Alexis Gauthier: Vegetronic

VEGETRONIC will change the way you think about and cook vegetables and fruit … and it’s so easy.

Michelin-starred chef, MasterChef judge and Saturday Kitchen regular Alexis Gauthier is not a vegetarian, but he knows how to create fabulous recipes where vegetables are the star turn.

When Alexis Gauthier started his cooking apprenticeship, he was told that he should know every classic dish that made up French gastronomy, and in the process became just another recipe follower.

Then in 1993 he entered the three-Michelin-starred kitchen of Alain Ducasse in the south of France and slowly rediscovered the fundamentals of cooking, learning to trust his instincts and intuition and opening up his mind to the possibilities of individual ingredients and combinations that enhance the depth of flavour of both … and that is what VEGETRONIC is all about.

Gauthier lovingly introduces each ingredient, saying what he likes about it, its season, its best partners, how his Provencal grandmother prepared it in her kitchen, and considers its health benefits.

Each recipe is graded according to ease of preparation and execution (most are easy or medium). And, where appropriate, he suggests what to do with early- or late-in-the-season ingredients that may be over- or under-ripe – those unforgivably hard peaches, woody strawberries, and end-of-season broad beans and peas.

Just a little of Alexis’s knowledge will change your approach to and enjoyment of vegetables.