Product Description

Perhaps the most famous chef in Britain, Marco Pierre White presents in this book the recipes on which the Mirabelle's astounding success is based. The recipes range from simple starters through elegant fish and meat courses to irresistible puddings. He provides technical expertise and tips on basic ingredients, preparation and presentation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #526530 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
At the back of Marco Pierre White's The Mirabelle Cookbook, he has reprinted a selection of menus from the famous London restaurant's past. It's fascinating comparing the menus to see how consistent The Mirabelle, one of a handful of grand Mayfair eateries founded just prior to World War II, has been over the years. Apart from the prices, the dishes are similar. On one of the old menus you will find "L'Omelette Normande ou Arnold Bennett" which reappears on the new as "Omelette--Arnold Bennett" and on page 69 of the book you find the recipe, a marvellous egg concoction with cheesy mornay sauce. Unlike other books by White--such as Wild Food from Land and Sea--the recipes in The Mirabelle Cookbook are accessible to the home cook. The simplest dishes, "Tomato Consommé", "Smoked Salmon Properly Garnished", "Cottage Pie" and "Tiramisú" can be cooked at home with no difficulty. "But my aim is to encourage you, as you gain confidence, to move on from these to the slightly more complicated recipes which really do repay the extra effort", White writes in the introduction. You'll find "Tart of Endive with Sea Scallops", "Wing of Skate with Capers and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing", and "Lamb a la Ficelle". Each dish is beautifully photographed and if that's not enough to get you to cook them, it will certainly persuade you to visit the restaurant. --Dale Kneen

Customer Reviews

A good record of the cooking at the Mirabelle
I've been going to the Mirabelle for over 20 years and have seen many changes in that time, none as those wrought by MPW. For me, then, one of the most fascinating parts of the book is the collection of reprinted menus at the end of the book: there's an interesting social history there!

The main body of the book is well laid out with great photographs of the dishes. The recipes are a good mix of simple and classic together with more involved and modern, providing a clear, precise record of exactly the sort of food the Mirabelle now provides. The book and its recipes are both eminently approachable. There are some crossovers with MPW's previous books, but these are acknowledged and justified.

Full Of Inspiration
I can't understand how another reviewer though the book was a con! I have prepared several of the dishes from this book for friends and the results have been superb and the comments from diners have been extremely complimentary. To take such simple ingredients and turn them into attractive, tasty, inspiring food is what Marco Pierre White is all about. If that basic principle isn't grasped then the whole point has been missed. And no, I'm not just a hobby chef, I have worked with two Michelin chefs and I have professional restaurant experience. Unfortunately the book is now a collectors item but if you're lucky enough to track one down you should buy it.

3 star rip off.
I am curently a chef working in Italy, I purchased the Mirebelle cook book for inspiration, on a professional level. Sadly MPW thinks he is so rich and famous that a book full of fried eggs, chips and steak is worth £25.00. I am appauled that a chef of his standing can be so pretentious to think he can pass off any pub grub food in a book, with a few nice photo's and expect his following to be impressed. Disgusted!