Blood, Bones and Butter: The inadvertent education of a reluctant chef - Hardcover

Hamilton, Gabrielle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701179945 ISBN 13: 9780701179946

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2011

Synopsis

Gabrielle Hamilton's childhood home in rural Pennsylvania, with her four siblings and her parents who threw grand parties (hundreds of guests came to enjoy the pigeon pies and baby lambs roasted over wood fires), was thrilling , magnificent. But when her parents divorced and the family scattered, Gabrielle was left, aged thirteen, almost alone in the empty house for the summer. Forced to fend for herself, she drew on the hours spent watching her adored mother at the stove, and got a kitchen job in the nearest town. The riotous years that followed were full of hard graft, hard living and many far-flung kitchens.

In New York, and with rent to pay, Gabrielle spent years working in soulless catering factories, then found herself graduating with a creative writing degree, opening a restaurant and entering into an unlikely and flawed marriage with an Italian man. Every summer they take their two boys to the family home, and her beloved mother-in-law, in Puglia. Gabrielle gives us the stories - gritty and intimate - of the people, places and meals that have shaped her journey.

Unflinchingly honest, moving, funny, sharply crafted - Blood, Bones & Butter is a rollicking, passionate story about food, purpose and family. Not only is Gabrielle Hamilton one of America's most recognised chefs, she is also set to make her mark as an uncompromising literary talent.

About this title

Review:

"Magnificent. Simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever. Gabrielle Hamilton packs more heart, soul, and pure power into one beautifully crafted page than I've accomplished in my entire writing career. Blood, Bones & Butter is the work of an uncompromising chef and a prodigiously talented writer. I am choked with envy." (Anthony Bourdain)

"Gabrielle Hamilton has changed the potential and raised the bar for all books about eating and cooking. Her nearly rabid love for all real food experience and her completely vulnerable, unprotected yet pure point of view unveils itself in both truth and inspiration. I will read this book to my children and then burn all the books I have written for pretending to be anything even close to this. After that I will apply for the dishwasher job at Prune to learn from my new queen." (Mario Batali)

Book Description:

A sharply crafted and unflinchingly honest memoir ('simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever.' Anthony Bourdain) about the search for meaning and purpose from one of America's most recognized chefs and up-and-coming literary talents.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0701179945
• ISBN 13: 9780701179946
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304