The Buzz...About Books

One of the best things about working in a library is exchanging book recommendations with colleagues and customers.  My thanks to my co-worker Joanne for this recommendation!

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C Morais is the fictional memoir of Hassan Haji, a three-star chef in Paris. Born above his grandfather's restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan and his family leave India after a terrible tragedy.   After moving around for several years, they finally settle in a small town in the French Alps and continue the family tradition by opening an Indian restaurant. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with these new residents.  Madame Mallory is the owner and chef of Le Saule Pleureur, an inn and two-star restaurant which is located across the street from the Haji's new restaurant.   After seeing the impact of the new restaurant on her business and her community, she becomes irate and becomes determined to drive the Haji family away. 

The conflict between Chef Mallory and the Hassan's family soon escalates out of control.  To make amends, she offers to take Hassan as her apprentice to be trained as a French chef.  It is this hundred-foot journey from his family's restaurant to Le Saule Pleureur which will change Hassan's life forever.

While the Hundred-Foot Journey is fictional, it may inspire you to read a memoir or biography of a famous chef.  Here is a selection:

• Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay
• Alice Waters & Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
• Kitchen Confidential : Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
• Blood, Bones, & Butter : the Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
• Beaten, Seared, and Sauced : On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America by Jonathan Dixon
• Michel Roux : A Life in the Kitchen by Michel Roux

For some suggestions of other novels that feature food, check out this post on the York Woods District Blog:

• Fiction for Foodies