2009年8月30日 星期日

Heat by Bill Buford

Bill Buford (born 1954) is an American author and journalist. Buford is the author of the books Among the Thugs and Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany.

2006's Heat is Buford's account of working for free in the kitchen of Babbo, a New York restaurant owned by Chef Mario Batali. Buford's premise is that he considered himself to be a capable home cook and wondered if he had the skill to work in a busy restaurant kitchen. He met Batali at a dinner party and asked him if he would take on Buford as his "kitchen bitch".[2][3][4][5]

Buford begins his time at Babbo in a variety of roles including dishwasher, prep cook, garbage remover and any other role demanded of him. Over the course of the book his skills improve and he is able to butcher a hog and work any station in the restaurant. Buford travels to Italy to meet cooks and chefs who were critical to Batali's early culinary development, as Buford works and lives in some of the places Batali honed his craft.



煉獄廚房食習日記:
http://blog.roodo.com/michaelcarolina/archives/9869771.html
比爾‧布福特是《紐約客》雜誌的作者兼編者。有一天,他打算下廚為朋友慶生。因緣際會,或曰青瞑牛不驚槍,「順便」邀了壽星的友人馬利歐‧巴塔立。後者是曼哈頓巴柏義大利餐廳的大廚兼合夥人,也是著名電視美食節目《非常馬利歐》的主持人。

比爾的妻子大驚失色,說:「你腦筋壞掉了嗎?居然敢邀請名廚到我們家吃晚餐?」馬利歐帶了兩瓶酒和一條醃豬肉,欣然赴宴,說:「難得有人請我到家裡吃飯。」當晚,男主人並沒有機會獻醜,因為馬利歐很快就看不下去,說還是我來吧。越俎代庖,妙鏟生花,一干人酒池肉林到清晨。

四十幾歲的比爾不想當文化人終老,他有意棄文從烹。馬利歐說:「你得在廚房裡邊做邊學,光靠看書、看電視節目或上廚藝學校是學不來的。」比爾涎著臉懇求,要在巴柏的廚房工作,「當馬利歐的奴隸」。

果然是奴隸的生活。他不計尊嚴和收入,任人呼來喚去,從最基本的備料廚房做起,埋頭洗菜洗肉去骨剶殻幾個月後,進入煉獄般燒烤部門,─燥熱,「比你這一生 去過的任何地方更炎熱」;他渴望進加入手工麵食部,被馬利歐勸阻:「你已是坐四望五之年,太老了。那部門運轉太快,你已經沒有足夠敏捷的心思。」憑著意 志,他終究進入裝盤、捏麵、煮麵的傳統行列。

然後他參考當年馬利歐習藝的路線,到義大利托斯卡尼,向豬肉販學豬肉的知識和烹調。學完豬肉,他二度到托斯卡尼學牛肉。他說,那兒的師父,嗅聞一塊肉,就 知道那頭牛的品種、畜養方式和生活狀態。我突然想到一友人,早歲當遠洋輪船的水手,無論在天涯海角哪個港口下碇,只要站在碼頭用鼻子嗅一嗅,就知道妓女戶 座落何處。我想,專業到某個程度,就成了第二天性。

一年多的拜師學藝,他逐漸了解到烹飪的技藝和哲學,和一以貫之,料理無國界的原則。他把苦樂揉雜的經驗,寫成《煉獄廚房食習日記》

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