32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line
By: Eric Ripert, Veronica Chambers / Narrated By: Peter Ganim
Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
What’s this? A chef of note who’s NOT an amoral drunk?!
Seriously… It seems that aaaalmooost ALL famous Chefs’ memoirs are of how debauched they are and how they live in states of wanton inebriation as they cook amazingly complex and tasty dishes yet flounder when it comes to trying to navigate life outside the kitchen (I’m looking at YOU Cat Cora!!!).
…Actually… T’ain’t just Cora, but she’s the one who’s peeved me most recently.
Add to this all the cooking shows I watched whenst I was working overnights, where all the contestants were arrogant dweebs, and really: Is it no wonder I think the vast majority of them are Them Over There as opposed to We Mortals Over Here?
Uhm, nooooo. See, I used to watch “Top Chef” a lot, and whereas there were PLENty of insolent creeps going through the challenges, and there were PLENty of haughty judges mawing down on their offerings, there was ONE chef judge who was always neat, always spiffy (Nary a rumple on his Chef’s Whites!), always gracious and kind.
Dude, Eric Ripert was just hands down a gentleman of the highest order, and he boasted a highly sensitive palate and wielded a totally amiable tongue (As in: No, he did NOT take pleasure in eviscerating a young hopeful “cheftestant”).
So >phew< I’ve been looking forward to this Memoir by him for some time and am tickled pink to add him to our Thanksgiving Listens!
Yes yes yes, you’ll find lots of food in here, but mostly this is a tender Coming of Age story (Sweet despite his stepfather’s bullying and abusiveness) of a heartbroken boy who dearly misses his early childhood when Maman was friendly and vivacious, and Père Ripert was into jazz and parties and adoring his little son. Alas, dear Père Ripert couldn’t keep it in his pants, and dear Maman goes on to be a powerhouse who uses most her strength to carry around aNOTHer loser/stepdad (Oops, I see Eric Ripert wouldn’t like it if I called his father a loser, but if the pants keep getting tossed off… well… ).
Fortunately for young Eric, an outing with his mom has him at the teeny tiny wondrous restaurant of an eccentric cook. Not a chef, no; just a gentle man who loves to cook for people, has a stunning palate to go with his talent. And best for Eric? He’s a truly kind man who takes the boy under his wing.
This sounds all hunky-dory and good but Eric, despite the welcome he’s found away from home, is kinda sorta an outta control jerk at home. He loathes his stepfather for good reason, but he’s truly angry with his mother for splitting his happy family up and bringing this jerk into the household. And so he’s rather unceremoniously tossed into boarding school.
I know I know! What about the food?
Welllll, okay, 32 Yolks is less cooking memoir and more a look at how a boy then young man survives in the world of a disastrous home life, then in the kitchens of some of the best chefs out there. Which I s’pose could be boring, but the writing is sooo emotionally evocative that I was near to ducking blows from irate chefs who tolerate no nonsense. Ripert suffered a fair amount of abuse all along the way.
Peter Ganim? Loved him but… Peter Ganim?! Where’s the French/European narrator?! He did well with ticking all the boxes as far as emoting and pacing and characters went, so gotta hand it to him. It’s just that: Seriously, no European narrators out there? This deserves it. Ahhh well, can’t have everything.
So a really good Listen about a guy who’s NOT a jerk, a stellar cook and chef, a truly decent man. I just wish this was longer, had some of how America’s been treating him, and dude! Wazzis? No shenanigans?
Who woulda thunk it?!
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