The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant read from a consomme professional
Review: Jacques P?pin isn't like the rest of us. When he encounters some thousands of snails slime-trailing their way around the wet terraces of his vacation bungalow, P?pin doesn't just register their appearance as a curiosity and move on, as we might. He thinks "Dinner!" and runs around excitedly collecting the creatures in a wastepaper basket. When a friend complains that his boat's outboard motor regularly hits something hard in a particular shallow channel, P?pin investigates and once again finds a free lunch--the obstruction is a shoal of mussels from which he happily gathers a feast.

These stories hint at the most striking revelation of P?pin's autobiography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen: the man is obsessed with food. This ought not come as a surprise, I suppose. P?pin is, after all, a renowned professional chef. But not every professional is so taken with the subject of his expertise. Love of food and its preparation--foraging or fishing for it, prying it from the walls of a vacation resort, simmering it on his own stovetop or stirring up consomm?s in thousand-gallon vats--pervades P?pin's life.

In straightforward, readable prose, The Apprentice tells the story of P?pin's life in food, from his childhood in war-rationed France--where his father, a member of the Resistance, smuggled the occasional banana to his wife and sons; to his apprenticeship in the kitchens of his mother's restaurants and under a series of respected French chefs; to his increasingly successful career in America. Throughout, one marvels at the author's apparently flawless memory for cooking. Remarkably, P?pin describes in detail dishes he made decades earlier, their ingredients and preparation, how the meal was received. These sections of the book do not make for the most scintillating reading for those of us who are not food aficionados, but they are impressive even so. For those who *are* inclined to take to the stove, P?pin includes more than twenty recipes in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Better than hot chocolate....
Review: Jacques Pepin is very unassuming. This comes through in his recipes and his autobiography "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen." For anyone interested in cooking and learning more about those creative souls who bring new ideas to the 'family' kitchen, this is a great -- and very lite -- read. Jacques Pepin may very well represent a unique combination: a 'celebrity chef' who is above all well trained and truly dedicated to food ingredients in their most essential form: as elements of a creative process which at it's most essential is also most satisfying. Pepin's account of his life's journey combines bemusement -- in regard to his success -- and a certain amount of marvel at his naivete in regard to what it takes to be successful -- from when he left home, to when he journeyed to America, to his first (unsuccessful) forays into television. At the end of it all, you can't help both laughing and liking the guy. Unlike the recently published biography of Julia Child, "The Apprentice" is a warm and satisfying read... kind of like a good cup of hot chocolate.....

Rating:
Summary: Better than hot chocolate....
Review: Jacques Pepin is very unassuming. This comes through in his recipes and his autobiography "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen." For anyone interested in cooking and learning more about those creative souls who bring new ideas to the 'family' kitchen, this is a great -- and very lite -- read. Jacques Pepin may very well represent a unique combination: a 'celebrity chef' who is above all well trained and truly dedicated to food ingredients in their most essential form: as elements of a creative process which at it's most essential is also most satisfying. Pepin's account of his life's journey combines bemusement -- in regard to his success -- and a certain amount of marvel at his naivete in regard to what it takes to be successful -- from when he left home, to when he journeyed to America, to his first (unsuccessful) forays into television. At the end of it all, you can't help both laughing and liking the guy. Unlike the recently published biography of Julia Child, "The Apprentice" is a warm and satisfying read... kind of like a good cup of hot chocolate.....

Rating:
Summary: Better than hot chocolate....
Review: Jacques Pepin is very unassuming. This comes through in his recipes and his autobiography "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen." For anyone interested in cooking and learning more about those creative souls who bring new ideas to the 'family' kitchen, this is a great -- and very lite -- read. Jacques Pepin may very well represent a unique combination: a 'celebrity chef' who is above all well trained and truly dedicated to food ingredients in their most essential form: as elements of a creative process which at it's most essential is also most satisfying. Pepin's account of his life's journey combines bemusement -- in regard to his success -- and a certain amount of marvel at his naivete in regard to what it takes to be successful -- from when he left home, to when he journeyed to America, to his first (unsuccessful) forays into television. At the end of it all, you can't help both laughing and liking the guy. Unlike the recently published biography of Julia Child, "The Apprentice" is a warm and satisfying read... kind of like a good cup of hot chocolate.....

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant read from a consomme professional
Review: Jacques Pepin isn't like the rest of us. When he encounters some thousands of snails slime-trailing their way around the wet terraces of his vacation bungalow, Pepin doesn't just register their appearance as a curiosity and move on, as we might. He thinks "Dinner!" and runs around excitedly collecting the creatures in a wastepaper basket. When a friend complains that his boat's outboard motor regularly hits something hard in a particular shallow channel, Pepin investigates and once again finds a free lunch--the obstruction is a shoal of mussels from which he happily gathers a feast.

These stories hint at the most striking revelation of Pepin's autobiography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen: the man is obsessed with food. This ought not come as a surprise, I suppose. Pepin is, after all, a renowned professional chef. But not every professional is so taken with the subject of his expertise. Love of food and its preparation--foraging or fishing for it, prying it from the walls of a vacation resort, simmering it on his own stovetop or stirring up consommes in thousand-gallon vats--pervades Pepin's life.

In straightforward, readable prose, The Apprentice tells the story of Pepin's life in food, from his childhood in war-rationed France--where his father, a member of the Resistance, smuggled the occasional banana to his wife and sons; to his apprenticeship in the kitchens of his mother's restaurants and under a series of respected French chefs; to his increasingly successful career in America. Throughout, one marvels at the author's apparently flawless memory for cooking. Remarkably, Pepin describes in detail dishes he made decades earlier, their ingredients and preparation, how the meal was received. These sections of the book do not make for the most scintillating reading for those of us who are not food aficionados, but they are impressive even so. For those who *are* inclined to take to the stove, Pepin includes more than twenty recipes in the book.

Debra Hamel -- book-blog reviews
Author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Rating:
Summary: Good book by a great cook
Review: Julia Child (who should know!) has called him the best cook in America today. That's high praise.

Jacques Pepin's life in kitchens, beginning with his mother's cafes and continuing on the Food Channel, is a fast-moving and sometimes surprising journey. As a child he worked on a farm (sent there by his parents to avoid the bombs of WWII) but it's his experiences in his mother's cafes that confirms his culinary talent and hitches his wagon to international stardom in cuisine.

Entertaining and international, this is a book that should bring more admirers to Pepin's already crowded table.

Rating:
Summary: Charming history of Jacques' life as a chef
Review: Not being a devotee of the Food Channel, I discovered Jacques Pepin by accident. Channel surfing one day, I stumbled upon Jacques' transforming a big slab of meat into a beautiful roast, trimmed and tied. The sureness with which he handled his knives, his knowledge of the animal's anatomy, and the warm confidence with which he shared his knowledge -- "of course you can do this at home!" -- hooked me immediately.

"The Apprentice" tells the story of how he acquired this deep knowledge, and does it with style and charm. The story opens in war-time France, where Jacques and his brothers were sent to farms in the remote countryside during the summers for their safety... and in the hopes of avoiding food shortages prevalent in urban areas. From his earliest days, Jacques shadowed the women in his life as they cooked for their families, from the farmers' wives to his mother, an accomplished cook in her own right.

After the war, his mother parlayed her cooking skills and entrepreneurial spirit into a succession of increasingly successful restaurants, with Jacques and his three brothers helping out before and after school. From an early age, Jacques knew he wanted to be a chef. He left school at 13 and began an apprenticeship at a nearby hotel. For the next few years he moved from job to job, city to city, working 16 hours a day to lay down the foundation of skills -- stocks! aspics! forcemeats! -- that are the hallmark of the classically trained french chef.

His career as a chef hit a peak a few years later, when in his early 20's he found himself cooking for french Presidents, including a memorable stint for De Gaulle. He then came to America, and embarked on what must have been a very unorthodox career. He served as an Executive Chef at Howard Johnson's and ran his own soup restaurant before settling in as the author, teacher, and TV chef we know today. Along the way he tells the stories of the kitchens and personalities he encountered, from French politicians to American food luminaries such as Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, Pierre Franey. All in all, a charming and engaging read.

Rating:
Summary: Charming history of Jacques' life as a chef
Review: Not being a devotee of the Food Channel, I discovered Jacques Pepin by accident. Channel surfing one day, I stumbled upon Jacques' transforming a big slab of meat into a beautiful roast, trimmed and tied. The sureness with which he handled his knives, his knowledge of the animal's anatomy, and the warm confidence with which he shared his knowledge -- "of course you can do this at home!" -- hooked me immediately.

"The Apprentice" tells the story of how he acquired this deep knowledge, and does it with style and charm. The story opens in war-time France, where Jacques and his brothers were sent to farms in the remote countryside during the summers for their safety... and in the hopes of avoiding food shortages prevalent in urban areas. From his earliest days, Jacques shadowed the women in his life as they cooked for their families, from the farmers' wives to his mother, an accomplished cook in her own right.

After the war, his mother parlayed her cooking skills and entrepreneurial spirit into a succession of increasingly successful restaurants, with Jacques and his three brothers helping out before and after school. From an early age, Jacques knew he wanted to be a chef. He left school at 13 and began an apprenticeship at a nearby hotel. For the next few years he moved from job to job, city to city, working 16 hours a day to lay down the foundation of skills -- stocks! aspics! forcemeats! -- that are the hallmark of the classically trained french chef.

His career as a chef hit a peak a few years later, when in his early 20's he found himself cooking for french Presidents, including a memorable stint for De Gaulle. He then came to America, and embarked on what must have been a very unorthodox career. He served as an Executive Chef at Howard Johnson's and ran his own soup restaurant before settling in as the author, teacher, and TV chef we know today. Along the way he tells the stories of the kitchens and personalities he encountered, from French politicians to American food luminaries such as Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, Pierre Franey. All in all, a charming and engaging read.

Rating:
Summary: Easily the Best Memoir I've Read this Year
Review: The skills that make an awesome chef are the same skills that make an awesome writer, patience, a loving devotion to detail, an appreciation of the sensual - this has it all. It's a great slice of history and does what a great memoir is supposed to do - it allows you to enter the world of another.

Jacques Pepin's book, "The Apprentice : My Life in the Kitchen", is a light and compelling, can't put it down read.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful read- Quite a life!
Review: This book was really pleasant to read. I could almost hear Mr. Pepin's voice as I read it. It is a fascinating look into his life from young childhood to the present. Also a fascinating look at restaurants, training, apprenticeships, and cooking. If you have enjoyed Pepin's books, or TV shows (my favorite was the PBS series with Julia Child and Pepin) you will enjoy this book.