Saturday, November 29, 2008

Heat by Bill Buford

The real (long) title of this book is

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany.

I got this as an audio book from the library and it took forever to listen to. Not because it's bad. In fact Buford reads the book exceptionally well. But because it made me hungry. I swear, everytime I listened to this, I was craving Italian food. It's a wonder I didn't gain 50 pounds just listening to this.

So Buford is a journalist who, accepting an invitation from Mario Batali, works in Batali's restaurant, Babbo, to get a feel for the business. His need to understand, really understand, Italian cooking has him traveling to Italy to apprentice with several famous cooks and butchers.

From becoming a butcher in training, to learning how to make handmade pasta (apparently the best kind) to researching the myth of Italian cooking, this book is a wonderful journey.

If you love food, just love it for the experience of food, this is the book to read.

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