The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season at el Bulli - Softcover

Abend, Lisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849833222 ISBN 13: 9781849833226

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2012

Synopsis

It was, arguably, the most famous restaurant in the world and perhaps one of the most significant and influential ever: the legendary 'el Bulli' in Catalonia, which closed in 2011, attained a near-mythic reputation for culinary wizardry. But what actually went on behind the scenes? What was the daily reality of life in the world's greatest kitchen?

The Sorcerer's Apprenticestells first-hand the story of a young chef enrolled in the restaurant's legendary training course. It shows her struggle to adapt, how she and the other apprentices learned to push themselves and the limits of their abilities, how they adjusted to a style of cooking that was creative in the extreme and how they dealt with the pressures of performing at the highest level night after night.

In past years stagiares have clashed with the severe demeanour of Oriol Castro, the restaurant's chef de cuisine; others have gone on to work at the restaurant. One was sent home each year, unable to fit into the high-wire act that is the el Bulli kitchen.

Complicating things even more, the stagiares lived together in shared apartments, so the events and emotions of their personal lives bled more than usual into the professional. The Sorcerer's Apprenticestells these smaller, more human stories as well.

At its heart, The Sorcerer's Apprenticesis a quest: it tells the tale of a handful of aspiring young people who submitted themselves to a grueling challenge in order to be made better by it. It also offers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the most famous restaurant in the world, through the lens of those who, ultimately, made it work.

About this title

Review:

"Abend is finding qualities in each young cook that reflect, amplify, and illuminate who Adrià is and what he's doing at elBulli--crossing and even demolishing the lines between food and art. Anyone interested in the very vanguard of creativity in any medium, aside from the ever-growing ranks of foodies and celebrity-chef watchers, is certain to be enchanted." --"Booklist", starred review

"Part Dali, part Einstein, part modern-day Escoffier--superchef Ferran Adrià of elBulli is one of the greatest creative minds of our time. Now Lisa Abend reveals what it's like to actually work in this genius's kitchen. Her formidable reportage, astute cultural observations, and keen eye for detail have produced a fascinating chronicle of the life-changing adventure undertaken by elBulli's lucky band of kitchen apprentices."

--Anya von Bremzen, author of "The New Spanish Table"

"The author provides countless descriptions of an undeniably dazzling creative process and of foods that, even on paper, have the power to delight and amuse.

A gastronomical feast and a rare chance for gourmet enthusiasts to witness the creative process behind some of the world's most innovative cuisine." --"Kirkus"

"Lisa Abend's new book reads like Harry Potteresque version of a cook's story and gives readers the chance to enter themselves into the hidden world of cooks. Through Lisa's book, readers can join these young people on their quest to become a chef witnessing the dreams and aspirations, the frustrations and successes, and all the drama that unfolds along the way."

-- José Andr&eacutes, Chef of Cafe Atlantico and The Bazaar, and star of the PBS show "Made in Spain"

""The Sorcerer's Apprentices" is a fascinating, well-reported, and dramatic account of life behind the lines at the world's most renowned restaurant, elBulli. Unimpeded by the language barrier that has prevented English-speaking journalists from conveying a full, clear picture of Ferran Adrià, Abend gives a sense of what his extraordinary, ground-breaking kitchen is actually like on the inside, from the vantage of the cooks. This is a worthy addition to the literature of the professional kitchen and a pleasure to read."

--Michael Ruhlman, author of "Ratio" and"""The Making of a Chef "

"An insightful depiction not only of the most talked-about restaurant in the world, but also of Ferran Adria and a squad of young cooks who have come to him in their quest for culinary knowledge. As THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE unspools, a profound and irresistible theme emerges: any cook worth his or her salt, even a certified genius like Adria, never stops learning."

--Andrew Friedman, author of "Knives at Dawn"""

"Over the course of the last 25 years, Ferran Adrià has become both icon and iconoclast, an international bellwether for the future of food. In "The Sorcerer's Apprentice, " Lisa Abend gives us an illuminating new look at the most influential chef of our time through the kaleidoscopic lens of his thirty-five stagiaires. An accomplished journalist and agile storyteller, Abend immerses herself in the heat, the anxiety, and the ingenuity of this pressurized little world, bringing the characters--and the kitchen--to life. It's a fascinating glimpse into a culinary rite of passage, and the incomparable genius behind it."

--Dan Barber, Executive Chef and Co-owner of Blue Hill Farm

"A last glimpse inside the culinary magic."

--"Entertainment Weekly"

"Anyone interested in the very vanguard of creativity in any medium, aside from the ever-growing ranks of foodies and celebrity-chef watchers, is certain to be enchanted."

--"Booklist" (starred review)

About the Author:

Lisa Abend is journalist based in Madrid. For the past three years, she has been Time magazine’s correspondent in Spain, where she writes about everything from international terrorism, to climate change, to immigration, to costumed debt collectors (with, needless to say, a fair number of bullfighting stories thrown in for good measure.) As a freelancer, she has written on learning the Basque language for The Atlantic; on volunteer bit torrent translators for Wired; on the plight of Roma women for Ms., on prime minister Zapatero’s republican upbringing for The American Prospect; on the recovery of the Iberian lynx for National Wildlife; and on the situation in Western Sahara for The Economist.
     Her real love, though, is food writing. She contributes regularly to all the major American food magazines, and has written features on a Marrakech cooking school (Bon Appetit); on culinary travels through Extremadura (Gourmet); on a collective of grandmothers in Catalonia who preserve traditional cuisine (Saveur) and on learning to love pig face (Food and Wine). Her food writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and the Christian Science Monitor.  She hosts an upcoming episode on Andalusia in the third season of PBS’ Diary of a Foodie.
     In a previous life (that is, about 5 years ago) she was a professor of Spanish history at Oberlin College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1849833222
• ISBN 13: 9781849833226
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304