Michel Roux at Home by Michel Roux Jr
What’s the USP? A Michelin-starred chef eschews the involved methods and techniques of the professional kitchen and shares his favourite (but not always) simple recipes from home that he cooks for family and friends.
Who’s the author? Michel Roux Jr is restaurant royalty, son of the legendary Albert Roux, father of Emily (who runs the acclaimed London restaurant Caractère). At the time of writing, he is chef/patron of legendary two Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche which is due to close in January 2024. He remains head of food and beverage at The Langham hotel in London. He is a regular on TV shows like Saturday Kitchen and has written eight previous cookbooks including The French Revolution.
Is it good bedtime reading? A five page intro and succinct recipe introductions and that’s your lot. Best keep the latest Richard Osman handy.
How much difficulty will I have getting hold of ingredients? You will need a decent butcher to mince some pork fat for you if you’re going to make the delicious sounding venison turnovers (and you could buy the venison leg or shoulder you’ll need while you are there, although you can get it from some supermarkets too), lamb merguez sausages to serve with red rice and herb pesto, pigs trotters and ears to serve with boned and rolled pork shoulder, and the various meaty elements of a game pate or a terrine made with rabbit and green ham hock.
A good cheesemonger or online supplier will probably be required for the Fleur de Maquis or Berkswell cheese for an omelette with mushrooms, parsley and sheep cheese or the Mimolette required for a chicory tart recipe. Your local greengrocer might have dandelion leaves for a salad made with potatoes, bacon and quince vinegar (good luck finding that, although you can substitute the good old cider variety) but you will have to get your wellies on and go foraging for the nettles for a chilled soup with radish tops. If you are in the UK, you can get cod cheeks from The Fish Society to roast and serve with a watercress salad, a whole sea bass to roast with vegetables or a whole sea bream to bake in a salt crust. What they won’t sell you is the smoked eel required for a canape with beetroot and horseradish cream as it’s now considered a critically endangered species.
Although that might seem like a long list, the book is mainly full of recipes with easily accessible ingredients, as demonstrated by the following list of killer recipes.
Killer recipes? Cauliflower and broccoli gratin with Comte cheese; courgette gratin; sausage, pea and potato casserole; barbecued chicken with summer salad; potato and sweetcorn waffles with bacon crumb; prawn French toast with walnut and coriander pesto; linguine with olives, artichokes, sundried tomatoes and herbs; blackberry and apple mille-feuiiles.
How annoyingly vague are the recipes? For the most part, the recipes are specific when you want them to be. For example, the lovely cauliflower and broccoli gratin recipe gives weight indications for both the main ingredients which is extremely helpful given that cauliflowers range from golf ball to beach ball in size (I’m exaggerating for effect, but not much). Elsewhere, however, things are more hazy, with a ‘bunch of asparagus and a ‘bunch’ of spring onions for a barbecued lamb steak recipe. Both of course as sold in bunches, but the number (and weight) of asparagus spears and spring onions in any given bunch can vary wildly. This is a minor niggle, as cooking from the book has been a pleasure, with clear, easy to follow methods and delicious results.
What will I love? With chapters including Breakfast and brunch, quick lunches, simple suppers for two, meals for family and friends, sweet finish, family celebrations at home and kitchen basics, it’s quick and easy to choose a recipe appropriate to your needs on any given occasion. There’s a huge variety of dishes, from simple sweetcorn soup to the more challenging game pate as well as dishes such as pork steaks with summer vegetables that would make a great mid-week meal.
Should I buy it? There’s still a fair amount of Michel Roux the two-star chef in the book with some fairly time consuming preparations and ingredients that are everyday to the French but more challenging for us Brits to get our hands on. That said, there is much to inspire keen home cooks into the kitchen and dishes that you won’t find in your average TV chef’s cookbook, so it’s a hearty ‘Oui chef’ from us.
Cuisine: French
Suitable for: confident home cooks
Cookbook Review Rating: Four stars
Buy this book
Michel Roux at Home by Michel Roux Jr
£26, Seven Dials
Cook from this book
Prawn French toast with walnut & coriander pesto by Michel Roux Jr
Root Vegetable Tart Tatin by Michel Roux Jr
Souffled Crepes by Michel Roux Jr