Title: The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Strange Trip Through the Great Cooking Schools of EuropeAuthor: Bob Spitz
I love to cook. I also have a family of picky young children, genetically influenced by their picky father. Day-to-day cooking is much more of a chore than an expression of creativity. But I still love to read books about food and cooking-- but not this one. To tell you the truth, Bob Spitz's memoir depressed me. He writes about having a midlife crisis-- finishing a big book, getting divorced, and losing his moorings. So instead of buying a sports car or hooking up with a floozy, he somehow scored an expenses-paid trip through the cooking schools of Europe, where he learned to make perfect omelets, pack in course after course of Neapolitan specialties, brown-nose chefs, and turn up his (now brown) nose at the rich American housewives who ended up being his classmates. According to Spitz's exacting standards (only made more exacting on the course of his journey), my attempts to feed my family would be deemed pathetic. Sometimes, however, food is just about family and sustenance. And that's enough.
2 comments:
I love to cook too and I might have expected to love this book from the title and description. Thanks for cluing me in because I would rather be in my kitchen discovering a new recipe or whipping up a cake for a friend than reading about a guy on a cooking school adventure who has an over-inflated sense of self-importance. Cooking can be a challenge with a houseful of picky eaters, but Shelah, you always seem to find ways to share your culinary talents with others!
Too bad he missed the point.
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