MPW was the first of the rock ’n’ roll chefs, and many followed in his flaming footsteps
Matt Tebbutt remembers exactly where he got his copy. “I found it in Whiteleys in Bayswater,” the chef and TV presenter says. “I was 17 years old, and it just resonated. It was cool and sexy. It was all about the glamour and excess.” Sat Bains, of the eponymous Michelin two-star in Nottingham, found his in a charity shop in the mid-90s. “I read the whole book in an hour and my head exploded. Who was this guy? He had this rock’n’roll attitude.” Chef Marianne Lumb says it’s her “bible”; Tom Kerridge describes it as a huge influence. The message is clear. For legions of chefs White Heat by Marco Pierre White isn’t a cookbook, though it does contain recipes. It’s a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar.
For legions of chefs it’s a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar
