Blood, Bones & Butter

Blood, Bones & Butter: The inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef is the type of memoir that will delight all personality types. My Fun Freedom (SFP) sister-in-law gave this book to my Organic Freedom (NFP) sister who gave it to me, a Classic Freedom (SFJ) and the world’s slowest reader. It sat unread for a year because it’s a memoir of a chef. I thought, “Why would I want to read a random chef’s memoirs?” Wow, was I wrong.

It also sat unread because I felt compelled to finish a book my brother gave me over a decade ago. Who is nicer than me?? SO, once I finished The Mists of Avalon—it was 800 pages, took me about 3 years to finish—AND once I gave up on Jonathan Fenby’s biography of Chang Kai-Shek who was neither a nice nor an inspiring man, I started THIS book and instantly fell in love. I can’t wait to visit her restaurant, Prune.

I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that most chefs are probably not Classics (SJ), Smart Structures (NTJ) or Organic Structure (NFJ) because we seem to relish inhabiting structured worlds for our jobs and restaurant kitchens rarely seem to be structured once the doors open and the madness begins. I haven’t quite guessed Gabrielle’s personality type yet. I think Katie thought she was a Fun (SP) but perhaps she’s an Organic Freedom (NFP) or Smart Freedom (NTP). She just seemed to get the big picture in a way that the latter two personality types always seem to easily able to do.

I’ve pasted the Amazon summary below of the book. But, you don’t have to read it. I feel confident that anyone will enjoy it.

Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamilton’s own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton’s idyllic past and her own future family—the result of a prickly marriage that nonetheless yields lasting dividends. By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamilton’s story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.