# Bruce’s Cookbook

Bruce Poole

‘I only cook the kind of food I want to eat. Honest food, plain and simple. This is my cookbook.’The long awaited cookbook from Michelin-starred chef and owner of the award-winning Chez Bruce.Bruce Poole is widely acknowledged to be one of Britain’s best chefs. Praise for his timeless, honest cooking has garnered countless column inches and the respect of the most discerning critics. His Michelin-starred London restaurant Chez Bruce has achieved many awards and accolades including, for the last six years, London’s Favourite Restaurant in the Harden’s Restaurant Guide.But, what speaks louder than stars (in Bruce’s book anyway) is that his food is emphatically and wholeheartedly loved not only by his loyal patrons who come time and time again to eat at his table, but also those who make Chez Bruce a destination. Bruce’s down to earth, honest and creative cooking features classic dishes without ego or chefy gimmicks, because it’s all about food you actually want to eat.It is no wonder that a cookbook from Bruce Poole has been so eagerly anticipated. In these pages you will find charming anecdotes and stories from the restaurants and, of course, the recipes Bruce wants you to cook at home. Spend time with them, love and enjoy them – this is truly the best food you can cook in your kitchen.Bruce’s Cookbook is a gift, read it, cook from it, treasure it.Recipes Include:- Slow roast shoulder of lamb with harissa, spiced pilaf rice and yoghurt- Boeuf Bourgignon with parsnip purée- Ceviche of salmon with crème fraîche and coriander- Potato gnocchi with butter, wilted sage and parmesan- Chocolate Soufflé- Champagne and elderflower jelly with strawberries

Bruce’s Cookbook

Bruce Poole


For Anna,

Charlotte, Isabel and Francesca


Contents

Cover

Title Page

Preface

Life Before Chez Bruce

Onwards

Soups, salads and charcuterie

Gnocchi, pasta, polenta and risotto

Meat

Fish and shellfish

Desserts

Stocks, sauces, sides and fundamentals

Copyright

About the Publisher

Preface

I think it is probably fair to say that a good proportion of readers tackling cookery books written by professional chefs do so with some degree of trepidation. The glossy photographs may appeal and so might some, or even most, of the recipes, but how much of the book’s material will be doable at home? Will the ingredients be readily available? Will the techniques required be too advanced and will attempts at said recipes end in sorry, sodden and salty failure? Well, let me assure you, in my experience there are plenty of cooking nightmares lived out daily in even the most highly regarded restaurant kitchens. We under- and overcook things, burn pastry occasionally, tempers rise as soufflés fall and errant dishes get chucked towards the bin – invariably with indecent velocity. The distinction to be made at professional level is that our failures never reach the paying customer and it is only when dishes are practised and refined that the ability is grasped to knock them out with the necessary degree of speed and skill. If your earnest attempts at some of the food in this book turn out a little less appetisingly than you had hoped for, please don’t despair, and take heart in the notion that, for you to be a good cook, the broth might get spoiled a few times along the way. In short, we all make mistakes, but what we need to do in cookery, as in any other worthwhile activity I guess, is to apply some common sense and learn from them.