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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School
Price: $16.47
Description
In 2003, Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old American in London who felt trapped in corporate middle management - until her boss eliminated her job while she was on vacation. Ignoring her mother's advice that she find another job immediately or "never get hired anywhere ever again," Flinn cleared out her savings and moved to Paris to pursue a dream - a diploma from the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. But instead of being ushered into "a glamorous world of soufflés and foie gras," Flinn found herself struggling in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, and her own "wretchedly inadequate" French. She trudged home traumatized by gutting fish, severing the heads off rabbits, and dropping an entire roast duck on the floor moments before having to present her plate to the presiding chef. One day she was even advised that her tronçons de colin pochés needed "a bit more salt" from the homeless man who sat near the school's entrance. As the story moves through the various classes, the basics of French cuisine--the ingredients, cooking techniques, wine, and more than two dozen recipes--are interwoven, but not every page is spent in the kitchen. Flinn also offers the experience of the vibrant sights and sounds of the markets, shops, and avenues of Paris. In time, Flinn triumphs in her battle with puff pastry, masters her sauces, and wins over the toughest of chefs. More importantly, though, she finds within herself the strength to pause on the usual journey and challenge a career-focused mind set and attempt a discovery of what really matters to her. She even comes to realize that the love of her life has been right in front of her the whole time. Fans of Julie & Julia, Cooking for Mr. Latte, and Eat, Pray, Love will be amused, inspired, and richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of romance, food, Paris, and chasing a life's dream.
Great expectations, dashed hopes
Date: 2008-12-30 Rating: 4 out of 10
Reading the description of The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry, gave me high expectations about memoirs of a woman who was willing to follow her heart and fulfill a longtime soulful desire. The testimonial from Elizabeth Gilbert only served to heighten my expectation (espcially since which Ms. Flinn's book has been compared to Eat, Pray, Love), as did my love for the French. However, I found the book lacking in soul. Ms. Flinn does a wonderful job of illustrating her daily experiences in an intellectual manner, but after reading the book twice, I never felt a real connection with what she experienced (except for the honest emotion she shared while being berated by "Grey Chef").
While the story is well constructed, it lacks passion and the raw, genuine spirit I was hoping for when I purchased the book. I did find it, quite interesting, that Ms. Flinn spent some of her childhood in the same town I grew up in--Davison, MI--and that we are almost the same age. Despite my diappointment in the book, I applaud Ms. Flinn's courage to live and write about, what is near and dear to her heart.
BewertungenCooking fans read thisDatum 2008-12-23 Rang: 8 von 10What a fun read. I stumbled on this book and had a thoroughly enjoyable time reading it. How ironic that the cover carries a recommendation from the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Flinn does not make the errors that Gilbert does in reaching too many early conclusions or being that self-righteous. For one, she recognizes how lucky she is to have such an opportunity. Also, she does not play the part of the single woman learning how to live life alone only to wind up in love at the end.
While I would never venture to Le Cordon Bleu, as I love to cook but am a pescatarian, I loved hearing the tales of the school. Sure enough, I was inspired to make a nice soup stock over the weekend as well as some holiday baking! And yes, my knives are good and sharp.
We've seen enough travel books now that a Parisian visit needs a twist like this. Flinn succeeds in presenting the culinary highlights of a year in Paris. Certainly recommended for fans of France and cooking.Visit Le Cordon Bleu Paris without leaving the USDatum 2008-12-17 Rang: 10 von 10Enchanting yet realistic account of what happens when we corporate types explore our creative side. Easy read with well-defined chapter breaks making it easy to pick up after a few days w/o having to re-read the previous few pgs. This book proved to me that my local french chef's cooking classes are authentic expression of the Le Cordon Bleu training he received 30 years ago. I found it interesting that dozens of the basic elements mentioned are decades-old constants still taught at LCB. Meez Fleen'z depictations of the french accent & attitude is quite accurate as well adding to the entertainment value. Recipes, thanks for including recipes with tips! I plan to purchase a few copies for friends who've heard me rave about this book - I'm not parting with mine that's for sure.Good ReadDatum 2008-11-30 Rang: 10 von 10If you dabble in cooking in the kitchen and wonder what it would be like to learn from masters this book is for you. Not only do you get a picture like watching cooking shows on PBS but you also get the recipes. The author has a spirited style in writing and and by the end of the book you really would like to meet her.The whole book needs saltDatum 2008-11-08 Rang: 4 von 10What could have been an interesting book about an interesting experience in an interesting city ended up being boring because it lacked in depth and character development. Flinn reports on her experience in a fairly predictable way and in exceptionally short chapters - tell the story of a lesson, pepper it with an anecdote about a classmate, then relate it to a story about the boyfriend or the City. End with a complicated French recipe that no one is ever going to make. The book is a string of these predictable vignettes, none of which is particularly exciting because there is little lead up - if the triumph over puff pastry had a deeper psychological significance then it would be interesting. Instead, the triumph over puff pastry was because, predictably, she practiced at home. Woo hoo!
I ended up putting the book down 3/4 of the way through, realizing I was trudging through not caring about any of the characters and really wishing she explored one or two relationships in depth - her relationship with herself and a cooking teacher, for example. Flinn is frequently criticized for not using enough salt in her sauces, a simple device for bringing out the flavor in the ingredients. In my opinion, this whole book needs salt.
Produkt InformationAutor:
Kathleen Flinn
Recording label: Viking Adult Hersteller: Viking AdultEAN: 9780670018222Format: HardcoverDewey decimal number: 641.07ISBN: 0670018228Artikelzahl: 1Seitenzahl: 304Erscheinungsdatum: 2007-10-04Sprache: English (Original Language)
Sprache: English (Unknown)
Sprache: English (Published)
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