Rating: 
Summary: Prose as yummy as Pepin's potage
Review: A terrific memoir by charming, personable Jacques Pepin. It reads as fast as a proper saute, progressing from his pottering around his mother's humble cafe in the 40s, thru the nerve-wracking French apprenticeship system, to his current star-studded life as chef, TV personality, author, and dean of the French Culinary Inst. in NYC. Firmly simmered in the stew of American life now, he still straddles the Atlantic with his humor and attitudes toward food remaining decidedly French.
A winner, and as a bonus you get a few recipes tossed in along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: A JOY TO READ AND SAVOR
Review: As satisfying as a 5-star meal, as delicious as his mother's cheese souffle, Jacques Pepin's autobiography is rich in scenes, friends, recipes, and anecdotes. Surely one of the most famous chefs in the world who came into homes through his PBS cooking shows and popular cookbooks, Pepin now reveals the story behind the public face. Born in prewar France to a cabinetmaker and an energetic woman who owned a small restaurant Pepin was enamored with the kitchen as a youth. He left his formal education behind at the age of 13 to sign on as an apprentice in the arduous training system then required. It was a difficult road he had chosen in a system reminiscent of feudal days. Yet the young man persevered, and before the age of twenty found himself in France's most elite restaurant. Next, he would become personal chef to Charles de Gaulle. After coming to America he numbered among his friends those with like interests and gifts - Julia Child and James Beard. He also earned a degree from Columbia University, and began to work for Howard Johnson. A serious automobile accident might have meant the end of anyone's career, but not Pepin's. When he was unable to keep up the daily routine in a kitchen he became a cooking teacher, and a television icon. "The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen" is a joy to read and savor. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: From Old World cooking to Nouvelle Cuisine
Review: Chef Jacques Pepin tells of his amazing career with
great simplicity and succinctness. It is a powerful
tale, and will interest fans of his TV series,
as well as other food lovers. Pepin's knowledge of cooking,acquired the old classical way in France, as well as his
love for his work, carried him through positions in the
greatest restaurants and highest levels of service. He
cooked for General DeGaulle and his family, a happy
post, and for the tyrannical Henri Soule of Le Pavillion,
an unhappy position. A real page turner! One small caveat:
why oh why were those recipes inserted between chapters of
the narrative? After reading of his near fatal accident, one
finds a fondue recipe on the following pages, preceding the
outcome of his condition.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Reading
Review: I enjoyed every minute of this delectable memoir. Amusing and thoughtful; Pepin shares an intimate look from WWII France and as an ex-pat in America. I hated to see the book end.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Entertainging Read from Gourmet All-Star
Review: I enjoyed this read tremendously, and if you're into food, so will you. Pepin writes very unassumedly, and is most humble about his very productive career, from personal chef to DeGaulle to fame in America and TV star. From his humble roots to his current fame which is spreading, this guy can cook and reflects significantly in his career of the changes in gourmet cooking. The stories he provides are the highlight for me: the apprentice spook with the chicken boning machine, his incidents with learning the English language (e.g. the story of the word in French for shower when asked why his head was wet), the presentation of "sanitary napkins", his TV pilot shot with ingredients from the trash, etc. These all provide for just an absolutely magnficent read. Recipes are provided for each segment of his career. Especially respectful of this chef who knows the finest of formal, rigid French classical cooking, but himself admitting that he likes American basic, comfort food and new style of combing old with new. Refreshing read from a food Hall of Famer!
Rating:
Summary: A Light, Exquisite Dinner. Not too sweet and not too tart.
Review: I have always had the greatest respect for Jacques Pepin based on the high reputation of his culinary books, collaborations with Julia Child, and great good humor and skills displayed on various television appearances, but I have always wondered how he reached a position of high respect within his profession without a connection to a major restaurant for at least as long as I have known of him (the last 15 years). This book answers my question and a whole lot more, confirming my impression of Jacques as a major figure in culinary America and a great gentleman as well.
Without giving away too much of the book's story, I must point out that Jacques was, by some great good fortune, the chef to France's President Charles DeGaulle at a very young age. In fact, he appeared on the TV show 'To Tell The Truth' and the panelists did not pick him as DeGaulle's chef because he was so very young. Upon coming to the United States, he quickly attained a position as a line chef under Pierre Franey at the great Le Pavillion, following Franey to a position in the test and development kitchens at Howard Johnson's. For those of you post baby boomers, I can assure you from first hand experience that at one time, Howard Johnson's was often considered a very desirable place to eat out.
Jacques would probably now be the owner / executive chef at a major restaurant but for a very serious automobile accident which broke most major bones and which left Jacques with only a slim chance to even be able to walk. Miraculously, he mended well to the point where he returned to an almost normal life, but without the ability to sustain the 12 to 14 hours on his feet at a typical chef's station. This lead to his career as a teacher, followed by cookbook writing and TV cooking series a la Julia on PBS.
This book ranks with some of the best culinary memoirs by being both engaging, inspiring, and revealing of the nature of culinary professionals' work in the kitchen. Aside from his associations with Julia Child and Pierre Franey, he was a close friend to Craig Claiborne and well known to James Beard and his company. Without doing any gratuitous name dropping, Pepin also relates revealing stories involving Danny Kaye, Alice Waters and 'the great' Paul Bocuse. This is not the first Danny Kaye culinary story I have read, and these little peeks into his cooking skills make me wish he had done a culinary memoir / cookbook similar to many less skillful non-culinary celebrities. The encounter with Paul Bocuse casts some light on the nature of the nouvelle cuisine movement in France.
One of the most interesting insights obtained from this book is the picture of the American culinary scene in 1960, as seen by a very experienced and talented French chef and how this scene has changed in the last 40 years.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone with a taste for culinary memoirs. This is one of the best. My only reservation is that it left me wanting more, as it seemed to give very few details about the last 20 years of his life. I hope that is not because they have been dull!
The book includes 24 recipes, the most interesting being the two attributed to his mother (apple tart and cheese souffle) and the one attributed to Danny Kaye (poached chicken salad).
Rating:
Summary: Creme de la creme -
Review: I thought I would like this book, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I came away liking the author. M. Pepin writes with an honesty and humor that makes this such an enjoyable read. As a previous reviewer mentioned, M. Pepin does not come off as a name-dropper, but reveals the tight-knit sense of community of the culinary world. The book educates the reader on the changing scene of the culinary world, both gastronomically and academically. While I found it to be very educational, I thoroughly enjoyed it - very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable
Review: I've been waiting for this book my whole life! I sat down with the book last evening, intending to read for a while, maybe return later. Could not put it down. A well written, funny, sad, informative and always enchanting account of an incredible career. Pepin's account of coming up through the his family's bistros, then the old school European hotel/restaurant system--and later New York's legendary Le Pavillon-- is fascinating first person memoir--and terrific history. I can't say enough good things about this book. It's right up there with Orwell, Freeling, Bemelmans--but better, richer, more passionately drawn. An instant classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the beef!?
Review: It was an enjoyable lite read. The recipes after each chapter were interesting.
But, it is written on a sixth-grade level, so it's not something I'll reread. A lot more could have gone into each of the stories.
I wouldn't recommend buying the book, but check it out of the library if they have it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Jacque Pepin's cooking program is beloved in our household for many years. I looked forward to reading his autobiography. I was disappointed in his book-- his writing sounds like a guy trying to show how cute he was/is from the time he was 6 years old-- and look at the photos included in the book-- My, what a handsome guy! We love his tv program for the depth of his knowledge, his patience in teaching cooking processes-- but in his book he comes across as a shallow person. Don't think that's what he is.
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