Knives at Dawn
America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition
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- £7.49
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- £7.49
Publisher Description
Sizzling sauté pans. Screaming spectators. Television cameras. A ticking clock.
Fasten your seatbelt for the Bocuse d’Or, the world’s most challenging and prestigious cooking competition, where the pressure and the stakes could not be higher. At this real-life Top Chef, twenty-four culinary teams, each representing its home nation, cook for five and a half grueling hours. There are no elimination rounds—the teams have only this chance to cook two spectacular platters of food to be judged by a jury of chefs. Prize money, international acclaim, and national pride are on the line.
Knives at Dawn is the dramatic story of the selection and training of the 2009 American team, overseen by a triumvirate of revered culinary figures, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Jérôme Bocuse, icons portrayed here in intimate detail that only the author’s unparalleled behind-the-scenes access could yield. The stars of this chefs-as-athletes story, Timothy Hollingsworth and his assistant, or commis, Adina Guest, both from the celebrated The French Laundry in Yountville, California, are up against a determined, colorful cast of international competitors. All the hopefuls meet in an arena in Lyon, France, for the ultimate competition, where technical and mental fortitude and split-second decisions can make all the difference in the world. With its riveting details and revelatory depictions of chefs in action, Knives at Dawn delivers fascinating insights into what drives chefs in their pursuit of excellence and perfection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Every two years, chefs from around the world gather to compete in the Bocuse d'Or, a grueling cooking competition that gives participants just five and a half hours to prepare a full menu of elaborate fish and meat dishes (with their own choice of supporting ingredients). As the 2009 contest drew near, restaurateurs Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller were determined the U.S. would send a team that could finally bring back a medal; Friedman (Breaking Back) follows the quest through the selection of two cooks from Keller's French Laundry and stays with them until the final showdown. It's great fly-on-the-wall reporting that captures both the obsessive, perfectionist mindset of great chefs and their creative spontaneity under pressure as small a matter as the sudden, intuitive selection of celeriac as an ingredient in a tart becomes a moment of high drama. The pace is relentless, but Friedman's observations of Timothy Hollingworth and his assistant, Adina Guest, as they struggle to rise to the challenge will have foodies riveted all the way through. Even those who don't care about the intricate details of a nine-course meal could learn something about entrepreneurship and project management from this story.
