NonFiction Book Club The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin Buy book: $16.38
In this frank and witty memoir, world-renowned chef Jacques Pepin tells how he rose from a frightened 13-year-old apprentice in an Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning TV superstar.
A sweet start. Because I'm enjoying Mao's Last Dancer so much, the chance to read about another child taken out of his home-even temporarily- has a certain pull. I remember going to one-two weeks of summer church camp every year and feeling that horrible lonliness. Loved the part where the apprentice got to drink the fresh milk and remembered how less lonely I felt as soon as I dove into the bag of peanuts and raisins personally prepared by my mother.
Oh, no! What will become of the soccer games and the child tossing -- my heart dropped with the reading of today's first sentence. I jumped to a conclusion about Papa and I think I'm probably right.
The war situation in which America is involved today makes part 2 of The Apprentice very applicable to my present and my past.
My own Maman was rearing three young daughters during World War II and we lived in a small town where at times our pigs could be found walking up the church steps after having nudged their way through some barrier boards about the consistency of sawdust - and as you can imagine, this occurring to the chagrin of our Maman who sounds very much like the Maman in our book - beautiful, strong legs - and psychologically kin in that should you peel a potato and cut into 1/132 of the actual potato, you may be sent to a corner to sit for a while (face in).
I bustle about happy as a clam 99% of the time, however, I suppose (well, actually I know) that I am sheltering deep feelings about the war in which we find ourselves involved today as American citizens, because all of a sudden, I feel heavy about all the wars that have ever been fought in the entire expanse of time. Now, don't worry about me, I'll bounce back in about 35 seconds, but seeing how innocents, picking vegetables, being child-tossed, playing soccer, watching Papas change some as he sips his wine - and Mamans riding bikes over the countryside for food, and grandmothers trying to monitor the gardening techniques of her new generation - why bombs in that scenario? Oh, I understand much more than it may appear to understand, but . . . . .
Well, if I sit here much longer, I'll certainly carry this comment ,which is becoming more of a journal entry than commentary about a book, to a full-fledged protest. But then, I'm not really against anything - I'm only for what I'm for.
We dine very well in our home. But my husband, 74, still makes on occasion "war soup," and does it with reverence. Based on American GI's givng him a packet of hot dogs, a tin of margerine and a can of Campbell's vegetable soup. He slices the wieners evenly and browns them with a chopped onion, mixes in the soup -- then fills a bowl to the brim and smiles sweetly. He was a 13 year old boy who escaped a slave labor camp, and he says this was his first remembered best meal.
There's a cookbook written by women in a concentration camp as they wrote down their memorable family recipes. And another labor camp (male) memoir in which a page plus of food and meals is listed with tenderness and longing.Pepin's sardines which he still eats to this day summoned up this response. It's another excellent book.
Lyn, That is something you should write down for your family and future generations. Those personal memories are so valuable. It makes our history so real and precious.
Darlene, You should do the same. I know exactly how you feel about war. My parents lived through WWII and the depression and shared their stories. I almost feel like I lived it too.
I like this book. I don't think I ever looked at food the way he did. You might have to be without something before you can truly appreciate it properly.
Even with the daily reminders of war when I hear how people during WWII had to live to survive it makes me thankful for the freedoms that we take for granted every day.
I am really liking this book so far and plan to seek it out from our library consortium. I grew up during the depression but was not an avid eater so if food was scarce I was unconcerned. I am finding it very interesting to read how people in those European countries survived during WWII while we in this country were not particularly deprived. I agree that the previous writers should document their own wartime memories for future generations.
As someone who--though I like to cook, sample new cuisines, and, to the detriment of my waistline, dine heartily in slow, French style--has somehow missed most of J. Pepin's culinary contributions to his adopted land, this book is proving to be a wonderful & entertaining introduction to the author's journey in life. Thus far it is a reminder of how much more there is to food than just the ingredients, a lesson which many Americans have yet to learn...But we're getting there! Bon Appetit!
In these days of so much antagonism towards us in France particularly --home of my favorite cuisine -- how happy I was to learn this morning that American GI's gave a world class chef (and a VERY nice person too -- not to be taken for granted ) his first taste of sweet chocolate. It IS liberating!
It is interesting to read about a child who from such a young age has such strong memories of the food he was raised with and how it was prepared. He must have hung around the kitchen a lot! Also, it is hard to imagine living in a world with NO commercially processed foods.
They had to do things the hard way,
growing, harvesting, washing and cooking from scratch. I like hearing about the provencial dishes and how they were prepared, and how sometimes, like with the bread baking it was a community effort.
I too love hearing stories about how food is/was prepared. it takes all the pressure out of seeing/learning a new recipe! and Jacques Pepin tells it well. I am going to check out this book and then probably buy it. What about the perverse love of 'mou'?
Is that like perverse love of rocky mountain oysters or something?
But definitely our country has lost a lot of knowledge, especially cooking knowledge, for the sake of comfort and 'convenience.'
'Quick and easy' recipes crack me up. I know how to open a can. That's something I did manage to learn!
