during baking) is released from the fruit. This juice is then reduced to intensify flavour, then combined with the apple chunks, which are coated lightly with cornstarch. This mixture is placed in the pie shell as per any standard apple pie recipe, then topped with pastry and baked.
Rose's recipe is quite technical, almost overly technical, and while the result is very good, I believe that Gordon's approach is far more effective. Gordon's book contains a "Deep Dish Autumn Fruit Pie" which is essentially the same thing as an apple pie, except he used pears and plums as well as apples. The method Gordon employs to maximise the flavour of the fruit is faster and more intense; a knob of butter is heated in a large frying pan until stinking hot, then the chunks of fruit are tossed into the pan. A combination of sugar and chinese five-spice is sprinkled directly over the roasting fruit to encourage caramelisation and depth of flavour. Once a rich colour is achieved the fruit is sprinkled with liqueur and left to cool, then placed in a pie shell, topped and baked. Even if the recipe was made using only apples, the resulting pie would still be fantastic. Gordon's cooking is straightforward yet exciting, with maximum flavour being the top priority. While I respect the effort and love Rose Levy Beranbaum has invested into perfecting her recipes, Gordon's passion and intensity is far more inspiring to me than Rose's precise measurements and lengthy preparation times.
This is just one example - I could write pages on why I believe this book is best, but I hope this review has given some insight into my strong feelings regarding this book. In short, it isn't so much the recipes that set it apart from other dessert/baking books, but Gordon's enthusiastic, passionate approach to even the most simple of desserts, such as baked apples, right through to elaborate preparations such as "Orange Pannacotta, Honey Roasted Figs, Fresh Orange Sections, Orange Zest Confit" to the fun, colourful desserts such as "Caramelised Banana Bavarian" or "Roasted Baby Pineapples". The wait for a better dessert book will indeed by very, very long.
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29 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flawless and Reliable, 15 Jun 2003
I have been using this book for the better part of a year and have probably tried out 70% of the recipies. Incredibly, I have enjoyed a 100% success rate! His descriptions and explanations are clear and leave no doubts. Considering I am in Malaysia and many of the ingredients are hard to come by, the recipies are forgiving enough to still yield amazing results. I have created and recreated many of the items for friends and family and they always leave them asking for more. Gordon Ramsay is a culinary genius. His jellies in particular are an inspiration. His hot puddings, out of this world. Certainly not a book for the pure beginner but at the same time, a small amount of kitchen experience will have you recreating his genius relatively easily. Your friends and family will love it if there's any left after you've sampled it yourself.
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20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mouthwatering ...., 7 Nov 2003
I got this book after his "secret" and "season" books. I read it and ... well, the recipes are really delicious. There is such a variety that is impressive. I think it will take a few years before I am able to completely assess all recipes.
There are standard ones and also more daring ones (like the pumpkin cheesecake). There are even few pages on basics like pate sucree and a wonderful mascarpone pastry. Just delicious.
On the "bad" side, the recipes have the same problem as in his other books: there is a great chance that you will have to change the cooking times. The mentioned ones are simply too short (and I own two very different ovens).
Apart from this, the book is very useful ... What about the photos and the other glittering features? This is a recipe book. There are mostly recipes and some mouthwatering photos. But this is essentially a recipe book ... a very excellent one.
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