Play Book Tag discussion

I first saw Marcus Samuelsson on Chopped and The Taste, had no idea who he was, his background, or his ethnicity even. I'm so happy I picked this book up, because I have a huge respect for him now, and enjoy seeing him when he pops up on the food network so much more. I LOVE food, food shows, eating, not so much cooking, but I figured his memoir would be about kitchen life a la Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. This was so much more.

Marcus Samuelsson was actually born in Ethiopia, and adopted with his sister to Sweden when he was very young. He wasn't planning on becoming a cook, but actually a soccer player. We see him grow up and experience discrimination within the soccer community- and how this drew him into cooking. we go through his start as a cook, how he grew into a chef, and see his live, loss, and everything in between. The only reason this didn't get 5 stars from me was because most the book stayed on the surface level of his emotions. I felt like he could have delved deeper and expressed more in regards to his adoption, his daughter, and his family relations. I understand why he didn't-this book is more focused on chef-y things, but I would have appreciated it.

Holy cow did this guy work for what he has now. He won Top Chef Masters, is considered a celebrity chef, owns and operates multiple restaurants from which he created from conception to execution. But you would never know based on how humble his writing is. Also a great bonus, his audio book is narrated by himself as well. It took a little while to get used to his accent, and some of his timing is weird, I think because English is his second/maybe third? language but kudos!

Joi wrote: "I first saw Marcus Samuelsson on Chopped and The Taste, had no idea who he was, his background, or his ethnicity even. I'm so happy I picked this book up, because I have a huge respect for him now,..."

I always enjoyed him and have one of his cookbooks.