Book review: Black Axe Mangal by Lee Tiernan

But behind the raucousness is a considered, thoughtful and meticulous cook. On the subject of bread, which he says is the "anchor" of his cuisine, he quotes food writer Richard Olney and explains that his seven-page recipe for flatbread was perfected with the help of Chad Robertson of Tartine bakery in San Francisco.

Another influence on Tiernan's cooking is Fergus Henderson, for whom Tiernan worked for more than a decade, including a stint as head chef of St John Bread and Wine. Dishes such as shrimp-encrusted pig's tails with pickled chicory; braised hare, chocolate and pig's blood with mash; and oxtail, bone marrow and anchovy wouldn't look out of place on a St John menu (Tiernan has also included the famous St John rarebit recipe in the book). But as Henderson notes in the introduction, "Lee has borrowed my bone marrow, my cod's roe, my pig's blood, but they are not what shape him".

The introduction is full of stories from Tiernan's colourful past. As a child he took fussy eating to such extremes, often hiding unwanted meals under a loose floorboard, that his mother consulted a doctor. Black Axe Mangal's origins as a pop-up in ‘a grimy, graffiti-smeared Copenhagen nightclub', where Tiernan cooked thousands of kebabs in a ‘ramshackle shed' also makes for entertaining reading.

The seasoning of salty language and peppering of softcore glamour (older readers may be reminded of Rude Food from the 1970s) may be off-putting to some, but the instructions on grilling, smoking and baking, along with the story behind his success, provide an insight into one of the UK's most exciting and original chefs and make Black Axe Mangal an essential purchase.

Black Axe Mangal by Lee Tiernan (Phaidon, £24.95)