White Heat

by Marco Pierre White
White Heat cover
Good Books rating 4.25
Technical
  • ID: 134
  • Added: 2025-09-02
  • Updated: 2025-09-02
  • ISBN: 9781845334109
  • Published: 2007-01-01
  • Reviews: 2

Once in a blue moon a book is published that changes irrevocably the face of things. White Heat is one such book. Since it was originally produced in 1990, it has gone on to become one of the most enduring classic cook books of our time. With its unique blend of outspoken opinion, recipes, and dramatic photographs, White Heat captures the magic and spirit of Marco Pierre White in the heat of his kitchen.

Reviews
Wikipedia · 2025-09-02
influential 4.50

White Heat is recognized as a groundbreaking cookbook that changed the image of chefs and influenced many Michelin-starred and celebrity chefs.

The Wikipedia entry highlights White Heat as a partially autobiographical cookbook that established Marco Pierre White's 'bad boy' chef persona and revolutionized how chefs were publicly perceived, portraying them as sex symbols. The dramatic black-and-white photographs by Bob Carlos Clarke are iconic, capturing White's intense personality and kitchen atmosphere, which has left a lasting influence on the culinary world and on chefs like Gordon Ramsay.

Quick quotes

    Possibly the most influential recipe book of the last 20 years.

    White Heat is credited with changing the image of chefs to sex symbols.

    One of the photographs featured White with a dead baby shark, which was laid across his lap.

Goodreads · Will Girling · 2023-07-18
intense 4.00

The book vividly conveys the passion and skill of Marco Pierre White with gritty, war zone-inspired kitchen photography and challenging recipes.

Will Girling appreciates how White Heat captures Marco Pierre White's dedication to his craft with stark clarity, reflected in the intense and gritty photographs inspired by the Vietnam War. While the recipes are mostly advanced, the book offers valuable foundational cooking techniques and an energetic, passionate atmosphere that practically leaps off the page, making it a compelling read despite some dated elements.

Quick quotes

    MPW is a flawed man and clearly difficult to live with or be around. However, one cannot doubt his skill or dedication to his craft, and White Heat conveys this with stark clarity.

    The images have the frenetic energy of a war zone, so it's no surprise that the photographer took inspiration from the Vietnam War.

    You can practically taste it!

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