• 5/27/2003
  • London, United Kingdom
  • CNN Europe

A renowned chef who was told by doctors to stop working and enjoy life after being diagnosed with secondary cancer is hoping his new recipe book will help others.

Guiseppe Iacaruso, known as Pino, went through major facial surgery in 1996 to beat a second attack of mouth cancer against all the odds and is still free of the disease seven years on.The esteemed Harbury chef has now combined his talents with food, words and watercolours in his first book, Flavours of Rosello, with a share of the profits going to the Get A-Head charity appeal. The 55-year-old of Penelope Close said: “It’s wonderful. I never expected it to look so lovely.”

Mr Iacaruso has cooked for several members of the royal family including the Queen, the late Princess Margaret and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, has served in the kitchens of the Italian and Finnish Embassies and worked in some of the best hotels in the country during his career. The book is based on his childhood memories of the little Italian village of Rosello in the 1950s and 60s, and is introduced by Princess Michael of Kent. Packed with recipes and illustrated by Mr Iacaruso’s own watercolours and sketches by friend George Corbett, the enchanting book offers a month-by-month account of what life was like as he grew up in the Abruzzo region famed for its chefs. The idea for the memoirs came from his wife, Caroline, who he married in 1975. She suggested he write it as a record of his childhood memories to leave something for his son, Edilio. He began writing it 12 years ago as a hobby but progress juddered to a halt in 1995 when he was first diagnosed with cancer of the mouth. The tumour was removed and he got back to running his catering business Take Two Cooks with his wife, which recently branched out to include specialist wedding cake company As You Like It.

But months later, he felt a new growth develop. By an amazing coincidence, Mr and Mrs Iacaruso agreed to donate canapes for 250 people to a charity event organised by John Watkinson, a consultant surgeon of the Queen Elizabeth hospital cancer centre, for Get A-Head, who promised to see Mr Iacaruso that week. Mr Iacaruso lost his distinctive beard and had all his teeth removed for radiotherapy, but when that didn’t work, five consultants worked on him during a ten and a half hour marathon operation. It left him with severe scarring that robbed him of his looks but saved his life.
Since then, Mr and Mrs Iacaruso have raised more than £40,000 for Get A-Head through promise auctions, charity brunches, and auctioning off Mr Iacaruso’s watercolours – which have been exhibited at Walton Gallery and the Royal Academy.