Right away I have to say that I am a fan of Gordon Ramsay. I enjoy watching his cooking shows. I enjoy his reality competitions. And I have purchased his cookbooks, and enjoy the ones that I have. However, just because a chef has good cookbooks, does not necessarily mean that every cookbook is going to work for every person.
As someone who lives in the US, there is one cookbook from Gordon Ramsay that doesn’t really work for me. And a big reason for that is the fact that some of the ingredients that he uses are not as readily available where I am. That’s not to say that we can’t get them in the states, but it can be a bit more of a challenge.
So which cookbook is perhaps one of his worst if you are living in the US? That would be Healthy Appetite: Recipes from the F Word.
I have to point out that this book does have some very good ratings. On Amazon it has over a four star rating, and even on Goodreads. It’s just shy of four stars. And there is no denying that there are some very solid recipes in this book. However, I just don’t think this is the kind of cookbook that is for everyone. And that’s okay.
Healthy Appetite: Recipes from the F Word by Gordon Ramsay doesn’t quite hit the spot
On a personal level, I know that I would need to hunt down a specialty shop for a lot of the ingredients in this cookbook. Not only that, but there are quite a few recipes that require things like capers or anchovies, both of which I like, but I don’t want them in a lot of things. And I do know that there are people who don’t like one or two of those ingredients. Another complaint is the fact that, unsurprisingly, Chef Ramsay is using the metric system. And in order to do the recipes, it does require some conversion.
Now, even with the decent star rating on this cookbook, there are some comments and reviews that point out how this cookbook can be seen as not very relatable. One Amazon review from a reviewer named Lynn shared that this cookbook is, “Not one of Ramsey's better books- while the dishes looked interesting this reviewer found that many of the dishes included in this volume contained ingredients that would not be available in the local grocery stores -- duck and pigeon to name just two.”
Another Amazon review from someone who was just labeled as a Kindle customer read, “The recipes were not anything I would cook. I've seen The F Word and watched pretty much all of his shows and usually salivate over the meals. Not in this book unless you like wierd [sp] fish or beets. Still love you Gordon!”
Still another Amazon review from a user named CourtKnee shared that, “I bought this for my husband for Christmas and didn't look through it too much. I feel bad because we both absolutly ADORE Chef Ramsey but this was a little too fancy...and most of the ingredients are a bit harder to find. By all means if you want to put in the time to find the ingredients and you like off the wall sort of healthy stuff get it! But this was a little too deep for us.”
While the majority of the reviews are quite positive, it is clear that this cookbook is simply not for everyone. While some people might love it, I am not one of them. This was one of those cookbooks that I’m very glad I borrowed from the library. It’s not one that I would want on my shelf to go back to, because there were no recipes that made me think oh my gosh, I have to make this. It was interesting to flip through, which was not surprising. But when it comes to actually wanting to cook the recipes, I would prefer one of his other cookbooks.
One of the cookbooks that I enjoy from the chef is actually Gordon Ramsay Quick and Delicious. I find this one to be the kind of cookbook that I am more likely to reach for in the kitchen. A lot of of these recipes are relatively quick like the title says, coming in around the 30 minute mark. And it’s the kind of cookbook that allows you to shake things up in the kitchen without going too far. It feels like the perfect kind of cookbook for a home chef looking to elevate things in the kitchen. And for that reason alone, it’s one of my preferred cookbooks from Gordon Ramsay.
While Healthy Appetite: Recipes from the F Word may not be for me, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. So while this is one of our least favorite cookbooks from the chef, it’s still a solid cookbook overall. But what do you think of this one? Have you actually purchased this cookbook or even borrowed it from the library? Let’s discuss this over on our social media.