PARIS - STAR French chef Alain Ducasse, who runs an empire of gourmet kitchens the world over, this week delivers a mammoth culinary treat - a 1,136-page cookbook weighing in at six kilos.

Gathering more than 500 recipes from 60 chefs toiling in Ducasse restaurants from Paris to Tokyo, Las Vegas and London, the 'Grand Livre de Cuisine' (Big Cookbook) comes with a price tag of 215 euros (S$3457) when it hits the bookshelves later this week.

Like many of Ducasse's own intricate recipes, some require a fabulous amount of ingredients. An Australian barramundi dished up with a 'geometry of vegetables and a strong cocoa sauce' lists 35 ingredients including the fish.

Famed for having two three-stars in the Michelin Red Guide - in Paris and Monaco - Ducasse this month opens at London's Dorchester and next month takes over the prized 'Jules Verne' restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. -- AFP