Book review: Violations on Good Judgement by Michael O'Hare

Taking a look at the enormous Violations on Good Judgement – a recipe book from the Great British Menu's Michael O'Hare

This review started off as a light-hearted 400 words describing this ‘coffee table book’ – which at 48cm by 33cm and weighing in at 5.2kgs, is it definitely more table than book. Violations On Good Judgement makes a big impression, but its scale also makes it very difficult for the average human to comfortably read and take in the stunning photography, which represents O’Hare’s creative vision.

Besides its colossal size, what is immediately obvious is that it is all about the photography. Beautiful black and white shots of his Michelin-starred Leeds restaurant the Man Behind the Curtain showcase the artistic flare O’Hare is known for on an XL scale.

The recipe for octopus hot dog with char siu and burnt leek sits on page 64 (out of 348 – there’s no contents or index, so I thought I’d help you out there). The recipe describes how to squeeze the octopus legs before boiling, how to create the iconic black bao ‘hot dog’ bun with powdered squid ink, and to add “shitty hot dog onions” before placing the char siu-coated octopus leg, dotted with leek emulsion and more mayonnaise, on top.

The plates printed in the book are even larger than those you would eat off at the restaurant with their vivid colours and textured tableware almost jumping off the page. I turn to page 183 and I’m immersed in O’Hare’s famous squid ink-splattered salt-cured cod from Great British Menu – Emancipation. And then I turn to Gulguk – Korean oyster soup with strawberry and kimchi – and the feminine blush-pink styling, so different from the other dark and moody pages, takes my breath away. Until I read the recipe and my blood runs cold as I stumble across a sentence that becomes worse with each subsequent reading. Anyone who has ever heard O’Hare on TV is aware he thrives on being outspoken, but his words make me wonder if he and his publishing team are completely tone deaf.

I don’t want to reprint the statement, but let’s just say if we give him the benefit of the doubt it was a misjudged “joke” around oysters and the female anatomy, but this “joke” alludes to women undergoing a particular procedure, which, in my opinion, no man should ever have any say in.

Is it surprising that kitchens are lacking female chefs if this is the ‘locker room talk’ they have to put up with? I’m writing this as someone who has visited the Man Behind the Curtain, and, at first, this book encapsulated similar feelings from when I sat in the restaurant. And, like his restaurant, I can only imagine, it also encapsulates O’Hare and his favourite things – Ducati motorbikes, snowboards and Asian-influenced dishes.

It’s just such a disappointment it is also a weighty record of his own violations on good judgement.