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181 reviews for:
Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking
Bill Buford
3.67 AVERAGE
181 reviews for:
Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking
Bill Buford
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Get this guy an editor. No really. A ruthless one who will help him cut out all the mind-numbing detail that no one needs. I get that this is a book for foodies and I've read a whole lot of chef/food people memoirs. This one is interesting, in parts, but I don't need a run down of every single day he ever encounters a new chef or farmer or sommolier or fellow student or person who is remotely related to the food industry. It's just too much.
I was 1/3 of the way through this book when I received the audio version of Dirt. I returned to the beginning of what I was already enjoying reading and listened to the author, Bill Buford, read his own words. The book came alive! Buford peels back the veneer of the stiff French chef and shows wonderful characters immersed in their passion and their community. He also confirms and describes the stereotypical competitive kitchen with each line cook trying to out do the person to the left or right.
The lanuage of food is beautiful and inticing. I love to cook and live vicariuosly through books like this. Pure enjoyment sprinkled with a hint of jealousy!
The lanuage of food is beautiful and inticing. I love to cook and live vicariuosly through books like this. Pure enjoyment sprinkled with a hint of jealousy!
An idyllic tale of baking and cooking throughout Lyon, France. If there is a thesis, one relating to the Italians inventing French cuisine, it’s buried in Bill Buford’s stories of the many kitchens he visits. That’s okay because those bring Lyonnaise cooking to life and will make you want to source your sourdough flour by a nearby farm and discord the fish of particular lakes
Enjoyable journey of a man’s quest to master French cooking and delve into its origins, that is whether it was highly influenced from Italy or not (which naturally would be controversial in both countries – meanwhile Germany just shrugs and just says “we have wurst”). Breezy throughout, it’s an easy read and Buford is joke-y, although never outright hilarious. It’s also a story of Lyon and what it takes to uproot your American family with 2 small twins to France and integrate (or not) into local society. It’s a nice trip through both gastronomy and learning a new culture, with a bit of cooking history thrown in for good measure.
Might have been a 4 except I wanted to raise the average from some of those ridiculous 1-star reviews. Especially the ones about his marriage. Seriously?
I started listening to the audiobook, thinking it’d be a fun listen. It turned out to be a bit of a slog, but I enjoyed certain sections. Like many books, I found that DIRT could have used a more vicious editor.
This book really needed an editor to cut it down to half its length. I couldn't quite get why I should care about it; felt sort of self-indulgent and way to full of name dropping.
But I do love French food...
But I do love French food...
Hungry for travel or for food?
Both will be satisfied by reading Dirt.
Bill takes his family on an adventure to the French city Lyon.
He goes to culinary school, does stages (internships) and really delves into the French culinary world.
I still don't really understand how a man with two small kids could offer to work for free in those kitchens, but he produced a really nice book. While not being able to travel during the "Rona, this really felt like little dips into France.
Besides his adventures, he goes into history of the city, certain dishes etc.
A really nice well rounded book. Would recommend to any foodies.
This book was provided as an ARC by NetGalley.
Both will be satisfied by reading Dirt.
Bill takes his family on an adventure to the French city Lyon.
He goes to culinary school, does stages (internships) and really delves into the French culinary world.
I still don't really understand how a man with two small kids could offer to work for free in those kitchens, but he produced a really nice book. While not being able to travel during the "Rona, this really felt like little dips into France.
Besides his adventures, he goes into history of the city, certain dishes etc.
A really nice well rounded book. Would recommend to any foodies.
This book was provided as an ARC by NetGalley.