The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Pepin, Jacques

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachussets, 2003

About this Item

As new condition black boards., black spine, and gold spine lettering contained in an as new condition non price-clipped photographic dust jacket. Includes Author Dedication; Acknowledgments; and Index. Illustrated with two sections of black-and-white photographic plates, black-and-white chapter heading decorations, and color illustrated front and rear endpapers. "I was thirteen and a half years old when I quit school. To be sure, I was an "old" thirteen, hardened by the war with its restrictions and bombings, with stints away from home and the long absence of Papa. At an age when most kids don't know how to cook their own breakfast, I had already worked in four busy restaurant kitchens. More than anything in the world, I wanted to be a chef." - from the inner front jacket flap. "In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain. We see young Jacques as a homesick six-year-old boy in war ravaged France, working on a farm in exchange for food, dodging bombs, and bearing witness as German soldiers capture his father, a fighter in the Resistance. Soon Jacques is caught up in the hurly-burly action of his mother's cafe, where he proves to be a natural. He endures a literal trial by fire and works his way up the ladder in the feudal system of France's most famous restaurant, finally becoming Charles de Gaulle's personal chef, watching the world being refashioned from the other side of the kitchen door. When he comes to America, Jacques immediately falls in with a small group of as-yet-unknown food lovers, including Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child, whose adventures redefine American food. Through it all, Jacques proves himself to be a master of the American art of reinvention: earning a graduate degree from Columbia University, turning down a job as John F. Kennedy's chef to work at Howard Johnson's, and, after a near-fatal car accident, switching careers once again to become a charismatic leader in the revolution that changed the way Americans approached food. Also included in this book are Jacques's all-time favorite recipes created during the course of a career spanning nearly half a century, from his mother's utterly simple cheese souffle to his wife's pork ribs and red beans. The Apprentice is the poignant and sometimes funny tale of a boy's coming of age. Beyond that, it is the story of America's culinary awakening and the transformation of food from an afterthought to a national preoccupation." - from the inner front and rear jacket flaps. Seller Inventory # 008244

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen [...

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachussets

Publication Date: 2003

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Sullivan, Michaela (jacket design)

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Edition: 1st Edition