High Bonnet: A Novel of Epicurean Adventures

By Idwal Jones

Book Overview

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 .

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375757562
• ISBN13: 9780375757563
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Modern Library
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Bourdain was right about this book.......

....it's porn for cooks! The vivid and colourful descriptions are absolutely mind-blowing. My only advice to someone thinking about reading this is that unless you really know your stuff, you might want to have a copy of Larousse handy, as there are quite a few references to things that the average reader may not understand or know about.

calling all epicures

I started to devour this book, then, afraid to get to the end too soon, I began to pace myself---in order to savor the feast thoroughly. Idwal Jones's prose is totally intoxicating--his descriptions of tastes, textures, perfumes are so vivid you can almost taste the rich sauces, smell the aroma of roasting meat, get drunk on the wines. This is not a novel of events, so much as sensations. Yet all the characters are alive and convincing. Anyone who truly connects with food and its pleasures will be ravished. Makes Proust's madeleine seem poor fare.