How is a great French chef different from others?
The genius of a good French chef is his or her ability to transform a recipe from elsewhere and make it unique. I was always inspired by other cuisines. I’m not talking about technique or the way we cook things. A great French chef is not approximate; when we cook something, we count the seconds. It’s a search for perfection, and it’s always about the love of a product. I always loved cooking and I always loved reading. My first recipes were inspired by ancient Roman cuisine I found in old books, so I had original recipes that pleased the critics. Some of my more well-known dishes, like the Apicius duck, which was cooked with spices and honey, and which was on my menu for over 30 years, was inspired by a very old recipe, which I modified and modernized. My eel recipe is inspired from one of the first printed books, which was a sort of instruction manual from a husband to his wife. It took me six months to perfect the recipe, but when I read something that inspires me I work with it. I
