A review by kimball_hansen
32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert

4.0

If I was in love with cooking and food then this would have been a five star book. I don't understand the joy of being enamored with it though. And those people that are probably don't understand my joy of maps or other such things. But it still made this read exciting. I kept thinking of the book [b:Down and Out in Paris and London|393199|Down and Out in Paris and London|George Orwell|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347697665s/393199.jpg|2374970] and the torture those waiters went through. The cooks have it just as bad.

How are these rich chefs and cooks not morbidly obese? Don't they just eat and eat, or is it because they're so gourmet that they don't stoop their tastebuds down the Commoners level so they're more picky. I wonder what percentage of the food they eat satisfies them or is 95% of it dirt and 5% actually delicious? I want to eat at Joque's restaurant. Or that other mentor he worked under for three years. And I thought that was neat how the boss would blame the cooks if customers left food on their plate. He's right, if the food is so good you would want to eat it all. Makes it a challenge to see which plates come back the cleanest and if it doesn't then try harder.

Eric did things that I did as a kid - killed bugs, played in the dirt and mud and loves to hike. Maybe I should have been a 3 star chef (since when did 3 star become 5 star?) I like how France has/had mandatory military service. I wish the US did that.