Author(s): Bill Buford

Food & Drink | Food writing & reference | European | France

'A chomping, romping, savoury tour de force- by turns hilarious, and seriously thought provoking' Simon Schama

For most of his adult life, Bill Buford had secretly wanted to find himself in France, in a French kitchen, having mastered the art of French haute cuisine. And where better than Lyon, the most Frenchly authentic of cities and the historic gastronomic capital of the world? There were a few obstacles- he didn't speak a word of French, he had no formal training, he didn't know a soul in Lyon, and his wife and two twin toddlers currently lived in New York City.

So begins Bill Buford's vivid, hilarious, intimate account of his five-year odyssey in French cuisine. After realising that a stage in France was the necessary first step, he moves with his young family to Lyon. Studying at L'Institut Bocuse, cooking at the storied, Michelin-starred La M re Brazier, enduring the endless hours and exacting rigeur of the kitchen, Buford becomes a man obsessed - with proving himself on the line, proving that he is worthy of the gastronomic secrets he is learning, proving that French cooking actually derives from (mon dieu!) the Italian. As he befriends the local baker, attends a pig slaughter, and gradually earns the acceptance of the locals and his fellow chefs, Buford comes to understand the true grit, precision and passion of the French kitchen.

Warm, insightful and richly entertaining, Dirtis a feast of a book, which is sure to become a classic of food writing on France.

Review: For a rip-roaring account of French food culture and the dos and don'ts of working in a kitchen, look no further. -- Olivia Marks * Vogue *The Best Food Writing  *
Hugely enjoyable... Buford's patience and composure are remarkable, his reportage illuminating. -- Roger Lewis * The Times *
This book may well be an even greater pleasure than its predecessor... Delightful, highly idiosyncratic. -- Lisa Abend * New York Times Book Review *
Buford is excellent company - candid, self-deprecating and insatiably, omnivorously interested... [I] wolfed it down. -- Orlando Bird * Telegraph *
I adore Buford's enthusiasm, which is unstinting, endlessly curious and absolutist in the best sense. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *
Hugely entertaining. -- Tim Adams * Observer *
Another rollicking, food-stuffed entertainment... Gourmets and gourmands will savour this. -- Adam Begley * Spectator *
A chomping, romping, savoury tour de force: by turns hilarious (often at his own expense); and seriously thought provoking about our relationship with cooking and appetite... You finish it stuffed and groggy with happy illumination but as with every great feast, wanting even more! -- Simon Schama
I admire this book enormously; it's a profound and intuitive work of immersive journalism. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *
By turns funny, intimate, insightful, and occasionally heartbreaking. It's a remarkable book, and even readers who don't know a sabayon from a Sabatier will find it endlessly rewarding. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *

Author Biography: Bill Buford has been a writer and editor for the New Yorker since 1995. Before that he was the editor of Granta magazine for sixteen years and, in 1989, became the publisher of Granta Books. He is also the author of Heat and Among the Thugs. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, grew up in California, and was educated at UC Berkeley and Kings College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a Marshall Scholarship for his work on Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jessica Green, and their two sons.