Heat

An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

By: Bill Buford

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

From one of our most interesting literary figures - former editor of Granta, former fiction editor at The New Yorker, acclaimed author of Among the Thugs - a sharp, funny, exuberant, close-up account of his headlong plunge into the life of a professional cook.

Expanding on his James Beard Award-winning New Yorker article, Bill Buford gives us a richly evocative chronicle of his experience as “slave” to Mario Batali in the kitchen of Batali’s three-star New York restaurant, Babbo.

In a fast-paced, candid narrative, Buford describes three frenetic years of trials and errors, disappointments and triumphs, as he worked his way up the Babbo ladder from “kitchen bitch” to line cook...his relationship with the larger-than-life Batali, whose story he learns as their friendship grows through (and sometimes despite) kitchen encounters and after-work all-nighters...and his immersion in the arts of butchery in Northern Italy, of preparing game in London, and making handmade pasta at an Italian hillside trattoria.

Heat is a marvelous hybrid: a memoir of Buford’s kitchen adventure, the story of Batali’s amazing rise to culinary (and extra-culinary) fame, a dazzling behind-the-scenes look at a famous restaurant, and an illuminating exploration of why food matters. It is a book to delight in, and to savor.

©2006 William Buford (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

A Globe & Mail Best Book of 2006
A New York Times Notable Book of 2006

“Sharing Buford’s table talk is a pleasure not to be passed up.” (Michael Redhill, The Globe and Mail)

“A dazzling and funny account of two magnificently mad years.” (The Guardian)

“[Buford] excels at vibrantly colourful descriptive writing. . . . What shines through is the story of Bill Buford falling in love with food, and his passionate journey of learning.” (Vancouver Sun)

Delightful!

The subtitle sort of says it all. Buford's book is as much about him as it is about his subjects, and that's just fine by me. He never takes himself too seriously and gives us a funny, clever, and deeply informative journey into the world of Tuscan food. Everything can seem a bit outlandish and larger than life at times, but he always saves things from veering over the top with his intelligence and warmth. It's about the food, yes. But it's also a deeply genuine and human book. For all the fuss about the culinary superstars at the heart of his story, Buford's book is just as much about the anonymous supporting cast members that he connects with: the dishwashers, line cooks, mentors, neighbors, and so on. And his serious explorations of the history of Tuscan cuisine are terrific digressions from his main story, and they support and enhance his personal journey.

The portion of his book set in Italy was my favorite. I had just returned from Tuscany (including a visit to Dario Cecchini's butcher shop and restaurant) when I read this, and Buford's writing rang very true to me. He has a fine sense of the place and its food, and his warmth for the people is evident. Reading these passages took me right back to Tuscany!

Great narration from Michael Kramer.

Strongly recommended.

Enjoyed the book immensely. Hated to finish!

Loved the telling, the historical references, the cooking details, and the humor. Narration was very good except for a few mispronunciations of foreign words, but I prefer to hear the author's voice reading the words. I've already listened to (and loved) "Dirt", and still, I'm looking forward to more from Bill Buford.

A wonderful, informative, entertaining journey.

The story is amazing. The Narrators absolutely made this so incredibly listenable, that it's become a favorite to relisten to.

just okay

This book is just okay. It tended to move a little slowly. It is a lot of kitchen talk about the behind the scenes workings of a restaurant which is is interesting for a few hours, but not for 12 hours. It's is probably great for those who are really interested in the restaurant business or are really into food.

well-read interesting book

I very much enjoyed Buford's book and the reading was pleasant and easy to follow. I was a little puzzled at how much the book focused on Mario Batali, but I enjoyed hearing about his restaurants, his management style, and the insights into other famous chefs cooking elsewhere in the world today. Back when I started travelling, everyone ate at fairly traditional restaurants with steaks and chicken and pretty blah side dishes. Now it's a global adventure and we can eat the excellent meals to which my generation was woken up by visits to Italy, France and THailand and even countries like the UK (which was world reknowned for having the worst food in the civilized world) have sophisticated cuisines well worth trying. We even great great food in the US with origins in many different countries--thanks to all these foodies who travel and bring back great ideas and great skills.

amazing book

such an amazing book its one man's quest to discover what Italian cooking really is

Interesting in the food, lacking story and structure

I really liked the Italy section and the babo section, but it feels like a small story over extended and boring at some points. At the end it would be nice to know the final results of the whole transformation, not just “I just want to be a cook”.

This writer really put his "back" into this work

Would you consider the audio edition of Heat to be better than the print version?

Loved the vocal inflexions of the reader so, yeah, audible has got to be way better.

What did you like best about this story?

Authenticity. It's one thing to write about something as an observer or a critic but it is another to write about an experience over time while starting as a novice working your way to pro. This writer left no stone unturned. He has my respect and best wishes to now start a cooking journey in France. Good luck with that one. Especially learning French. Might as well learn all the insults first - Chapter 10 of my French book - that way at least you'll know what they're saying most of the time.

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favorite?

The author who was reading the book as himself and seeing all the real-life characters up close and personal. Michael Kramer read it so well that I now associate his voice with the author himself. A close second is the Italian butcher Darius because he knew good meat and where to get it and handled customers the way I would have liked to. Have some humility - it goes far when you're learning for a lifetime which cooking requires.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I felt I was working in the kitchen, too. I had to split it up. It was very intense for me having been a culinary student for one year myself and experiencing the long intense hours and the often not-so-nice personalities that get into positions of power. I recall being criticized by one of those self-important types when I suggested putting cinnamon and a pinch of sugar in tomato sauce (my Italian grandmother's teaching). She gave me a "B" and my lab partner an "A" just to show me who was boss. There's a lot of ignorant people who call themselves "chef." She was known for not being able to cook.

Any additional comments?

If you think you want to be a chef or experience what the journey is really like, listen to this book. If you still want to do it and have the physical strength and stamina to match your desire, by all means, take the plunge. I loved it and use the knowledge every day of my life though I chose not to continue to work in restaurants. I had a B&B for 5 years and that was enough for me of cooking for other people - especially those with wierd diets or those who think they know what good food is but don't have a clue. Let them eat cereal or non-fat yogurt for breakfast! I'm just happy to cook good food for myself and my friends and family who appreciate what I do. I also record my recipes and techniques for posterity. Note the attitude of the butcher, Darius. I'm with him.

Great book on the history of Italiano life

This book has many different levels of showing what the restaurant life is like and the origins of Italian foods and life styles. I really enjoyed the depth the story go into as well as the recipes used and their descriptions. Any chef or cook working in an Italian restaurant should check out this book.

How did we wind up here??

This is a story about how a New York author who, probably supported his wife, doesn't really work, and travels back and forth to Italy. Mario Batali is mentioned slightly more often than Marco Pierre White and while he does hold a position in the kitchen, in the end, all the author really wants to be is an author. Mario offers to open a restaurant for him and he turns it down. No doubt he really has "so much more to learn, to bring his concepts to their fullest."
As far as the reader goes, at any given time I am waiting for him to finish every sentence with "Ya see... Ya Ya....." Like an old mobster from the 20's. The story line has you in a kitchen one minute then seconds later you are in Italy and you wonder how the hell you got there. Very jerky jerky. Aside from those two things, it was just an Okay story.