The skills and the inventiveness of European chefs are legendary, and the quality of the ingredients they work with is unmatched. Tourists and travellers flocked to Europe’s great cities to experience grandeur, excellence, traditions, originality and flavour. I spent many happy hours as a young chef looking through Great European Chefs—imagining working in some of these exotic places, especially the French restaurants where the greats were cooking: Vergé, Guérard, Bocuse, Meneau, and many more. 

I stuck closer to home and worked at The Peat Inn. It was great seeing David Wilson in the book. David had worked with Verge and a few more legends. Also John Burton Race from L’Ortolan, who I was interviewed by. We spoke about cars, and he offered me a job. It’s also wonderful to see Ballymaloe with Myrtle Allen cooking with proper Irish ingredients, and to know that they’re still doing what they did all those years ago. 

This is a wonderful book and very special as it was one of the last books with the greats in it. I love that there’s an image of each chef, standing in pristine whites, usually with his wife sitting beside him. The person who brought these masters together is Caroline Hobhouse, with photography from Martin Brigade, a well-known friend of many a chef. It’s a classic that will always stay in my mind. 

Some dishes are simple, some are very technical. There’s a pudding made with chicken in Turkey, a gratin of Arbroath smokie, and some very beautiful plates of food from Mossiman. I recommend flicking through it with a good glass of claret.