Blood, Bones & Butter
The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
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4.1 • 748 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamilton’s own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton’s idyllic past and her own future family—the result of a prickly marriage that nonetheless yields lasting dividends. By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamilton’s story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chef and restaurateur Hamilton, chef/owner of the acclaimed New York City restaurant Prune, offers a sensuous and evocative memoir of her rural Pennsylvania childhood and her training as writer and chef. The youngest of five children raised by a glamorous French former ballerina and a theater set designer, Hamilton grew up petted and unsupervised, free to roam with packs of neighborhood children who wore, according to the season, "mud suits or snowsuits." Hamilton's account is studded with precise observations made in felicitous prose that brings her "wild castle" of a home to life, as well as her lost years after her parents' divorce. Unfortunately, Hamilton is a poor reader of her own material. Her voice is monotone and scarcely strains to communicate drama. There's a reserve and coldness that does not melt away, a listlessness at odds with the intelligence and energy of the prose, the warmth of her humor, and her lush descriptions. A Random hardcover.
Customer Reviews
She Paints a Beautiful Picture
I loved this book. I enjoyed Hamilton on Season 4 of The Mind of a Chef on PBS. I enjoy her cooking and this book really told the story of the way she grew up and relationship with food.
One of the Best I’ve Read
This is by far one of the best books I’ve ever read - certainly best food or chef -related memoir.
I was reading the last pages of the book on my commute home from the restaurant one night, and I turned the page. Unknowingly, I had finished the book, and I actually cried to myself. I found myself truly choked up, not just by the beautiful writing and profoundly moving ending, but because of an overwhelming sadness that came over me; I couldn’t believe it was over. Even though I had just finished it, I already missed it. Escaping into Gabrielle’s colorful culinary world after a long hard day of my own was such a relatable release - what I’m feeling is normal. I am not alone in how I’m going through this industry. Most importantly, what I strive to become is possible, and alive and well in Chef Hamilton. Such an inspiration, beautiful writer. Fantastic, can’t-stop-turning-the-pages type of book. I highly recommend!
Blood Bones & Butter
Hope she will continue sharing her story as life goes on. Inspirational and informative.