High Bonnet

by Idwal Jones, Ruth Reichl (Editor), Anthony Bourdain (Introduction)

The high bonnet of Idwal Jones's book, published in 1945 and now reprinted by the Modern Library Food series, is the chef's toque, a symbol of his stature, of cooking itself. Achieving the high bonnet is the good fortune of the novel's Jean-Marie Gallois, a young confisseur (candy maker) from Provence who has earned an apprenticeship at Paris's famed Faisen d'Or restaurant. But Jean-Marie's ascension to glory is not the novel's central concern; revealing a world entirely devoted to food--getting it, eating it, and discussing it--is. In prose as sensually provocative as the dishes his characters enjoy, Jones acquaints readers with a world dedicated to pursuing pleasure at the table and the craft that makes it, in its culinary dimension at least, most possible. The joy and art of High Bonnet is that its readers instantly ally themselves with the characters--with their mania for dining high, low, and outrageous (on the perfect Potage Crécy and prehistoric muskox, for example). It's an exciting feat.

Early in the book, we meet the Baroness, who eats "with eyes half drooped, like a pigeon's in flight, allowing [a] croustade to splinter under her excellent teeth." Jones's splendid creation is also responsible for sending Jean-Marie to his apprenticeship, and thus to our encountering a Vietnamese anarchist; Guido, the roguish Italian kitchen expediter; a dwarf rôtissuer; an alcoholic waiter; a saffron-stashing sauce master, and many more extraordinary characters. Meals are enjoyed and stories are told, like that of a man "ruined by a dish," the creator of a legendary curry recipe who falls disastrously from great heights when he can no longer obtain the dish's "secret" ingredient. A philosophy is also put before us: "Never expect a perfect dinner to come from a clean kitchen," says a character; "as well as expect one from a laboratory." In our own age of mass cooking, it's particularly alluring to follow the adventures of Jean-Marie and company. High Bonnet is a window on a lost world and human activity that today cries for the book's vital passion. --Arthur Boehm

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.