Most of Gordon Ramsay's dishes come liberally sprinkled with insults, garnished with swearing and topped off with general abuse, as a dozen hapless celebrity chefs have discovered in ITV1's Hell's Kitchen.
But for those of us who love his cooking but don't want to risk stomaching his tirades, his latest cookbook, Gordon Ramsay's Secrets, offers us the chance to taste at a safe distance.
"The idea is that each recipe illustrates a particular skill, highlights the supply of an ingredient or a special technique," explains the chef.
"Work your way through the recipes and you should greatly improve your culinary knowledge and skill."
Recipes run from the reasonably simple - pan-fried salmon with bacon and red wine sauce, or watercress and potato soup - to the fiendishly complex - mackerel and confit potato in aubergine cups, or rabbit in pancetta with barley and kidney risotto.
But even for those who aren't triple Michelin-starred chefs, like Ramsay, all the dishes are achievable.
And the names of the recipes - navarin of venison, smoked haddock and asparagus open ravioli - are sure to impress the most discerning dinner party guests.
The secret of success, he says, is down to three things: "High quality ingredients, the skill and dedication of the chef, and the techniques you use."
Gordon Ramsay's Secrets by Gordon Ramsay is published by Quadrille, priced £25.
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