The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen

Abridged
Author: Jacques Pepin
Narrator: Michel Chevalier
Genres: Cooking, Biographies
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Date: April 2003
Length: 10 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4.5/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain.
As a homesick boy in war-ravaged France, Jacques works on a farm in exchange for food, dodging bombs and bearing witness as German soldiers capture his father, a fighter in the Resistance. After the war he is caught up in the hurly-burly action of his mother's cafe, where he proves a natural. He endures a literal trial by fire and works his way up the ladder in France's most famous restaurant, finally becoming Charles de Gaulle's personal chef.
When Jacques comes to America, he falls in with a small group of as-yet-unknown food lovers, including Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child. A master of the American art of reinvention, he goes on to earn a graduate degree from Columbia University, turn down a job as John F. Kennedy's chef to work at Howard Johnson's, and, after a near-fatal car accident, switch careers to become a charismatic leader in the revolution that changed the way Americans approached food.
The Apprentice is the poignant and sometimes funny tale of a boy's coming of age. It is also the story of America's culinary awakening and the transformation of food from an afterthought to a national preoccupation.

Reviews (4)

Better than I hoped

Written by Anonymous on September 15th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I loved this book - Chef Pepin shares wonderful personal and professional stories - I feel like I got a real insider's look at the restaurant business, and that he let the reader in on many wonderful personal memories.

Apprentice My Life in the Kitchen

Written by Anonymous on March 28th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I like food and cooking, so I found it very interesting to read about the life of Jacques Pepin.

Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen

Written by Josi on June 11th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This was an excellent read. I watched the Jacques and Julia Child series and have always been found of him. He is a most fascinating man and his story is wonderfully told. It was hard to listen at first then I thought Jacques was actually reading it. I highly recommend it.

Apprentice

Written by Genevieve Cottraux on November 16th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I thoroughly enjoyed Jacques Pepin's story. The only thing that would have made it better would be him reading it himself. But the reader does a wonderful job and the French accent adds a lot of atmosphere. This book made me want to go to France, learn to speak French, cook, eat, drink wine...