The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season at El Bulli - Rilegato

Abend, Lisa

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0857201565 ISBN 13: 9780857201560

Casa editrice: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2011

Riassunto

It is, arguably, the most famous restaurant in the world and perhaps one of the most significant and influential ever: the legendary 'el Bulli' in Catalonia has attained a near-mythic reputation for culinary wizardry. But what actually goes on behind the scenes? What is the daily reality of life in the world's greatest kitchen? The Sorcerer's Apprentices tells first-hand the story of a young chef enrolled in the restaurant's legendary training course. It shows her struggle to adapt to the culture shock of el Bulli, how she and the other apprentices learn to push themselves and the limits of their culinary abilities, how they adjust to a style of cooking that is creative in the extreme and how they deal with the pressures of performing at the highest level night after night. In past years stagiers have clashed with the rather severe demeanor of Oriol Castro, the restaurant's chef de cuisine; others have gone on to work permanently at the restaurant. One, inevitably, is sent home each year, unable to fit into the high-wire act that is the el Bulli kitchen. Complicating things even more, the stagiers live together in shared apartments, so the events and emotions of their personal lives bleed more than usually into the professional. The Sorcerer's Apprentices tells these smaller, more human stories as well. At its heart, The Sorcerer's Apprentices is a quest: it tells the tale of a handful of aspiring young men and women who submit themselves to a grueling challenge in order to be made better by it. It also offers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the most famous restaurant in the world through the lens of those who, ultimately, make it work.

Su questo libro

Dalla seconda/terza di copertina:

When el Bulli closes its doors in December 2011, it will mark the passing of an institution whose patrons, drawn to Catalonia like pilgrims from around the world, are lucky to get reservations a year in advance. Voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine an unprecedented five times, el Bulli is the laboratory of Ferran Adrià, the maverick chef who has changed the face of modern cuisine. The Sorcerer's Apprentices provides, for the first time, a behind-the-scenes account of the remarkable way that Adrià runs his restaurant and, in the process, trains the next generation of culinary stars.
Behind each of the thirty or more courses that make up a meal at el Bulli is a small army of stagiaires - young cooks who do the work of executing Adrià's vision in exchange for nothing more than the opportunity to learn from the master. Granted unprecedented access to this world, Lisa Abend follows a group of stagieres as they struggle with the grueling hours, cutting-edge techniques, and personal tensions that come with working at the most revered restaurant on earth.
Abend's lively narrative captures the varied experiences of a great cast, including a Korean man who camps on the doorstep of el Bulli until he is allowed into its kitchen; a chef from one of Switzerland's top restaurants struggling to come to terms with his artistic ambitions; and an American couple whose relationship might not withstand the restaurant's unique pressures. What emerges is a tale of aspiring talent face-to-face with the opportunity of a lifetime, and an intriguing exposé of the world's most famous dining experience.
Lisa Abend is journalist based in Madrid. For the past three years, she has been Time magazine's correspondent in Spain. Her real love, though, is food writing. She contributes regularly to all the major American food magazines. Her food writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Dalla quarta di copertina:

Finally Ferran speaks. Dressed in sandals and jeans, his dark, curly hair beginning to gray and his round belly straining against the confines of his T-shirt, he is not an intimidating figure, at least not until he begins to speak. In his staccato voice, he delivers a speech that is half pep talk, half hellfire and brimstone. He begins by welcoming them and emphasizing what a remarkable opportunity they have before them. "We're going to explain creativity to you," he declares. "Each year we become more and more like a university. You're going to learn a lot. And we don't expect you to know everything, not now, not today. We" - and here he gestures to the other chefs - "don't know everything. At this point, we don't even know what the menu is going to look like. We're all starting at ground zero."

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0857201565
• ISBN 13: 9780857201560
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 304