Join thrice Michelin-starred food legend Pierre Koffmann at the Abergavenny Food Festival where he’ll be talking to Matthew Fort about his own culinary crusade and the relaunch of his 1990 classic ‘Memories of Gascony’(Saturday 15 September, 1.00pm).
Pierre Koffmann is quite simply the godfather of a legion of today’s culinary superstars including Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White. He’s a chef’s chef – held in the highest esteem by the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Jay Rayner and Tom Parker-Bowles.
Gordon Ramsay says that he was hugely lucky to train with “Pierre the Bear” as he is an extraordinarily talented man. “Although he is famously grumpy in the kitchen, he is a genius who through his mentoring of a host of talented chefs, and his own flair, has helped shape the restaurant scene in the UK.”
With recipes and reminiscences ‘Memories of Gascony’ is the story of how one of the world’s leading chefs first learned to love food and cook from the heart. It contains over 160 seasonal dishes that Pierre learned to cook at his grandmother’s side in their farmhouse kitchen in Saint Puy, in rural Gascony.
“Pierre is a genius, an authentic and pure Gascon”
Michel Roux Snr.
Pierre Koffmann has been at the heart of fine cuisine in Britain for over forty years. After working as a young chef in Strasbourg and Toulon, Koffmann arrived in London in 1970 to work under Michel and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche. In 1972 he was made the first head chef of the Roux brothers’ new venture, the Waterside Inn at Bray. When Pierre and his late wife Annie opened La Tante Claire in 1977, it was the start of a residency at the top of the London culinary world that would span four decades.
Within six years of opening, La Tante Claire had its third Michelin star, setting new standards for cooking and creating extraordinary dishes from classically simple ingredients, while also serving as an academy for many of today’s culinary superstars. Between them his various protégés now boast over twenty Michelin stars in their own right. After a short-lived retirement, Pierre Koffmann has returned to the kitchen at Koffmann’s at The Berkeley, with a more relaxed, informal style and classic provincial French cooking.
Pierre’s not often in the limelight, so his visit to the Abergavenny Food Festival is a very special event. Festival organisers have a number of copies of the superb ‘Memories of Gascony’ to give away. Just book your tickets at www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com to be in with a chance of winning.