This week’s book was Le Gavroche by the fantastic Michel Roux Jr. We’ve eaten there twice over the years. The first time was for my birthday, and my wife took me. We arrived, were shown to our table, and were presented with the fabulous menu. I believe we had the tasting menu, but I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that my menu had no prices on it – which I found a touch disconcerting. However, the real class of the place was that my wife’s menu did. The food I remember and the service were exceptional. So much so that we went there for my brother’s 30th, where only my menu had the price.

Le Gavroche is an exceptional experience so attempting their food at home was nerve-wracking, to say the least. The book is organised by season, which I do quite like, I have to say. First up was Coq a la Bierre, which we served with Broccoli and Charlotte Potatoes. I followed the recipe exactly, and I have to say I could see where this was going, but my sauce was decidedly bitter, which was a real shame. The chicken was beautifully cooked, and the mushroom and cream sauce showed promise.

Next up was an absolutely belting recipe, Black Bream Cooked in its Marinade. This recipe was incredibly easy. I prepared the marinade liquor the night before and then marinaded through the day to cook in the evening. The marinade had carrots, onions, fennel, herbs and cumin seeds.

Last up were some canapes – Bacon Corn Bread, which rather than serving as a canapé, we used as an accompaniment for a beef chilli. These little canapés were delicious and, again, really relatively easy to do. Le Gavroche cookbook brought us a few good recipes and was by no means as daunting as I anticipated. Next time we will have an intriguing book – The Kitchen Revolution.