Here we go – a book all about food and a man that picks up and moves his family (including his French-speaking wine expert wife) to Lyon, France to discover what exactly goes on in the city some call the gastronomic capital of France.
Having recently read about Anthony Doerr’s year in Rome and moving his family there, it was an interesting experience to contrast the writing styles. Buford is good at self-deprecation and humor, but he is also primarily focused on food and cooking it. Doerr was more about taking in the experiences and relating them to the reader.
I’m not a big fan of name dropping famous people, or descriptions of the macho bullshit and high stress freak outs that go on in gourmet kitchens, and unfortunately there is a lot of both of these in the book. Where this book shines is looking at how French people absorbed food into their culture, and how they make the enjoyment of food (both in the eating and the production) such a critical part of their national culture.
There is also a lot of history lessons here, that might be better appreciated by food history buffs. I enjoyed reading the history but he really digs into detail here – maybe it would have been better in a different book?
So good and bad points aside I enjoyed the book and the stories within. From this maybe I’ll be a little more careful about how I cook and choose ingredients – and maybe use a little more butter in my pan sauces.
Next I’m reading Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
