A Chef's Tale: A Memoir of Food, France, and America (At Table)

This book is about the man behind the PBS show "Cuisine Rapide." Watching Pierre Franey on PBS many years ago took my cooking to the next level. I went to college in the mornings and worked at night. Back then, there were only soap operas and cooking shows on in the afternoon. I sure as hell wasn't going to watch soap operas, so I started watching cooking shows. While Julia Child was always sure to teach me something new, I actually preferred Chef Franey's easy going style and matter of fact recipes. Along with Madeleine Kamman and Martin Yan, I learned so much from those afternoons watching PBS. In fact, I used to write down all of his recipes and it was only in the last few years that I bought any of his cookbooks. I really wish PBS or Create would bring back "Cuisine Rapide" as I am getting tired of "Baking with Julia" as I have most of those on VHS or the recently released DVD's.This book has a whole section of recipes at the end, and Chef Franey gives the page number of some them during his narrative. I didn't know that he served with the U.S. Army during WWII and helped liberate his beloved France. He was kicked out of cooking school because he went AWOL, but instead of being punished, he was sent to an infantry unit instead. His story makes most of the current top chefs in this country look relatively lame by example. He was also Jacques Pepin's mentor when that great French chef came over here.If you enjoy reading about chefs, and want to know what life was like in the French Apprentice, then this book may be worth your while. I also recommend checking out Chef Pepin's "The Apprentice".

Fascinating journey of a world renowned chef in a time when chefs were rarely on TV, but hard at work in the kitchen. Highly readable and noteworthy for the history of French chefs in America.

If you love cooking and know of the great Pierre Franet you will love this autobiographical book. Not to mention the recipes.

A great chef and a very special man.

Great biography, great read.