Chefs vs. Cooks vs. Gods [split from Fava Beans post]

I'm not sure it's our place to criticise these experts and how they choose to teach us mere mortals the ways of the kitchen small.

They don't really use the books you're so keen on. If you ever get an opportunity to cook with one of them, then grab it with both hands.

Their approach is very different and comes from years slogging out long hours, obsessing in the kitchen. They take an ingredient, in this case a duck breast, and they start to rummage through the cupboards building a plate of food. It takes hours and they're able through playing and constantly tasting to raise a duck breast to somewhere you or I couldn't. It's only once they're happy with it, that they might write it down for posterity.

There's a great quote on the back of my copy of Larousse that was bought for me by the very chef I'm talking about. It reads, 'The first recipe book I took seriously....a great resource though out my career' Gordon Ramsay.