The Cook

by Maylis de Kerangal, Sam Taylor (Translator)

Maylis de Kerangal follows up her acclaimed novel The Heart with a dissection of the world of a young Parisian chef

More like a poetic biographical essay on a fictional person than a novel, The Cook is a coming-of-age journey centered on Mauro, a young self-taught cook. The story is told by an unnamed female narrator, Mauro’s friend and disciple who we also suspect might be in love with him. Set not only in Paris but in Berlin, Thailand, Burma, and other far-flung places over the course of fifteen years, the book is hyperrealistic—to the point of feeling, at times, like a documentary. It transcends this simplistic form, however, through the lyricism and intensely vivid evocative nature of Maylis de Kerangal’s prose, which conjures moods, sensations, and flavors, as well as the exhausting rigor and sometimes violent abuses of kitchen work.

In The Cook, we follow Mauro as he finds his path in life: baking cakes as a child; cooking for his friends as a teenager; a series of studies, jobs, and travels; a failed love affair; a successful business; a virtual nervous breakdown; and—at the end—a rediscovery of his hunger for cooking, his appetite for life.

Genres: Fiction, Food, France, Novella, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Cooking

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2016

About the author

Maylis de Kerangal est une femme de lettres française, née le 16 juin 1967 à Toulon. Elle passe son enfance au Havre, fille et petite-fille de capitaine au long cours. Elle étudie en classe préparatoire au lycée Jeanne-d'Arc de Rouen et ensuite à Paris de 1985 à 1990 l'histoire, la philosophie et l'ethnologie. Elle commence à travailler chez Gallimard jeunesse une première fois de 1991 à 1996, avant de faire deux séjours aux États-Unis, à Golden dans le Colorado en 1997. Elle reprend sa formation en passant une année à l'EHESS à Paris en 1998.

Carrière d'écrivain[modifier | modifier le code]
Elle publie son premier roman, Je marche sous un ciel de traîne, en 2000, suivis en 2003 par La Vie voyageuse, puis par Ni fleurs, ni couronnes en 2006, Dans les rapides en 2007 et par Corniche Kennedy en 2008. Ce dernier roman figure cette année-là dans la sélection de plusieurs prix littéraires comme le Médicis ou le Femina.

Elle crée en même temps les Éditions du Baron Perché spécialisées dans la jeunesse où elle travaille de 2004 à 2008, avant de se consacrer à l'écriture. Elle participe aussi à la revue Inculte3.

Son roman Naissance d'un pont est publié en 2010. Selon elle, « Il s’agit d’une sorte de western, autrement dit d’un roman de fondation, et la référence à ce genre cinématographique opère dans le texte, l’écriture travaille en plan large, brasse du ciel, des paysages, des matières, des hommes, et resserre sa focale sur les héros qui sont toujours pris dans l’action, dans la nécessité de répondre à une situation. ». Le 3 novembre 2010, l'ouvrage remporte à l'unanimité et au premier tour le prix Médicis. Le livre remporte aussi le Prix Franz Hessel et est, la même année, sélectionné pour les prix Femina, Goncourt, et Flore. Le Prix Franz Hessel permet à l'ouvrage de bénéficier d'une traduction en allemand, parue en 2012 chez Suhrkamp.

En 2011, elle est l'une des participantes du Salon du livre de Beyrouth au BIEL (Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center).

En 2012, elle remporte le prix Landerneau pour son roman Tangente vers l'est paru aux éditions Verticales.

En 2014, elle est la première lauréate du Roman des étudiants France Culture-Télérama (ancien Prix France Culture-Télérama), pour son roman Réparer les vivants14 qui a été aussi couronnée par le Grand prix RTL-Lire 2014. Dans celui-ci, elle suit pendant 24 heures le périple du coeur du jeune Simon, en mort cérébrale, jusqu'à la transplantation.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Cook" is an exploration of human passion: The novella follows Mauro, a young Parisian student and food enthusiast, on his path to becoming a professional cook, changing restaurants and travelling the world in order to widen his personal and professional horizon, constantly moving in oder to find his own destination. The story is told from the perspective of a friend about whom we learn next to nothing: She serves as a narrative device to track the protagonist's development, but also his changing appearance and state of mind. Mauro follows his ambition and encounters his own limitations, re-adjusts and tries to balance different aspects of his life without giving up on his passion - this book is a novel of development, set in the culinary world, that also discusses cultural aspects of cooking and dining, like food as art or as a communal experience.

I wouldn't subscribe that the text is "hyperrealistic" (as the blurb claims for some reason), but the narration certainly plays with the detachment of the journalistic report, which gives the text a special feel. On top of that, Sam Taylor did an excellent job with the translation (as you would expect from the guy who translated Binet's hyper-complex HHhH). This book certainly made me want to read more Maylis de Kerangal.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to join the chorus of perplexed readers who say this is not really a novel, but we don't know what to call it. It's a novella-length narration of a fictional chef's life, and while you get some peeks into his personality, there is not really much of a story, per se. Just descriptions of his work life as he moves from place to place. You can see he is gaining in knowledge, passion, and reputation, but you don't really get much farther. It's rather like a documentary film crew following a career, but with words.

I mean, I enjoyed it. But this is nowhere near the beauty and depth of the previous novel I so loved by this author, The Heart. This is a great example of descriptive writing but really that should be a component of something larger for readers to make any meaning of the details.

Thanks to the publisher for providing access to this title through Edelweiss. It came out March 26, 2019.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pleasant enough little book, composed of scenes in the life of a fictional chef named Mauro. Each chapter picks up with the young man at a different point as he travels through Europe, studying and working in various restaurants. He began his informal apprenticeship as a teen when he made hearty, gourmet-ish meals for his five friends. Gradually you work out that the narrator is a female friend. Thankfully, she doesn’t idealize Mauro; she realistically portrays his faults (workaholic, anyone?), his cynicism and his occasional depression.

If you’ve read The Heart / Mend the Living, you’ll know that de Kerangal writes exquisite prose. Here the descriptions of meals are mouthwatering, and the kitchen’s often tense relationships come through powerfully. (And, luckily, the author doesn’t include lots of abstruse vocabulary words this time.) Overall, though, I’m not hugely enthusiastic. My average rating reflects the fact that I didn’t know what all these scenes are meant to add up to. Who is this Mauro in the end, and what does it matter? Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a linked short story collection, does a better job of capturing a chef and her milieu. (Out March 26th.)

Readalike: The Gourmet by Muriel Barbary

A favorite passage: “He is youthful, calm, saturnine, furtive. A cat. A Perrier with a slice of lemon. But what I need to describe are his hands. They work, work all the time; they are high-caliber tools, sensitive instruments that create, touch, test—sensors.”

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the best food book I’ve ever read. I love short books, and this one is novella length. I picked it up at Three Lives & Company in New York City. The clerk gave her approval as I put it on the counter to pay. This short book is fiction, but it reads like a biography of the main character, Mauro. The plot of the book traces his entry through the culinary world in his twenties. The descriptions of the food are lush and contrasted with a realistic view of the brutal restaurant industry. Though a novel, it feels different than a typical work of fiction. The writing lyrical, almost like a prose poem. It’s a meditation on one character with an unnamed female narrator, possibly in love with the cook, describing his journey. The writing is rich but straightforward. Each chapter lists a different dish associated with it. I don’t know if I can do justice in describing this quick 100 page book, but it’s a gem. I never lost interest and read most in one sitting.

Have you read it? If you do, please let me know. This is the type of book I want to shove into the hands of everyone I meet. ★★★★★ ◊ Paperback ◊ Fiction - Literary ◊ Purchased at Three Lives & Company in New York City. ◊ Reissued by Picador on 3/17/20. ◾︎

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food, the love of food itself, and the love of making it is an exacting taskmaster. The need to perfect that technique, to obtain that ingredient, to create on a plate, the nebulous picture you have in your mind is a never-ending love affair, not for the fainthearted.

Kerangal brings this to the table, exploring Marco's fascination with food and his giving of himself to it. Searching and exploring, tasting, and most of all, cooking. I felt the underlying passion that drove him on and on .........................

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novella read like a narrative summary written by a writer who is bored with her own story. Compared with The Heart which I adored and which was full of vivid human happenings, it felt detached and insignificant.

Or it could be I just can't get excited over novels about food, and cooks. I felt the same way about the 2020 novel The Cheffe: A Cook's Novel by Marie N'Diaye, another writer whose past novels have left me stunned and speechless, and grateful.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmmm. Can't rate this lower or higher cause not sure exactly what I read. Thumbnail sketch of a cook. I only finished because it was 100 pages of a small size book.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cook is a young man, Mauro, and the omniscient narrator is said on the inside flap to be "an unnamed young woman who may well be in love with Mauro."

However, I don't recall that the narrator ever discloses being young or a woman (or anything about themself), but is an observer often found hovering nearby, and sometimes interacting. I saw the narrator as a fictional device, occupying the liminal space between a first person narrator and a more straightforward omniscient narration. This approach resulted in something more personal than strict omniscience, yet also leaves ample room for ambiguity. At times, I wondered if indeed the narrator was meant to personify the "female gaze" — always observing and analyzing her subject, puzzling out the behaviour of a determined young man.

Mauro, the young man, is observed but never completely explained. There are limits to omniscience, and that also enhances the achievement in this short novel.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

If you will allow me the food pun, this novella makes for a nice little literary meal. For me, the pleasure was not so much in the plot (there isn't much, just slice-of-life sections that follow a young man on his journey to becoming a chef), but in the exquisite descriptions of food and culinary life. I liked how the tension between the young chef's passion for food and his (wander)lust for life come to fruition at the end of the book, uniting his personal philosophy with his career ambitions. I found it very satisfying.

The prose is clean and economical, distilling the author's message perfectly without any fluff--a bildungsroman in a quarter of the usual length. And as usual, I will comment on the translation: excellent, unobtrusive. Wish I knew more French to be able to read it in the original :P.

A nice read for any foodie, though it will leave you hungry (literally--I need to go cook something now).

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020 Women In Translation Readathon Book #1. This novella is translated from the French by Sam Taylor.

I picked this one up because I was moved by her earlier novel (The Heart), but I'm not sure how I felt about this one. It's short, and I read it in two sittings. This felt like reading a written documentary sketch of a young chef in the making. The story unfolds in a non-linear manner (which I liked), and is told from the POV of an unnamed woman - a friend? a lover?

The writing is lovely, and there are passages that made me pause, re-read, and ponder what I'd just read, but overall, this one feels like a fleeting memory that one remembers fondly. As with her earlier work, the reader is kept at an emotional distance, though it wasn't as successful here as in her previous book.

Recommended for foodies and people who like writing about food.

[angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love stories about food. Books, movies, documentaries. So when I saw this short Book I jumped at the chance to review it. The Cook is the story of a young chef as he finds his way in the culinary world. Trying different cuisines, working in kitchens, and even opening a restaurant of his own. While reading this book the life of a chef came alive. It was like a documentary in a book form. My only wish was there was more read. This book releases March 26, 2019!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've recently read de Kerangal's Painting Time and The Heart, both of which focus deeply and intensely on particular subjects, but this one lacked both the intensity and the deep dive into the subject, here, cooking, it skims the surface of the subject as the other two novels did not. Focused on a young man named Mauro who becomes a chef, the narrator is unnamed, his or her connection to Mauro never disclosed. What would have made for an interesting article doesn't quite work as a novel. Interesting, as this, I think, was written after The Heart.

[Collin Huber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading works set in the culinary world. This slim book, perhaps better described as a novella, follows a young, self-taught chef in Paris as he makes his way in the food industry. The writing captures the creative beauty as well as the brutal conditions so many face when manning a restaurant. Told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, it’s a heartfelt journey that will leave you hungering for more.

[Sidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see the appeal but not for me

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'To be a chef, you have to be prepared to get hurt.'

The Cook is a fictional novel about the making of Parisian chef Mauro told from his friend’s perspective. In the beginning he is remembering his University days, knowing he will not go back, and the summer he meets his first cook that ‘introduces him to another realm’, and Mauro ‘loves how she lives’ connected as she is to the earth, the seasons and the farm which he works with all the fresh vegetables. In a moment, later in an apartment he finds a book on cooking in his duffel bag, and everything shifts.

We travel back through the days of his youth when the young gastronome was a curious little fellow often hovering around in the kitchen, inhaling the smells of his mother and grandmother’s cooking. His first meals are made from simple, cheap foods but later he will travel to different countries, broadening his food education, creating recipes from different cultures, absorbing different sights and smells. He will perfect the alchemy of the kitchen, where at ten he will create cakes from recipes, as if it’s like a magical act. Later he will learn the brutality of the kitchen, suffer the tyranny of demanding chefs, work in kitchens of many cultures and burn himself out once he is running La Belle Saison, ‘until finally his life is reduced to the surface of a countertop.’ But it will not be the end of his cooking, he will return to his passion but only in places where it is for the love of cooking alone, far from ‘chain restaurants’ and overwhelming crowds. Mauro truly lives the life of a chef, with little free time as hones his skills. Too often friendships fall by the wayside, because there isn’t any time, his world truly is reduced to his career.

To escape the deadened feeling within him, his exhaustion, he later finds himself in Asia. He is done with frantic and wants peace, despite the offers that pour in. Some travel to see the wonderous sites, Mauro prefers to sink into the culture of the palate wherever he wanders. He never stays still for long, seeking other work in many kitchen until the tail end of the book where he has an idea for a place that caters to the diners, a ‘collective adventure’ that also pleases individual desires.

It’s not simply a book about working your way into becoming a chef, it’s about the emotional journey, the shaping of a chef’s life. Mauro isn’t your usual cook either, he is looking for meaning on a spiritual level in a sense, which you don’t usually get when reading about chefs. I think from the beginning when he opens his eyes to the farm, nature to the table, the sense of community means he could never be content to waste his days in a popular place that bustles. It’s a fast read, I wonder if I would have been engaged more if Mauro himself told his story and I could be in his head rather than feeling more like a fly on the wall, a second hand witness of sorts as his friend does all the talking. It was a decent read, a different perspective on a chef’s life, which truly is much more exhausting than I ever imagined. I cook often and it’s tiring but that’s solely for my family. It is certainly a physical endeavor, for Mauro it is all-consuming. I certainly don’t have to take anyone pushing me around or knocking me in the face with a spoon if I screw up. All that waits for me is sour faces pushing their plate away and refusing to eat. There is a love story within too but that doesn’t last because his first love is food, and it demands all of him. He is lost at times, burned out, but he always wanders the world chasing the next place, trying to fill his culinary knowledge. The Cook is an original little novel. I would like more connection to Mauro, yet it is still worth the read.

Publication Date: March 26, 2019

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed The Cook, a short novel of the life, growth, and adventures of a young wanna-be cook who ambles his way through France, Germany, Italy and back to France picking up skills and recipes and presentations as he goes, refining the art of food preparation as he matures into a chef extraordinaire.

I think you will enjoy Mauro, as well. I am pleased to recommend this novel, written in French by Maylis de Kerangal and translated by Sam Taylor, to friends and family.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Maylis de Kerangal, and Farrar, Straus & Giroux in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

pub date March 26, 2019
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
GNAB .

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cook
by Maylis de Kerangel
Translated by Sam Taylor
2016
Farrar,Straus, and Giroux
4.0 / 5.0

This is a memoir, written by a fictionalized cook, Mauro, and his culinary career in Berlin. Learning to bake cakes at 10 with no recipe, he went on to various jobs in restaurants, until finally opening one of his own. After 10 years he burnt out and sold it.

This is amazingly deep for a novel that is about 100 pages. Mauro is vivid, earnest, humble and so easy to like. His career you want to follow.
Entertaining and engaging.

[Susan A · Rating 4 out of 5]

If The Bear was a short story this would be it

[jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i bought this book on a whim, without even knowing the premise, to raise money for something special. and i loved it! the writing in this book was so easy to consume yet pungent and intelligent. this will be living in every future kitchen i own.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think much was lost in translation from the author's French discriptions and culture, by Sam Taylor. A very interesting story of a young man that always wanted to cook and became very good at it. I'm not quite sure who the woman character is that is telling his story. Reviews guess that she is a lover but nothing made me think that. I guessed it is an aunt or aquantence that has known him his whole life because she knows so much about him. "At what moment, at what precise moment, does the course of one's life narrow, solidifying this particular path as a possible or desirable future, this path and not that one or any other? I often think that it was during this stay in Berlin - of which he retains only an impression of cold and of long distances - that Mauro began to emerge from latency, that kingdom of youth. And so it is that he finds a seat in the reading room and opens the book. The library is a modern, clear, calm place. It's warm in there."

I was very impressed with the reminder that there is a pricise language used in all professions or experiences . p.18"Following a recipe means matching sensory perceptions to verbs and nouns - and, for example, learning to distinguish what is diced from what is minced, and what is minced from what is chopped.....At the same time, Mauro trains his senses and is soon able to estimate by sight the capacity of a thimble, a pinch of salt; he is able to gauge the volume and mass represented by 250 grams of flour and 50 grams of butter; knows how to adjusst temperatures and cooking times, how to date an egg, a creme, and apple. Little by little, his sensations become more precise; at each stagae of the preparation,they are mobilized as one, coalesced into a single movement, as if the boy himself were becoming unified; it's synesthesia, a feast, and now he can cook by ear as well as with his nose, hands, mouth, and eyes. His body existsmore and more; it becomes the measure of the world."

This 100 page story was very filling! Now I want to read Maylis de Keranga's previous novel "The Heart" which received the Student Choice Novel of the Year 2014 from France Culture and Telerams and was translated in 2016. And another from 2010 translated to "Birth of a Bridge". I hope the translator is Mr. Taylor again.

[jamiejars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, beautiful read!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect to finish this novel in one sitting, but here I am at midnight writing a review.

I love food (I expect most people do) but I don't consider myself a 'foodie', however, even I could appreciate the nuances and subtleties of food as presented in this work. The Cook follows the intense life of Mauro, an economics student turned chef who flits between jobs and school, never settling down for long. His social life and health deteriorate as he works 70 hour weeks but he can't stop for long.

If this novel taught me anything, it's that I myself never want to enter the restaurant business. The fast-paced work, the long shifts, the intense competition between colleagues... I think I'll just stick to enjoying food.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Morgan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite my love of movies and comics related to cooking I was not planning on picking up this slim volume, but am glad I did. It was the salami on the cover (my favorite meat, one that invigorates the taste buds, in its many forms) that brought me in, not much to lose. Well guys I lost nothing and gained much.
The bare bones story of a self taught chef told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator who's interior life we know nothing about, I was deeply moved from what I felt was beautiful prose. I've been thinking recently about works in translation and the initimate improvisational game that needs to be played between author and translator. The translator interpreting the work in the best way they see fit, bringing us into a whole other world we may not ever see. It was poetic and wonderful to read.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book from French writer Maylis de Kerangal reads more like a documentary or long journal article than a piece of fiction, but is none the less compelling for that. It’s the fictional biography of a young Parisian, Mauro, and his odyssey through the world of restaurants and cooking. Narrated by an unnamed friend, the tone is curiously detached as we follow his career in various establishments and in various countries. I found it an absorbing read in spite of its unemotional style, and I very much enjoyed accompanying Mauro as he built his career, with all the highs and lows this entailed. An interesting insight into the world of a chef, for sure.

[Elizabeth O · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Don't expect a fantastic story arc, but a nice, short (100pgs) little meandering of a young man with a passion for cooking. I loved the setting in Paris and now I want to visit a fine dining establishment and order ​a gnocchi with girolle mushrooms, or mackerel with fresh strawberries, or gnocchi with bacon and peas, or pumpkin risotto with beef braised in carrot and basil sauce-- served on a cabbage leaf, or a flaky croissant (or 5), or octopus salad with fresh fennel, or a sweet cake of potatoes with blood-orange sorbet, or..., or...

[b · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book (novella?) was just lovely—truly a pleasure to read from beginning to end. If you’re looking for some sweeping plot or high-stakes drama, this story isn’t for you, but if you’re looking for beautiful prose, a window into what it means to be human, and descriptions of food so precise and passionate they bring you to tears, then step right up my friend; you’re in for a treat.

would highly recommend this for fans of food writing, or travel writing, or people who just like to eat. it was a joy and I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book tells the story of following one's dream and marching to the beat of one's own drum...or in this case palate. "The Cook" is interesting because the reader views the main character's life through the eyes of an unknown narrator. The prose is translated beautifully and the culinary knowledge throughout makes the book extra delectable. A small portion of a book which left me fully satisfied.

[Salty Swift · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maylis de Kerangal's novel focuses on Mauro, someone who's had an obsession with cooking ever since he was a young kid. What starts as an interesting story turns into a rather lifeless list of restaurants, dishes and accomplishments of this young chef. On the bright side, the reader builds up an appetite for the wealth of gourmet dishes prepared in these pages.

[Patty Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and enjoyable read.

The story flowed well and since I have a few friends who are chefs, it was also believable.

First time I’ve read this author, will definetely read again!

Thank you to NetGalley, author and publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

[Kayla Caragein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lol. Bought this at the dollar store. Loved the cover. The writing is beautiful but I'm not the right audience.