Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
By Bill Buford, read by the author
(Random House Audio)
We Americans have an insatiable appetite for behind-the-scenes kitchen stories and foodie memoirs. Fortunately, there is quite a selection of guts and glory on the menu. Bill Buford, a New Yorker staffer, wrote the new release “Heat” after working as a line cook in Mario Batali’s illustrious Manhattan restaurant, Babbo. Buford, an excellent culinary writer, does a sumptuous job of describing his transformation from a clunky observer to competent cook. Plus we get an inside peak at a celebrity chef’s world. Here are more hot listens that will appeal to your ear and taste buds:
My Life in France
By Julia Child, with Alex Prud’homme, read by Flo Salant Greenberg
(Random House Audio)
An enthusiastic reading of the famous late chef’s recent autobiography.
Tender at the Bone
By Ruth Reichl, read by the author
(Random House Audio)
New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl recounts life in the food lane–including bumps in the road by having a mom who served atrocious meals–with humor and vigor.
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
By Anthony Bourdain, read by the author
(Random House Audio)
Rough ‘n’ tumble chef Anthony Bourdain regales with his escapades in the kitchen, scares with descriptions of cooks he worked with over the years, and explains why you shouldn’t order certain foods from certain places on certain days.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
By Eric Schlosser, read by Rick Adamson
(Random House Audio)
If you’re looking for a reason to not steer through those golden arches, keep this one running on a loop in your car.
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Kristin Kloberdanz is a Chicago writer.
