Product Description

When Marco Pierre White's mother died of a brain haemorrhage when he was just six years old, it transformed his life. Soon, his father was urging him to earn his own keep and by sixteen he was working in his first restaurant. He would then go on to learn from some of the best chefs in the country, such as Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc and Pierre Koffmann. He survived the intense pressure of hundred-hour weeks in the heat of the kitchen, developed his own style, and struck out on his own. At Harveys in Wandsworth, which he opened in 1987, he developed a reputation as a stunning cook and a rock 'n' roll sex god of the kitchen. But he was also a man who might throw you out of his restaurant, and his temper was legendary, as younger chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal would find out when they worked for him. He eventually opened several more restaurants, won every honour going and then realised that it still wasn't enough. This book tells that astonishing story, taking the reader right into the heat of the kitchen with a sharp-edged wit and a sizzling pace that will fascinate anyone brave enough to open the pages of this book and enter his domain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83011 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 314 pages

THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Inspirational'

Review
'Inspirational' (THE SUNDAY TIMES )

'Utterly unputdownable' (GLAMOUR )

'if you really want to know what the chefs get up to in the privacy of their own pantries, pick up White Slave, a tale of violence, genius and sex amongthe pans.' (THE SCOTSMAN )

Chris Evans, Radio 2
It's fabulous. Brutally honest and very funny.

Customer Reviews

Have you heard the one about the pig's trotter?
For some reason I ignored this book when it first came out in hardback. Not sure why. Perhaps Marco Pierre White was a name from the past and someone I knew very little about . . . except perhaps that he was rude, abusive and violent in the kitchen. How's that for prejudging someone?

Don't make my mistake, this book is not to be missed. From the time I opened it at the first page until I had finished I couldn't put it down. It is well written and a fascinating account of a chef's life, albeit a pretty unique chef.

Someone who has won three Michelin stars, and is the youngest chef at the age of thirty-three to have ever achieved it, has to be a very unique person. The first British Chef to win three Michelin stars.

The start of the book takes you back to when Marco was just six years old and facing up to life after his mother's death, growing up in the male dominated world of his father and two older brothers. It then moves quickly through his formative years in Leeds, not particularly happy years, where his greatest pleasure was been able to escape fishing.

The heart of the book is of course the time at Harveys which culminates in his winning his second Michelin star before moving to open Restaurant Marco Pierre White at the Hyde Park Hotel in Knightsbridge where he wins his third Michelin star.

There is a lot more to the book than I have described. Even if you are not into cooking it is a great insight into the professional kitchen with its stress and anguish. It might also help you to understand what makes the greatest living British chef tick. Remember when he started on the road to becoming a chef he was not passionate about cooking it was just a job . . . he grew to be passionate.

The book is full of stories of the high jinx that went on in the kitchens and the restaurant. From a restaurant designer getting his Gucci suit ripped apart to a chef having his whites cut up because he complained it was too hot in the kitchen . . . he was still wearing them at the time!


And if I have not convinced you that The Devil in the Kitchen is worth reading then let me say it is worth reading just for the laugh you will get from the story about Raymond Blanc and the pig's trotter!

fiendishly good
Prince of lies, lord of the darkness, Mephistopheles, Miss Stanley, call him what you will, the devil has always been closely associated with the culinary arts. How else can one explain the transformation of the good (egg, flour, beef) into the evil (omelette, pastry, mince)? Marco Pierre White has been recreating eternal damnation and torment on television for the last few weeks (successfully), and the pages of this book, reeking of sulphur and burnt at the edges, are a testament to his efforts. What is more diabolical than a whisk? All the more surprising when one considers that part of his skull is made of papier maché.

Well written but overcooked in parts
After watching MPW on Hells Kitchen I was intrigued to learn more about the man who demanded respect. His story is all about hard work and commitment with a small amount of humour. His dedication is unrivalled and so is his success.

The downside of the book is his continual appreciation of himself. We all know he is rude, successful, a rock star chef and intelligent but the purpose of a book is to allow the reader to make those assumptions themselves. The book is written with the same forced persuasion that he used in Hells Kitchen and is very much like the mans persona - intense and direct. It also name drops at every opportunity which I felt was not needed - I wanted to learn more about MPW himself.

I found it hard to digest that all the rows and falling out's he had were not his fault and in other parts it was difficult convincing myself that I was reading a truth.

However the references to his family and particularly his mother were written with affection, the final chapter was one of the most honest and heartfelt sections of the book. That I felt was the true MPW.

The book is interesting and oozes arrogance and it is probably worth reading to compare the differences with Gordan Ramsay and both versions of their falling out in Humble Pie.