The Book Club discussion

Use this thread for pre-meeting notes for December, 2014.

Our holiday celebration will be held the first Saturday rather than on our usual monthly meeting date. Our book is as indicated. In keeping with the food theme, the gift exchange is to be some intriguing kitchen item. As usual, details will be corresponded by email only within the group.


This from C.B., also posted elsewhere, from 11/5/14:

In today's Dining section of the NY Times there is an article on Gabrielle Hamilton, author of our selection for December ( Blood, Bones, and Butter ). There's brief information about her and her NY restaurant Prune, but it's mostly a review of her new cookbook...plus a bonus recipe:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/din...

There are some very diverse opinions about the book (and author) here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

There have been several movies about chefs recently. Two that I have seen are:

Chef (2014) -- story of a chef who trades the haute cuisine life to run a food truck. It was shown at a local library just last Friday, where I viewed it. It is currently in the arts theatres.

Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2883512/

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) -- our "favorite" local theatre had several acquaintances and friends present the night we watched this. I think we all enjoyed its lightheartedness.

"The Kadam family leaves India for France where they open a restaurant directly across the road from Madame Mallory's Michelin-starred eatery."

Director: Lasse Hallström
Stars: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal |

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980648/



Babettes' Feast (1987) is another movie, classic, about food. I was introduced to it by an opera-going friend. She insisted it can be watched only accompanied by at least great appetizers. Not bad advice.

Directed by: Gabriel Axel
Starring: Stéphane Audran, Jean-Philippe Lafont, Gudmar Wivesson

http://www.allmovie.com/movie/babette...

See here for a list of supposed ten top films about food:

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesgui...

Here is a related book, but when I try to find a bookseller, have not been able to do so:

Blood, Bones & Butter - Behind the Story by Sarah Reagan

A ways down in the description are a few not very helpful remarks. (Preceding it are comments on other "Behind the Story" books.)

Some "professional" reviews:

NYT, Michiko Kakutani, February 25, 2011: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/boo...

NYT, Frank Bruni, March 11, 2011: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/boo...

Publisher's Weekly, Anthony Bourdain, September 27, 2010: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

An excerpt appeared in The New Yorker as "The Lamb Roast" on January 17, 2011:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

Includes a picture of her father roasting lamb.

Interview with Gabrielle Hamilton in today's NYT Book Review, 11/21/14:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/boo...

Excerpt:

"Who is your favorite novelist of all time? And your favorite novelist writing today?

"The perfectness of reading is when a book hits you and you hit it and during those hours you are completed in a way you have never been before. The you you were when you started the book is no longer; you are changed forever after; you become somehow denser, more solid and yet clearer and cleaner and more organized in your heart and mind at the same time.

"Some of those 'favorite of all time' hours for me have been with James Baldwin. And the 'favorite of writers today' hours have come from Michael Cunningham (no pun intended!)."

Listened to Gabrielle read the first CD of the recording of BBB on Wednesday. Very enjoyable.

Last night, finished listening to Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef read by the author. Returned the CDs to the library today.

Very enjoyable to hear the story in the voice of Gabrielle Hamilton herself. I felt as if I was getting to know her. She's quite a woman -- but I guess you'd have to be to open a restaurant in NYC and make it succeed. When one reads the "before" conditions, I at least wondered if I ever want to eat in a restaurant again. (The movie "Chef" with the cleaning up of the food wagon sort of left me with the same feeling.)

My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

One rather stands in awe of the passion and energy of this person while at the same time wishing one could bring her some ability to savor what is rather than to fight what is not. Her attitude towards children generally was delightful to hear, particularly their own, at others, well... The mother she resented, even while she recognized, or at least said she did, her own similarities to her.