British Recipes by Aiden Byrne

Dorchester Restaurant Chef's First Cookbook: Made in Great Britain

Oct 8, 2008

Aiden Byrne is the star chef at London's Dorchester Hotel restaurant, The Grill. His book, Made in Great Britain, celebrates British recipes and sourcing good produce.

This is a cookbook with a difference. Chef Aiden Byrne not only shares his recipes, he also goes out gathering the ingredients. In between the recipes are several essays by Aiden Byrne, which for once do sound like they are all his own work, rather than being ghost-written. His mission – in the book and on his menu – is to showcase the best British ingredients. So in this, his first book, Byrne writes entertainingly and very personally about such experiences as:

Tom Aikens

The Foreword to Made in Great Britain is by London's Michelin-star chef, Tom Aikens, whose own restaurant was once voted among the Ten Best Restaurants in the World. Aikens knows what he's talking about, then, as Aiden Byrne worked for Aikens both at Pied à Terre, and as head chef at Tom Aikens for two years. 'Aiden,' he writes, '[has] a passion for excellence... he now has chefs looking up to him.'

Aiden Byrne

Byrne is originally from Liverpool but first came to prominence when he was working at Adlard's in Norwich, where at the age of 22 he became the youngest ever chef to win a Michelin star. He went on to work at other Michelin-starred restaurants, and alongside knowledgeable chefs such as Paul Rankin and Tom Aikens, before fully establishing his own identity as head chef at The Grill in the Dorchester Hotel. His reputation has also been confirmed by Marcus Wareing, who has said: 'Some of the best food that I've eaten recently was by Aiden Byrne.'

Made in Great Britain

Although Aiden Byrne's first book celebrates British ingredients, it would be hard to tell at first glance from some of the recipes, which include dishes like:

Although some of the dishes seem challenging, perhaps for expert chefs only, Byrne's very detailed instructions make it seem that even novice chefs could tackle them and surprise their friends... and maybe themselves too. No-one needs a Michelin star to follow instructions like this, from one of the chef's long-standing favourite recipes: Sea bass stuffed with crab, basil sauce and watercress and radish salad:

'On your work surface lay out a sheet of clingfilm large enough to wrap a single fillet of sea bass. Brush it with olive oil and lay a basil leaf on top, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Lay the sea bass fillet, skin side down, on the clingfilm and wrap it up to create an airtight envelope. Repeat with the other three fillets. Keep refrigerated until needed.'

How hard is that? Byrne's is a step-by-step approach, preparing one element of the dish at a time, then setting it aside until needed. It's the work of a chef who doesn't let his passion and creativity run away with him, always remembering that the average reader needs good, practical instructions. This collection of Byrne's British recipes will inspire anyone to try doing something special with our great British produce.

Information

Made in Great Britain by Aiden Byrne is published by New Holland at £25 in the UK and $44.15 in the USA. It is available in bookstores and online at Amazon and other online booksellers.

The copyright of the article British Recipes by Aiden Byrne in Celebrity Cookbooks is owned by Mike Gerrard. Permission to republish British Recipes by Aiden Byrne in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.