We are firmly entrenched in the era of the celebrity chef and the spinoffs that result, such as TV shows and cookbooks, the latter being a big money earner for chefs. Hong Kong has its own celebrity chefs that have found money and fame this way such as Jacky Yu.

It is not surprising then to see The Royal Garden release a cookbook, after all five of the hotel's six restaurants were recently recognised by the La Commanderie des Cordons Bleux de France.

About the Book

Published in late December 2009, Secret Recipes by Award-Winning Chefs of The Royal Garden is the first cookbook from The Royal Garden hotel. The bilingual book profiles ten of the hotel's chefs, each of whom provide three "secret" signature recipes.

Featured are: executive chef Billy Lee; Chinese executive chef Sze Fai; chef Wong Man Kit of The Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant; chef Kenny Chan of Dong Lai Shun; chef Luca Signoretti of Sabatini Ristorante Italiano; chef Kei Fukata of Inagiku Japanese Restaurant (Kowloon branch); chef Masakazu Imai of Inagiku Japanese Restaurant (Hong Kong branch); chef Dennis Wong of Le Soleil; chef Ian Yip of The Greenery, and executive pastry chef Louie Ma.

According to the book the chef's recipes are signature dishes that showcase their skills and techniques.

In addition to the recipes there is a brief bio of each chef and information on the restaurant when applicable.

Pros

The images - full page photos of the finished dish with plating suggestions are visually appealing and stimulate the appetite.

Many of the hotel's restaurants are among the city's best in their cuisine type, and being able to recreate some of the signature dishes will appeal to many foodies.

The recipes on the whole are easy to follow with only a handful of steps.

Some of the additional cooking tips are useful.

Cons

The book has a lot of potential but unfortunately it is let down by a range of cons that I feel are mainly the result of poor editing and translation, and inexperience in cookbook publishing.

For example: the Contents page - there is no clear distinction between the chefs and the recipes making locating any specific information difficult; there is no glossary of terms; and no A-Z index, so it is not possible to locate a recipe based on a specific ingredient, for example chicken.

Many of the recipes have problems with the ingredients, in particular the measurements. For example, a pinch of balsamic vinegar, 1g egg yolk, 1/2tsp egg yolk, 4 pieces of egg white, 4 pieces of pigeon (instead of four pigeons), and ml and g measurements are often applied incorrectly.

A few recipes seem to have steps missing or unclear steps, and at times ingredients included in the steps are not listed in the ingredients.

In some of the recipes there are elements in the image that are not included in the recipe, clearly not all secrets are revealed.

Some recipes ask for deboning, yet there are no how-to instructions. Some terms in Chinese, such as "starch solution" or "Chinese marinade" will not be understood by many Westerners. Some items are mentioned, such as bisque, but no recipe for making.

Many of the Chinese recipes do not seem to have been amended for home cooking and as such I think the cooking times suggested will not work. In professional kitchens wok temperatures are much higher than can possibly be achieved at home and the cooking time listed is much shorter than will prove successful in the home.

A number of the cooking tips are a repeat of the information contained in the recipe and are therefore not useful.

Reasons to Buy

As a souvenir. The not-so-secret-now recipes (and the book itself) will appeal to fans of the hotel's restaurants. The dishes themselves are appealing and worth a try to recreate.

There is an application at the back of the book for a VIP card that provides a 10 per cent discount at the hotel's F&B outlets.

Where to Buy

The cookbook is available for sale at all major bookstores in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. For enquiries, contact Fine Foods Cake Shop on 2733 2045 or email fboff@rghk.com.hk. The book is priced at $128.

Recipe

Click here for a recipe for Tea Leaf Smoked Duck Egg from Dong Lai Shun