Here I am just a few weeks into my new job as the web editor of Caterersearch.com and how do I find myself spending the morning? Watching and filming one of the country’s most (in?)famous chefs, Marco Pierre White (MPW), preparing Lobster in a sauce vierge at Luciano’s in central London for a Caterer and Hotelkeeper Masterclass (6 September edition) - ain’t life grand?
If I were to watch Tiger Woods playing golf or Michael Schumacher take a Ferrari for a spin round the block I don’t think I could have witnessed a man more in his natural element. There was a tension in the air from the moment he strode into the kitchen took one look at the lobster and declared it too big and too Canadian.
This was more than enough to put back the schedule as MPW had George, his restaurant manager, send out for a new one that met his specifications.
This gave us time to interview him on camera, a feature that will soon be gracing the Caterersearch site, and get his take on some of the many issues that face the industry, his own motivations his new role in Hell’s Kitchen and his relationship with Gordon Ramsay (MPW will be Caterer's guest editor next month).
I would have been satisfied with that as a good’s day’s work but then we followed MPW and his newly arrived replacement lobster into the kitchen.
What followed may have only been a glimpse into the head of a chef that commanded 3 Michelin stars when he was behind the stove day-to-day but it was fascinating stuff.
Compared to the riotous days at Harvey’s so memorably portrayed in MPW’s book White Slave it was nothing of course but there was enough shouting, demanding, concentration, passion and testosterone flying around to leave you thinking “wow, so that’s what its like to be stuck in a small underground room with lots of sharp implements with a man who demands nothing less than the best at every turn”.
The lobster was a triumph and at the close MPW walked away from the finished dish like a heavyweight champion who, knowing he’s just thrown a haymaker, turns his back on his opponent before they’ve even hit the canvas.
Later that that day and even now as I type this blog I find myself caught between thinking how glad I am that I didn’t live with that pressure every day and how sad I am that away from these people, that passion that life seems just a little greyer.
By Kerry Dyson
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Comments (1)
Very insightful, even more compelling then the theory of evolution. gracias
Posted by Reinaldo Mairs | March 5, 2010 5:07 PM
Posted on March 5, 2010 17:07