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Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape: 100 of My Favorite Indian Recipes
In his new Channel 4 series TV chef Gordon Ramsay embarks on a culinary journey around India, discovering the breadth and depth of cooking of the country. His new cookbook is packed with the best recipes from his travels, showing you how to cook authentic dishes that are bursting with flavour. As you'd expect from a Michelin-starred chef, Gordon brings his eye for perfection and ability to judge flavours perfectly to his exploration of Indian food and shows us how to cook authentic, mouth-watering dishes from all over this huge and varied country. He visits Kerala deep in the South of India to bring us spicy, coconut-based curries and travels to colourful Rajasthan to learn about the creamy, flavourful dishes of the North. Along the way Gordon experiences the hugely different flavours and spices from the different regions and absorbs local cooking styles and traditions. Throughout his culinary journey, Gordon selects the best of the vast array of Indian spices, now readily available in British supermarkets. He shows us how to use these authentically to produce a beautifully flavoured Indian dish. Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape includes over 100 recipes in the following sections: Everyday, Entertaining, Quick Lunches and Healthy Dishes. Once Gordon shows you how easy it is to put together authentic Indian dishes, you'll never look back.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2010
About the author
Gordon Ramsay
178 books699 followersGordon James Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall and currently holds eight. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.
Ramsay's TV persona is defined by his fiery temper, aggressive behaviour, strict demeanour, and frequent use of profanity, while making blunt, critical, and controversial comments, including insults and sardonic wisecracks about contestants and their cooking abilities. He combines activities in the television, film, hospitality and food industries, and has promoted and hired various chefs who have apprenticed under his wing. He is known for presenting television programmes about competitive cookery and food, such as the British series Hell's Kitchen (2004), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004–2009, 2014), and The F Word (2005–2010), with Kitchen Nightmares winning the 2005 British Academy Television Award for Best Feature, and the American versions of Hell's Kitchen (2005–present), Kitchen Nightmares (2007–present), MasterChef (2010–present), and MasterChef Junior (2013–present), as well as Hotel Hell (2012–2016), Gordon Behind Bars (2012), Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (2018–2020), and Next Level Chef (2022–present).
Ramsay was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry. He was named the top chef in the UK at the 2000 Catey Awards, and in July 2006 he won the Catey for Independent Restaurateur of the Year, becoming the third person to win three Catey Awards. Forbes listed his 2020 earnings at US $70 million and ranked him at No.19 on its list of the highest-earning celebrities.
Ramsay's TV persona is defined by his fiery temper, aggressive behaviour, strict demeanour, and frequent use of profanity, while making blunt, critical, and controversial comments, including insults and sardonic wisecracks about contestants and their cooking abilities. He combines activities in the television, film, hospitality and food industries, and has promoted and hired various chefs who have apprenticed under his wing. He is known for presenting television programmes about competitive cookery and food, such as the British series Hell's Kitchen (2004), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004–2009, 2014), and The F Word (2005–2010), with Kitchen Nightmares winning the 2005 British Academy Television Award for Best Feature, and the American versions of Hell's Kitchen (2005–present), Kitchen Nightmares (2007–present), MasterChef (2010–present), and MasterChef Junior (2013–present), as well as Hotel Hell (2012–2016), Gordon Behind Bars (2012), Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (2018–2020), and Next Level Chef (2022–present).
Ramsay was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry. He was named the top chef in the UK at the 2000 Catey Awards, and in July 2006 he won the Catey for Independent Restaurateur of the Year, becoming the third person to win three Catey Awards. Forbes listed his 2020 earnings at US $70 million and ranked him at No.19 on its list of the highest-earning celebrities.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 7, 2012
Traditionalists and purists of Indian food may scoff and sniff at this, but three-star Michelin chef Gordon Ramsay has put his immense talents to learning and translating the basics of Indian cookery whilst, at the same time, putting his own style and making the dishes easy for the home cook to prepare and enjoy.
This book is a "spin off" to a British television series that saw Ramsay travel around India, learning from some of the country's top chefs and regular street-food cooks alike what real Indian food is. What people think of Indian food can often be a pale imitation of the real authentic dish or, as in many cases, the dishes one enjoys at home are not even known of in the country of their alleged birth.
There is no standard Indian fare as each region has a wide-range of specialities, delicacies and signature dishes. Where commonality can be found there will still be regional influences based on practical and historical reasons. Here Ramsay gets to learn about what makes many of these dishes tick, whether it be taste, visual appearance, nature of ingredients or even a cultural difference.
Many cookery books featuring Indian food often manage to confuse the less-experienced reader by over-complicating matters or becoming intimidating through their desire to be authentic. Ramsay, whilst trying to keep the food true to its roots, acknowledges and accepts some practical differences - not everybody will have access to all of the cooking implements and fresh ingredients that would be desirable yet with a slight compromise and the use of ingredients that are increasingly-available in larger supermarkets around the world you will still get a dish that could be fit for a King, a Maharajah or a good family get together. With a little bit of effort one can enjoy a taste of India from your own kitchen.
At times one might forget this is principally a recipe book due to the wonderful colourful photographs and light, free-flowing text. It is like having a quality informal travel guide with a lot of recipes and expert advice thrown in. Each recipe is well-presented with much background information, tips and tricks and, as one would expect, one does not need to be a professional chef to follow and understand the instructions.
It would have been nice if more of the knowledge gained from his research could have been added to the book to add further "background impact" but then the book might have been a series of volumes and not so kitchen-friendly. Similar a version of the book with copies of the television series on a DVD or Blu-Ray disk would have been great, but licensing and technical issues involved with the television world still get in the way. If you get the chance to see the series or to buy a DVD/Blu-Ray copy you should do so for additional benefit.
This reviewer, himself an avid eater of Indian foods, found quite a lot of interesting recipes to try in the future as well as a lot of information nuggets to file away. This is not a classic reference book nor a classic recipe book but a jolly good hybrid. A sort of informal learning experience. This book really should be considered if you have enjoyed Indian food and wish to learn a little more about it and, hopefully, have an interest to try making some for yourself.
The book's very reasonable price makes it a bargain - particularly when you know it will be heavily-discounted by many larger outlets due to the television series tie in, meaning that it is going to be affordable to even more people. For less than the price of couple of typical takeaway meals, you could get the knowledge to make your own in the future!
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
This book is a "spin off" to a British television series that saw Ramsay travel around India, learning from some of the country's top chefs and regular street-food cooks alike what real Indian food is. What people think of Indian food can often be a pale imitation of the real authentic dish or, as in many cases, the dishes one enjoys at home are not even known of in the country of their alleged birth.
There is no standard Indian fare as each region has a wide-range of specialities, delicacies and signature dishes. Where commonality can be found there will still be regional influences based on practical and historical reasons. Here Ramsay gets to learn about what makes many of these dishes tick, whether it be taste, visual appearance, nature of ingredients or even a cultural difference.
Many cookery books featuring Indian food often manage to confuse the less-experienced reader by over-complicating matters or becoming intimidating through their desire to be authentic. Ramsay, whilst trying to keep the food true to its roots, acknowledges and accepts some practical differences - not everybody will have access to all of the cooking implements and fresh ingredients that would be desirable yet with a slight compromise and the use of ingredients that are increasingly-available in larger supermarkets around the world you will still get a dish that could be fit for a King, a Maharajah or a good family get together. With a little bit of effort one can enjoy a taste of India from your own kitchen.
At times one might forget this is principally a recipe book due to the wonderful colourful photographs and light, free-flowing text. It is like having a quality informal travel guide with a lot of recipes and expert advice thrown in. Each recipe is well-presented with much background information, tips and tricks and, as one would expect, one does not need to be a professional chef to follow and understand the instructions.
It would have been nice if more of the knowledge gained from his research could have been added to the book to add further "background impact" but then the book might have been a series of volumes and not so kitchen-friendly. Similar a version of the book with copies of the television series on a DVD or Blu-Ray disk would have been great, but licensing and technical issues involved with the television world still get in the way. If you get the chance to see the series or to buy a DVD/Blu-Ray copy you should do so for additional benefit.
This reviewer, himself an avid eater of Indian foods, found quite a lot of interesting recipes to try in the future as well as a lot of information nuggets to file away. This is not a classic reference book nor a classic recipe book but a jolly good hybrid. A sort of informal learning experience. This book really should be considered if you have enjoyed Indian food and wish to learn a little more about it and, hopefully, have an interest to try making some for yourself.
The book's very reasonable price makes it a bargain - particularly when you know it will be heavily-discounted by many larger outlets due to the television series tie in, meaning that it is going to be affordable to even more people. For less than the price of couple of typical takeaway meals, you could get the knowledge to make your own in the future!
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
June 17, 2017
Beautiful book with lovely sounding recipes and colorful pictures of India. A point has been removed for about half the recipes having artfully arranged pictures of the main ingredient or the locale instead of a picture of the finished product. Like, that's a very pretty full page picture of a bowl of spinach, but I'd rather see what saag aloo should look like.
May 1, 2020
100 favorite Indian recepies
Suena bien, pero no trae fotos... difícil imaginar los platos. Muy difícil encontrar los ingredientes en sudamerica. Vamos a probar. 😊
Suena bien, pero no trae fotos... difícil imaginar los platos. Muy difícil encontrar los ingredientes en sudamerica. Vamos a probar. 😊
September 6, 2013
This book consists of 100 of Ramsay’s favorite recipes from India. It starts with an introduction where he explains how he got interested in Indian food and about his travels across India. He also includes a glossary of common Indian ingredients.
The recipes are surprisingly simple and easy to follow; I say ‘surprisingly’ because this is Ramsay, and I was expecting complicated dishes with even more complicated instructions, but this book is perfect in that sense. Nothing overwhelming.
However, the best part of the book is the photography. The photos are simply breathtaking, ordinary people and roads in India never looked so good (of course, the food looks sumptuous too, but then you already guessed that, right? ;-))
The recipes are surprisingly simple and easy to follow; I say ‘surprisingly’ because this is Ramsay, and I was expecting complicated dishes with even more complicated instructions, but this book is perfect in that sense. Nothing overwhelming.
However, the best part of the book is the photography. The photos are simply breathtaking, ordinary people and roads in India never looked so good (of course, the food looks sumptuous too, but then you already guessed that, right? ;-))
July 30, 2012
Summer Passport stop #8: India!
It is widely known that curry is Gordon's favourite food, so it was about time that he ventured to India and experienced the food first-hand. This cookbook is a delicious compiling of 100 of Gordon's favourite Indian recipes the will surely put Indian food at the top of your culinary favourites too!
Check out more Summer Passport here: http://summerpassport.tumblr.com/
It is widely known that curry is Gordon's favourite food, so it was about time that he ventured to India and experienced the food first-hand. This cookbook is a delicious compiling of 100 of Gordon's favourite Indian recipes the will surely put Indian food at the top of your culinary favourites too!
Check out more Summer Passport here: http://summerpassport.tumblr.com/
November 26, 2012
Not that much to read. Lots of nice recipes, with Ramsay's take on Indian. Made a few, some good (korma) and some not so good (butter chicken turned out more like vindaloo). Cheap book thanks to book depository sales.
December 20, 2013
الكتاب جيد، طريقة عرضه ممتازة جداً، المقدمة أخاذة !
لكن العديد من الوصفات كانت دون صور !
لكن العديد من الوصفات كانت دون صور !
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews