Cookbooks. You buy them or you are gifted them. But how much do you cook from them? Is there something which compels you to cook from them or does something interfere with your practical responses to them?

The volumes below from two chefs of titanic status have been mine for nearly fifteen years.

So. Fifteen years for perusal, consideration, reaction, and kitchen action. It’s been in my mind for some while to catalogue how much impact these four books have made on me and, specifically, how much they have inspired me to cook their books.
Regulars here will know that I reference those three from David Everitt-Matthias fairly often. Through the reassurance and encouragement on his pages they have helped to develop my confidence as a home cook. Recipes are approachable and adaptable, and need little in the way of fancy equipment. The successful realisation of maximum flavour is usually underpinned by understanding and technique rather than by a snazzy piece of kit.

Here are the recipes I’ve tackled so far. Heavy on the dessert front. Savoury and sweet store cupboard essentials are regularly made and often used in other dishes.

“Recipes are approachable and adaptable, and need little in the way of fancy equipment. The successful realisation of maximum flavour is usually underpinned by understanding and technique rather than by a snazzy piece of kit.”

A quick repeat of that assessment which for me also applies to the recipes from Gordon Ramsay. If you bother to compare the stars here you’ll see that Gordon’s restaurant gained the maximum three while David’s has had a mere two. Mind you, we’re talking about stars awarded by the mildly (to put it mildly) dodgy outfit run by Michelin. Best to focus on how these chefs resonate with humble guests like me, eh.

And, yes, you‘ll now clock a dramatic shift in my interest when it comes to reproducing any recipes from Gordon Ramsay’s cookbook.

Why the discrepancy? Some might say shocking discrepancy. It’s that interference I mentioned in the first paragraph here.

I can’t, and won’t deny the huge impact which Ramsay has made on the worlds of cooking and of hospitality but I can’t escape the background flashes of uneasiness which jag across the pages as I read his book.

Many (there is a long queue) will defend him. But at base Ramsay is not a pleasant human being. ‘Evidence!’, I hear you say. Well, it’s not evidence which will stand up at the Old Bailey but this is what sways me and ultimately makes me reluctant to acknowledge his prowess by actually following his recipes.

Just last year, Frankie (Francesca) Collins probed into Ramsay’s propensity for badmouthing all and sundry. In her article titled ‘Gordon Ramsay finally confirms whether swearing fits are real or just for TV’ she carelessly perpetuated the myth that Ramsay made an ‘idiot sandwich’ out of a contestant on one of his shows. Mind you, Ramsay has since used the associated meme - which was created courtesy of The Late, Late Show with James Corden - to underpin an ‘Idiot Sandwich’ series on his YouTube channel. It remains one example among many of his propensity for abusing other human beings. Important here to discover how Ramsay truly feels and acts. And towards the end of the article he gives us the clincher.

Hmmm.

Cara Houchen, editor at ‘The Staff Canteen’, attempts to calm the turbulence which swirls around Ramsay in her article here. This is her early contention: “I think we all have a preconception of how Gordon will be in person, he has a reputation which precedes him, and his TV persona is what he is known for. But this is just a small part of who he is…”

That TV persona is the bullying abuser who Ramsay has chosen to present for so many years. But is that a small part of who he is? A thud of pure cringe comes further on in the article when Cara Houchen unwittingly or disingenuously (I’m guessing, sadly, the latter) fans the flames in furious fashion by glibly quoting Ramsay as saying “We are in 129 countries with viewing figures in excess of 275 million every summer.”

Hmmm (again). That would not seem to be such a small part of who Ramsay is. Instead something pretty huge which has impacted that television audience in the unhealthiest of ways.

There. That’s what I allow to get in my way where Ramsay is concerned. I am well aware that being accused of cutting off my nose to spite my own face could gain a lot of traction here.

The inescapable fact is that Ramsay leaves a bad taste in my mouth whereas Everitt-Matthias and his recipes have left our family and friends with far too many delicious experiences to be ignored.

The fact that David is every bit as dedicated, obsessive, creative, and skilled as Gordon should count for something. The fact that David remains quietly and gently as dedicated, obsessive, creative, and skilled as Gordon counts for a lot more.

Let’s end on a lighter, frivolous note. No contest for me when it comes to the winner for downright decent cooking inspiration.
But I’ll let you decide who takes the cheffy Oscar for flashy flexors and extensors as these two fight it out by giving us a dynamic morphological demonstration of the alternative arm-folding phenotypes.

AI gives us the all important lowdown down below. Important enough, I would suggest, to be taken with a pinch of salt.

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Do You Cook the Books?