Lettuce and a lady's breast: Looking back over 50 years of cooking - Billy Gallagher (Signed)

This is a remarkable story for both youngsters and adults who believe there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Billy takes us on a journey of growing up in the deprived post-war town of Jarrow in the UK where the future held, at best, the option of going down a mine or delivering mail to put food on the table. For this tenacious, engaging and spirited little guy, this was not sufficient. He was hungry for more.

His great passion for cooking would take him through the hallowed kitchens of the Dorchester Hotel in London, and drive him to become literate through hard work and the encouragement of his loving wife Linda, prior to embarking on an African culinary adventure on the southern tip of Africa.

Billy shares the amazing changes in his adopted country, his meteoric rise through the corridors of Sol Kerzner’s Southern Sun hotel group, and discovering his true love for training and developing the young chefs of tomorrow. His exploits with both the SA Chefs Association (SACA) and holding the lofty title of President and Honorary Life President of the World Association of Chefs (WACS) are well documented through witty and engaging anecdotes.

His never-give-up approach after being totally struck down in mid-career saw him bounce back against all odds and Billy is as mentally lively and strong today as ever, despite the daily setbacks of quadriplegia.

This is a story of courage, tenacity and raw guts set against the backdrop of a remarkable industry in which colleagues become family, and family remains the inner core that holds it all together.