Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson.
You may know Chef Marcus Samuelsson from hearing about his New York restaurant Red Rooster or his time as head chef at Aquavit or from appearances on Top Chef and Iron Chef, but I found the story of his youth tremendously interesting in his memoir, Yes, Chef. Marcus was born in rural Ethiopia and when he and his mother and older sister contracted tuberculosis in a 1973 epidemic, his mother walked 75 miles with her children to a hospital in the capital city of Addis Ababa, where she unfortunately succumbed to the disease. Marcus and his sister were adopted by a Swedish family, where he squeezed in Saturday cooking lessons with his grandmother, Helga, when he wasn't on the soccer field. A sports career didn't pan out, so he poured his extensive energies into cooking school and various apprenticeships at world-class hotels and restaurants around Europe.
Samuelsson is passionate about "chasing flavors", and experimenting with ingredients and cuisines from around the globe, and I learned a lot about layering taste and texture in dishes from this book. I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did.
As always, we welcome anyone to join our band of regulars in reading this great foodie book, blogging about it and cooking up something inspired from its pages. Just let me know that you have posted by our deadline below either by leaving a comment here or by sending me an email at: info@oldsaratogabooks dot coM.
Submissions due: Wednesday, September 30, 2015
-Rachel, The Crispy Cook
15 comments:
Thank you for hosting, Rachel! Here's my submission: Classic French Croissants! http://www.amyscookingadventures.com/2015/08/classic-french-croissants.html
I have the book and I am hoping to get it read on the plane to Portland next week. ;-)
Just finished this book! I am a newbie, what do you need from me to know that I will be participating? Thanks!
Thanks for the submission, Amy. Deb, looking forward to yours as well.
And welcome Terri! So glad you want to join us this round for Cook the Books. You already completed the first thing you needed to do which is to have read our featured book, so that's the lengthiest part. Now you just need to come up with a post that discusses the book (as simple as what you liked/disliked, a favorite quote, commentary, whatever you like) and which features a dish that you have made which was inspired by your reading. You can check out what others have done in the previous bimonthly roundup posts, such as the Wedding Bees roundup which is the Cook the Books post just prior to this one. Then just let me know that you have posted by our deadline of Sept. 30 by leaving a comment here at Cook the Books or by shooting me an email at: oldsaratogabooks AT gmaildot com.
Looking forward to your Yes, Chef post! -Rachel
Here's my contribution: http://www.pulcetta.com/2015/09/recipe-kokoda-fish.html
Thanks for hosting, Rachel
I've got the book, now looking forward to reading it and cooking something up!
I loved this book so much - I actually made my dish in July! Now I have to write about it.
My post is up: http://www.honeyfromrock.blogspot.com/2015/09/pork-mofongo-yes-chef.html
Thanks for hosting Rachel, I enjoyed the selection.
We were just introduced to Ethiopian cuisine this past July and I fell in love with the vegetarian goodies. Working on a post now after tracking down the ingredients. Loved the book, Rachel! (Of course, mine won't post until the last possible minute!)
http://foodycat.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/yes-chef-doro-wat-and-injera.html here's mine!
Mine will post on the 30th (of course): http://eliotseats.com/2015/09/30/ethiopian-cuisine-for-ctb/
Thanks, Rachel! Great pick. Enjoyed it greatly!
My post goes live tomorrow! Here's my link: http://www.terristeffes.com/2015/09/cook-books-club.html
Looking forward to reading all these posts. Glad to have you join us for the first time, Terri! Hope you had fun.
Coming in close to the wire as usual. :-)
Here is my post: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2015/09/thats-good-life-smorga-swedish-smoked.html
Thanks for a great pick Rachel!
Just finished reading this book this week. Enjoyed it so much! Have seen Marcus Samuelsson multiple times on Food Network, he comes across as a really humble but talented man. Love his idea of "chasing the flavors." Love it that he believes in hard work to attain his dreams and that now, having reached his level of success he is trying to give back to his community. Excellent read!
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