The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook: A Consuming Passion

This cookbook is the distillation of a life's work by a self-taught American chef who learned to cook by reading cookbooks and went on to become one of the world's most renowned chefs. Chef Patrick O'Connell began his career with a catering business in an old farmhouse, cooking on a wood stove with an electric frying pan purchased for $1.49 at a garage sale. (The pan was used for boiling, sautéeing, and deep frying for parties of up to 300 guests.) This experience sharpened his awareness of how much could be done with very little. The catering business evolved into a country restaurant and Inn which opened in 1978 in a defunct garage and which is now one of America's 5-star Inns.  Craig Claiborne raves, "the most magnificent Inn I've ever seen, in this country or Europe, where I had the most fantastic meal of my life."

Everyday ingredients are elevated to new heights through surprising combinations and seductive presentations. A Consuming Passion propels the home cook into a new world of American Haute Cuisine and provides the formulas for reproducing it at home.