The Hungry Renegade
“A cookbook for the damned – hold the garnish”
Tired of Polished Pretense? Crave Raw Culinary Truth?
Forget everything you think you know about the gastronomic world. László Szűcs invites you into a kitchen unlike any other—a place where rules are a suggestion, the heat is blistering, and the only certainty is delicious, chaotic creation.
This isn’t your average chef’s memoir. It’s a journey from the stark realities of communist Hungary’s state-run factories to the high-pressure galleys of glamorous cruise ships. From haggling for gold in African mines to plating Foie Gras for billionaires in Los Angeles—Szűcs strips away the veneer, revealing the gritty, hilarious, and often brutal heart of a life defined by food and rebellion.
Inside This Unconventional Culinary Confession, You’ll Discover:
- The unvarnished, high-octane reality of professional kitchens—no filter, no fluff.
- A global culinary adventure: from serving gefilte fish to London power brokers to ghost-infested English pubs.
- Tales of cunning survival: dodging immigration, smuggling, and navigating cultures where shouting is the universal language.
- The raw, honest truth about a chef’s life: “There’s no fucking money in cooking.”
- An unflinching, often laugh-out-loud, and always authentic account of one man’s fight to feed his family and his defiant spirit.
The Smoked Edition: Experience the Story with All Your Senses
This book has been through fire. Literally.
The Smoked Edition of The Hungry Renegade was sealed in a smokehouse, absorbing decades of flame, fat & spice. Each copy: signed, numbered, unforgettable.
Food is memory. Smoke is history. For centuries, across every culture, we’ve preserved life with fire—sides of meat in smokehouses, fish in coastal huts, spices roasted until they became perfume. That smell, dense and layered, is more than food. It’s survival, it’s ritual, it’s story.
Why the Smoked Edition is Different:
- Authentically Smoked: not sprayed, not scented—actually smoked in a food chamber.
- A Global Aroma: fire and spice that echoes markets in Africa, kitchens in Europe, and grills everywhere.
- Collectible: limited, signed, and numbered by the author.
- Multi-Sensory Storytelling: a book that reaches you before the first page.
More Ways To Buy
Your local bookstore anywhere in the world can order the book through Ingram Global.
Ask by title The Hungry Renegade + ISBN 978-615-024406-8.
Major Retailers (Global)
- IngramSpark
- Walmart.com
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Books-A-Million
- Powell’s
- IndieBound
- Alibris
- Blackwells
- Bookshop.org
- Booktopia (Australia)
- Adlibris (Sweden/Finland)
- Bokus (Sweden)
- Pothi (India)
Wholesale available to all independent bookstores via Ingram Content Group.
🇿🇦 South Africa Edition — Porcupine Press
Porcupine Press — Gail Robbins (Publisher & Distributor)
No. 2 Anikehof Complex, 105 Martha Road North (off Rabie Road),
Fontainebleau, Randburg, 2194
C: Gail +27 (0)82 572 1682
C: David +27 (0)82 7878 099
Email: dgrwrite@iafrica.com
Website: www.porcupinepress.co.za
Regionally printed for fast delivery and better pricing throughout South Africa.
Available at: Exclusive Books · Bargain Books · Protea Bookhouse · Wordsworth Books · The Book Lounge · Takealot.com · Loot.co.za · CNA (selected branches)
🇳🇴 Norway & Scandinavia — Norge Edition (Hardcover)
Premium limited hardcover with expanded content, distributed across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
ISBN: 978-82-8415-254-9
Publisher / Forlag: BoD – Books on Demand GmbH
Printed by: Libri Plureos GmbH, Hamburg
🇮🇳 India Edition — Author’s Edition (Pothi.com)
Printed locally in India for fast delivery and lower domestic shipping costs.
ISBN: 978-615-024406-8
Publisher: Chef Laszlo Szűcs — Author’s Edition (India Imprint)
Distributor: Pothi.com, Bengaluru
Global Direct Retail Links (selection)
Barnes & Noble (USA) · Amazon (UK / USA / Canada / Germany / India / Australia / Saudi Arabia) · Blackwells (UK) · Alibris (UK) · Biblio (UK / Spain) · Bookshop.org (USA) · Booktopia (Australia) · Adlibris (Sweden/Finland) · Bokus (Sweden) · Pothi (India)
Questions about the book? Want to share your story? Get in touch:
L@thehungryrenegade.comBehind the Scenes: The Renegade & His Crew
László Szűcs (b. 1973) is a Hungarian-born chef, writer, and field-researcher whose career has spanned cruise ships, embassies, luxury estates, and royal venues. Former Private Chef to the Los Angeles Hungarian Consulate and numerous high-net-worth families, he has cooked for celebrities, athletes, and politicians across five continents. Known for blending modern technique with the elemental honesty of Hungarian and fire-based cooking, Szűcs has authored more than seventy culinary essays on cheese, wine, and Michelin-star gastronomy.
After a decade-long break from writing, he returned with The Hungry Renegade — a raw memoir of kitchens, colonization, and survival told with dark humour and unflinching honesty. His current project, The Honest Fire, expands that vision into an international documentary-photo-book exploring the world’s last true fire-based cooking cultures — where humanity, soil, and flame still meet at the origin of food.
Katalin Kelemen (aka Kóci): The Artistic Alchemist behind the captivating cover design.
Jon Campbell, The Digital Alchemist: Your dedicated AI Web Designer.
Written between the Sainsbury’s Local in Peacehaven, England, and Nágocs, Somogy Megye, Hungary.
© 2025 László Szűcs. All rights reserved.