OUT OF THE KITCHEN

by Jeannette Ferrary

Jeannette Ferrary, a food writer for The New York Times and author of M.F.K. Fisher and Me, tells the story of her life as it relates to food. This is the journey from a girl's ambivalence about food ("women's work") to a career immersed in cuisine. Here are the changes she went through over feminism, career, food, marriage, divorce, childraising, work, and play. All along the way, food played an important part of her life, as heritage and legacy, as symbol, as nourishment, and as pleasure. The book contains many recipes as well as portraits of many of America's most famous chefs.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Food Writing, Memoir

100 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jeannen]

Short essays, mostly pretty engaging. A good bus book.

[Noemy]

I found it delicious, especially the down to earth good humor in which she wrote it. I recommend it to anyone, especially to a self proclaim feminist.

[Liz]

I bought this book in preparation for a class at UC Berkeley that was being taught by Jeanette Ferrary. Just as she is in real life, her writing is casual, approachable, and easy to read. It starts out with her childhood stories in Brooklyn and goes on to say how food shaped her life ("women's work", she called it, and basically had no interest in it). Then she goes to France - a pivotal point for many - and has a private cooking class with Simone Beck, who co-wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking with Julia Child. She goes on to be a writer for the NYT and various other publications, as well as co-authoring cookbooks. While it is not the best food writing book that I have ever read, she is a very good writer and I enjoyed it very much.

[Canice]

The book is 247 pages long. I put it down at page 240 and didn't finish it. I guess that says it all? OK enough to stick with, but not engrossing. Lots of gaps in the narrative, and I found that annoying. For example, if I were writing about my life path to becoming a food writer, my first reference to MFK Fisher wouldn't be that she had become a friend whom I frequently visited in Glen Ellen -- where did that come from??
I read the book on my short bus trips to and from work and it was fine for that, but I wouldn't put more interest or effort into it beyond that.

[Valerie]

The author is the neighbor to my in-laws so it was fun to read her memoir knowing that she was just over the fence. The book was fun and very well written but ultimately not all that interesting to those who don't know the author. At points it felt as if she was bragging about her 'foodie' experiences and meeting the big players in that world. Overall though, I thought it was a nice, light, entertaining read.

[Al]

This is really 3.5 stars. The beginning of the book was so charming with early food memories and avoidance of all things cooking, but her transition from a complete aversion to cooking to epicure was never clearly laid out. In addition, her name-dropping in the last half of the book seemed forced as some of the encounters were only tangentially related to the main premise of her book. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable read and here writing style is clear, witty and smooth.

[Laura Ellis]

Ferrary has a way of writing that keeps you reading. Her funny childhood stories that give memories of food and what led her to become a writer in the food world are enchanting. This book brought back memories of my own childhood and those special dishes and treats that I rememberd from my child hood. This is a must read book.

[Rogue Reader]

It must have been a heady time, the 70s and 80s, when professional cooking and chef celebrities came into their own, and a profession emerged to tell their stories. This one, the education of a middle class Brooklyn palate and the excitement of the journey to cusine. Looking forward to reading Ferrary's memoir of MK Fisher.

--Ashland Mystery

[Vicky]

Very good but the ending was too self-serving.