Les Abats: Recipes celebrating the whole beast

Description

"Don't be afraid of offal. Some of the greatest of all French classics involve organ meats such as brains and sweetbreads." - Michel Roux Jr Celebrated chef Michel Roux Jr passionately believes that we are missing out. At a time when food shortage is a global concern, health fears over processed meat are making headlines and the cost of living is higher than ever, he can't understand our reluctance to utilise every part of an animal's carcass. Brains, organs, intestines, hooves - items that are traditionally viewed with distaste in our society - are an integral part of French and world cuisine. With this book, the two-star Michelin chef hopes to change the way we think about offal and demonstrate that, with a little time and effort, it can be used to produce enticing and delicious food to impress friends and feed families. The book will contain recipes ranging from the simple sweetbreads Michel's mother fed him as a child, to the more adventurous dishes in the style served at his award-winning restaurants. Dishes range from La Salade Aveyronnaise (Warm salad with sweetbreads and Roquefort) or Soupe aux abattis (Giblet soup), to Cervelle de veau zingara (Calves' brains with zingara) or Langue de boefu au persil et cares (Salted ox tongue with caper parsley sauce).

After apprenticeships with Maitre Patissier Hellegouarche in Paris and Alain Chapel in Mionnay, and basic training with the French army, Michel Roux Jr worked for two years at the Elysee Palace under French Presidents D'Estaing and Mitterrand. Posts with Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire and at the Mandarin in Hong Kong led to firstly the Waterside Inn with uncle Michel and then to Le Gavroche under his father Albert. He ran the Roux catering businesses for three years before in 1991 becoming Chef de Cuisine at Le Gavroche, the restaurant his father Albert and uncle Michel Sr founded in 1967. In 2017 he celebrated his 25th year at the healm of the world famous restaurant, which has two Michelin stars. He has run the London Marathon 17 times in aid of children's charities.

One for dedicated food fans, with access to a good butcher, because this, as French speakers will realise, is all about offal.Unrelentingly meaty, with no pretty pictures, Roux offers recipes for chopped liver, pickled venison heart and poached calf's head. -- Claire Coleman * METRO * There's a cost to eating only certain cuts of meat, as well as a whole lot of waste. From brains to intestines and organs, in Les Abats, Roux shares ways to make the most of the whole animal, from snout to tail. * THE IRISH NEWS * No bone marrow in Michel Roux Jr.'s tribute to offal, Les Abats: Recipes Celebrating the Whole Beast but pretty much everything extreme belonging to an animal is. Cooks need to be in safe hands with offal, never a problem with a Roux family member, so dive into the uncharted and try chicken liver gratin, the crispy feet of the same bird. hake throats a pil pil or a sweetbread and black pudding tart. A classic, bravely without images; but Roux's enthusiasm for his subject is enough. -- Rose Prince * THE SPECTATOR *