By Allison Zaleski and Angela Bobo
End your summer beachside reading one of these recently released page-turners that explore all corners of the food industry.
32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line
By Eric Ripert
In this personal account of growing up with a burning passion for food and a passion for not burning fish, duck, sauce, etc., Eric Ripert recounts the divorce, death and abuse that impacted his childhood and describes his admiration for both Michelin-starred meals and the rustic family feasts that characterized his summers.
After culinary school, Ripert worked at the Michelin-starred Tour d’Argent in Paris, where his degree was nearly useless in the face of quick-fire orders and the intimidating abuse of a professional kitchen—and not to mention the dreaded 32 yolks that were required for a perfect hollandaise.
Ripert eventually moved on to work with celebrated chef Joël Robuchon at Jamin restaurant, where required perfection, 18-hour days and psychological games could not break Ripert. His endless fascination with the chemistry and creation of truly marvelous food eventually led him to get on a plane for the United States.
32 Yolks ends there, but of course, Ripert’s acclaimed career was only beginning. -AZ
Sweetbitter
By Stephanie Danler
Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter is a modern coming-of-age story following 22-year-old Tess as she becomes a backwaiter at a prestigious-yet-stagnant restaurant in New York City. Her desire to have her hunger—for acceptance, love, food and drink—fulfilled leads to endless days trying to anticipate the whims of others and endless nights trying to forget her loneliness.
Danler does not sugarcoat the protagonist’s experiences with the complexities and casualness of hardcore drugs, abuse of power, sex and classism. The novel’s driving force is the development of taste, the ability to find balance in “the sour, the salty, the sweet, the bitter.”
As she tastes her first oyster and learns the origin and pronunciation of viognier, Tess simultaneously navigates the murky waters of a demented love triangle, restaurant politics and self-realization. Ultimately, she develops “the ability to relish the bitter, crave it even, the way you do the sweet.” –AB
Pen & Palate: Mastering the Art of Adulthood, with Recipes
By Lucy Madison and Tram Nguyen
Part buddy comedy, part cookbook and part coming-of-age memoir, Pen & Palate (from the blog of the same name) chronicles the long-distance friendship of 20-somethings Lucy Madison and Tram Nguyen.
Nguyen, a Chicago-based aspiring fashion designer who finds her calling in constructing giant foam arms and other outrageous props for commercials and movies, provides a glimpse into her family’s Vietnamese kitchen with anecdotes and recipes full of spice, warmth and, sometimes, coolers of organic chickens. Nguyen’s whimsical illustrations float throughout the book, accompanying stories (eating wings in bed) and dishes (Thanksgiving Tea-Smoked Duck).
Meanwhile in New York, between working in a Brazilian cheese puff shop and attempting to crank out a thousand cakes—for her own wedding—Madison finds her way as a journalist.
Like the fleeting charm of youth itself, the girls often forget to relish in the fact that they are living out the dreams (and dream meals) of countless post grads. –AZ
