High Bonnet: A Novel of Epicurean Adventures

by Idwal Jones, Anthony Bourdain (Introduction)

The chef's towering white toque, the high bonnet, is the mark of achievement to which every young sauce-stirrer aspires. Idwal Jones's urbane novel follows the young provincial Jean as he attempts to master culinary art at the hands of Paris's most distinguished chefs. Jean will win his high bonnet and the royal bearing that accompanies it - but not until he's had many outrageous adventures, in the kitchen and out.

High Bonnet is a sly send-up of the seething politics, subtle artistry, and enslavement to the palate that constitute life behind the kitchen's swinging doors. First published in 1945 and out of print for more than four decades, High Bonnet will delight readers of Anthony Bourdain's bestselling Kitchen Confidential or of Ludwig Bemelmans's Hotel Splendide .

Genres: Food, Fiction, France, Food Writing, Cooking, Cookbooks, Food and Drink

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Kat Kiddles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whittling 8 down to 5…I propose that the top 5 quotes from this book are:

5. “Into the Rue Mouffetard we entered. Its air sparkled with frost under a chill and blue December sky. A week of mild heat and nights of plumping rain in Brittany had garnished the stalls with the splendor of early vegetables: hampers of endives, truffles, mushrooms, and cress; a plentitude of herbs; and crates of geese so fat that ancient kitcheners leaning on sticks, dewdrop on nose and coat collars turned up, gazed at them lost in dreams.” (p.93)

4. “He served the Montepulciano. The aroma of it – a mellow, winy tapestry, woven patiently by six decades of time in some dark Apennine crypt – filled the room. We were not alone. History, art, and religion crowded in with the music of trumpets and gnawing horns.” (p.42)

3. “After three or four puffs her opulent forearm, like a sack of semiliqueous fat, looped delicately at the bangled wrist, fell; the Baroness was asleep.” (p.8)

2. “She dabbed with lumps of bread and pushed them, dripping with sauce, into her mouth in absorption, as if listening to the orchestration of flavors echoing against the soundingboard of her palate.” (p.12)

…and my pick for the No.1 quote is…

1. “Pierre mixed the salad. The romaine and cress he doused with walnut oil chilled to an emulsion, turning it with wooden forks so that the bruises showed on the green in dark lines. He poured on the souring of wine vinegar and the juice of young grapes, seasoned with shallots, pepper and salt, a squeeze of anchovy, and a pinch of mustard. At the Faison d’Or the salad was in wedlock with the roast.” (p.24)

To see what else I thought of the book, see the full review at http://www.uncustomarybookreview.com/....

[Molly]

Entertaining but rather wordy book. (I can't remember when I last had to use a dictionary so much while reading a book.) It has wonderful descriptions of food and restaurant kitchens.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a memoir, this a first person fiction made up of a number of stories regarding a chef's rise through the ranks of classical French restaurants, and his eating experiences, between the wars. Published in 1945, the chef "escapes" to Spain - except they are in the middle of their war, and WWII has not started yet. ??????

Regardless, just loved this short book. Luckily read on a kindle, so with a press of the screen the loaded dictionary can explain what obscure food items are, and inform the modern reader who and what some of the classical literary and historical allusions are which dot the text.

But it is his *lush* descriptions of preparation and consumption of food that made me love this book so much. And not just high end classic French cooking. Often he describes dinners in some low end dive, surrounded by working class fellow diners, chomping away at their amazing f0od. One dinner, with the change of a chef, does not go so well - and an embarrassed host excuses himself, and goes back and trashes the place! And one of the main characters is a chef from Louisiana, now cooking in France.

Described elsewhere as "food porn", that is rather an apt description. Includes some very loose "recipes", that are fun to read, even if little help in actually preparing the dishes.

Just a short, relaxing read about food in France between the wars - a "trifle", if you will. Charming, and well worth the little time it takes to read it, if you are at all into food.

[Susan]

Light and frothy and fun. Learned what a medlar is.

[Melanie Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. If you don't like looking up words in the dictionary while reading, however, skip this one.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really the best of the series edited by Ruth Reichl. Well written with a descriptive and exotic vocabulary. Great fun and good, varied stories.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

great descriptions of food. Good use of language. But really a boring novel.

[Neil Ludman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic and Reverental

Superb prose coupled with a deep knowledge and reverence for classic French cuisine. Highly recommended for the student of cuisine.

[S Cearley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent one from Mr Jones. It has more plot than I expected, a continued string of required occurrence. The final page was completely unexpected.