# Memoir-type chef books



## freshbaked (Jun 20, 2016)

Hello! I'm looking for a good, chef related read! I have read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential", Grant Achatz "Line on the Line", and I am currently reading Marco Pierre White's "The Devil in the Kitchen"

Also on my list is "Atelier Crenn; Metamorphosis of Taste"

I'm looking for something motivating and overall just a good read.

Thanks!


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## grande (May 14, 2014)

The kitchen book by nicholas freeling; down and out in paris & london by george orwell


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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones & Butter.

Marcus Samuelson's Yes, Chef!

Eddie Huang's Fresh Off the Boat

Jacques Pepin's The Apprentice


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## sionnac (Mar 19, 2015)

_My Life in France _by Julia Child (not all about culinary stuff)

_Stina The Story of a Cook_ by Herman Smith

_When French Women Cook_ by Madeleine Kamman

I like the Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid books too, like travel memoirs with great photos and interviews with cooks - _Hot Sour Salty Sweet_, _Mangoes and Curry Leaves_, _Beyond the Great Wall_ - and Duguid's _Burma: Rivers of Flavor._


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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

Anything by MFK Fisher. Not exactly memoir but not entirely not. She is the doyenne of food writing.

And, this explains a lot about how what we eat has evolved, at least here in the US, away from the horrifying "convenience food" cooking of the 1960s:


(Trust me, I have a 1959 cookbook that I believe does not have a single fresh vegetable in it aside from iceberg lettuce.)


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## grande (May 14, 2014)

The Taste of America by Karen andcJohn L Hess, also not a memoir but a great read.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

Jacques Pepin autobiography. Great stories of his youth and early kitchen experiences. Also fascinating how fate played a big role in his early career. 

Heat by Bill Buford. His time in Italy is hilarious. 

Any of the books by Ruth Reichl. Her memoir of life with her mother I especially enjoyed. 

Becoming a Chef by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.


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## grande (May 14, 2014)

Speaking of Jacques, Pierre Franey wrote a great book, I think called "A Chef's Life," a nice glimpse of pre war french kitchens.


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## jake t buds (May 27, 2013)

I was going to suggest MFK Fisher as well.

_Cooking for Kings_ Antonin Careme. Standard fare, but required reading for any foodie and chef.

_Blood, Bones & Butter_ Gabrielle Hamilton. Owner of Prune in NYC.

_A Slice of Life_ Contemporary Writers on Food.

Numerous authors from Umberto Ecco, Nigella Lawson, A. Bourdain to Calvin Trillin and Isabelle Allende. Not necessarily a memoir, but interesting nevertheless.

Edit : Oops. I didn't realize Chicago Terry suggested the same Gabrielle Hamilton book. I second the recommendation.


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## apron (Jul 14, 2016)

Hello there,

   I am Clattnow, I am afraid I do not know of a good read about cooking but I always use the bero book to cook with as it is step by step.  I know you want a good book to read I am afraid I cannot help there but just thought I would mention the Bero Book.


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## apron (Jul 14, 2016)

I see you have been baking your entire life I do understand and yes a lot of cookbooks are rubbish.  I find the Bero book very good though.  Sorry should not go on.  Everyone to their own views though  and you will know better than me.  Apologies.  Apron


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

"A Chef's Tale" by Pierre Franey


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Ferdinand Point's _Ma Gastronomie_ is fascinating, and a lot of it is sort of journal/memoir. Weird book, though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

Ruth Reichl--Comfort Me With Apples & Tender at the Bone

Laurie Colwin--Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen & More Home Cooking

Elizabeth David--South Wind Through the Kitchen

Anya Von Bremzen--Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

Not chefs but extremely appreciative eaters who also happen to be excellent (and funny) writers:

A. J. Liebling--Between Meals

Calvin Trillin--The Tummy Trilogy

Jim Harrison--The Raw and the Cooked


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## ldiatone (Feb 22, 2016)

"secrets of a master chef", louis Diat published by gourmet mag

*Bernard Loiseau, *_The Perfectionist : Life and Death in Haute Cuisine_


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## bloodymary (May 9, 2017)

I am currently reading *Deep Run Roots* by *Vivian Howard*.

It is a cookbook, but it offers a lot of history about the chef and the tradition and stories of southern foods. In this book, she offers her techniques that are thoroughly explained in detail.

She has a show on PBS called *A Chef's Life*.

It is quite a large book. It's about the size and weight of a Chicago Yellow Pages phone book. That is my only critique.


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## ldiatone (Feb 22, 2016)

BloodyMary said:


> I am currently reading *Deep Run Roots* by *Vivian Howard*.
> 
> It is a cookbook, but it offers a lot of history about the chef and the tradition and stories of southern foods. In this book, she offers her techniques that are thoroughly explained in detail.
> 
> ...


do you like the book? i do not care for the show. but she is now doing a commercial for a brand of mayo.


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## bloodymary (May 9, 2017)

I like them both, the show and the book. My passion is comfort food and southern cooking. So anything in this area interests me.

The first couple seasons of *A Chef's Life* were much better than they are now because she was always in her kitchen before she became a busy celebrity chef. You got to see more of her creativity flow and her gorgeous presentations, as well as following the ups and downs of working in her own restaurant and raising a family.

Speaking of condiments, I got turned on to purple mustard because of Vivian talking about her work under famous chefs in NYC on her show. Its a grainy french mustard made with the must of red wine. I never heard of it before. I ordered it on Amazon and it was really delicious with roast beef sandwiches.


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## ldiatone (Feb 22, 2016)

BloodyMary said:


> I like them both, the show and the book. My passion is comfort food and southern cooking. So anything in this area interests me.
> 
> The first couple seasons of *A Chef's Life* were much better than they are now because she was always in her kitchen before she became a busy celebrity chef. You got to see more of her creativity flow and her gorgeous presentations, as well as following the ups and downs of working in her own restaurant and raising a family.
> 
> Speaking of condiments, I got turned on to purple mustard because of Vivian talking about her work under famous chefs in NYC on her show. Its a grainy french mustard made with the must of red wine. I never heard of it before. I ordered it on Amazon and it was really delicious with roast beef sandwiches.


i have used the mustard also


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