The Devil in the Kitchen (36 page)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Spread the butter on the bottom of a copper pan measuring 6 inches in diameter and sprinkle evenly with the superfine sugar and cinnamon. Place the pear halves, rounded-side-down, symmetrically in the pan. Place the cinnamon stick diagonally in the center.

3. Roll out the puff pastry into a disc with a diameter of 7 inches. Trim the edge neatly, then lay the pastry over the pears and tuck the sides down between the pears and the pan.

4. Place the pan on the stovetop and cook over medium heat, watching carefully, until the butter and sugar make a light brown caramel. You will see it bubbling up around the edges of the pan. This will take a few minutes.

5. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

TO SERVE:

Set the pan on medium heat until the caramel starts to bubble again. Give the pan a shake then flip it over, turning the tart out and onto a serving plate. Serve with whipped cream.

TIP:
I have made this tart with apples and pears—both work equally well. The apple variety I like to use is English Cox’s Orange Pippin, as they are good, firm apples that don’t collapse during the cooking process and have a great aromatic flavor.

A Note on the Authors

Born in Leeds in 1961,
Marco Pierre White
was the first British chef (and youngest chef anywhere) to win three Michelin stars. His gastronomic empire—Luciano and Marco’s restaurants, among others—is rapidly expanding to include ventures in Las Vegas, Shanghai, Jamaica, and Dubai, with more in the works. Though he retired from the kitchen in 1999, White recently returned to the stove to serve as the host of the reality television show
Hell’s Kitchen.
He lives in West London with his wife, Mati, and their three children. He also has a daughter by his first wife.

As a gossip columnist in the late eighties,
James Steen
phoned Harveys to speak with Marco Pierre White. A maître d’ answered the phone and ranted on in a strong French accent about how White was “a monster, a crazy man, a lunatic to work for.” The “maître d’,” it transpired, was White himself. The relationship went from there. Steen, a freelance journalist, lives a short stroll from what was once Harveys, with his wife, Louise, and three children, Charlie, Billy, and Daisy.

Praise for
The Devil in the Kitchen

“Tantalizing.”

—
Vogue

“The British star is still throwing punches.”

—
Men’s Journal

“A fascinating, exhilarating look into the life of a culinary genius and living legend.”

—
Amazon.com

“Juicy.”

—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Marco is a gift to humanity, with more passion per pound than anyone else I have ever met. His story is genius, his voice his own, and the tale retold is just as much fun as it was watching the whole chaotic conundrum evolve the first time around. His sophisticated cooking came out of nowhere but inside his rock-star head, and this autobiography makes it all clear in the juiciest and most delicious way. After all these years, Marco is still my hero.”

—
Mario Batali

To Leticia Rosa, Luciano, Marco
and Mirabelle, and to the
grandmother they never knew

Copyright © 2006, 2007 by Marco Pierre White and James Steen
“Another Day, Another Dinner” and “Recipes” copyright © 2008 by
Marco Pierre White and James Steen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR.

ISBN-10 1-59691-361-4 (hardcover)
ISBN-13 978-1-59691-361-5 (hardcover)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Orion Books under the title
White Slave
First published in the United States by Bloomsbury USA in 2007
This e-book edition published in 2010

E-book ISBN: 978-1-59691-932-7

www.bloomsburyusa.com