Celebrity chefs 'too young to write cookery books’

Michel Roux Sr said young TV chefs 'know nothing’ and most are motivated by fame and financial greed

Mr Roux criticised 'TV personality chefs' writing books to exploit their fame Photo: Andrew Crowley

By Ben Farmer

The Telegraph - 02 Dec 2013

The master chef whose books and restaurants triggered a revolution in British cooking has attacked a generation of greedy young celebrity chefs for cashing in with “appalling” cookbooks and too many television series.

Michel Roux Sr said many of today’s celebrity chefs “know nothing” because they are so young, and questioned how anyone aged only 35 could write a cookery book.

At least half the books on the market are “absolute rubbish” and should never have been published, he said.

Mr Roux declined to name his targets, but criticised “TV personality chefs” writing books to exploit their fame.

He said: “How can a chef at 30 or 35 – even if he’s a good one – write a cookery book? He knows nothing.”

Instead young celebrity chefs’ books are a “mishmash” of ideas and recipes taken from other people and other books, said Mr Roux. “It’s a mockery. Like writing your autobiography at the age of 30 – what have you really got to say?”
He believed that his industry had become “greedy”.
Mr Roux and his brother Albert are credited with pioneering the transformation in British food when they opened Le Gavroche in 1967. 
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