Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School [Paperback]

Katherine Darling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2010

A deliciously entertaining memoir about one woman’s adventures in the student kitchens of the legendary French Culinary Institute—flavored with celebrity chefs, eccentric characters, and mouthwatering recipesTo anyone who has ever dreamed of life in a French kitchen, Katherine Darling serves up a savory dose of reality in this funny, fascinating, and altogether delightful account of her time spent slaving over a hot stove, wrestling with veal calves, and cleaning fish heads at The French Culinary Institute. As she goes from clueless amateur to certified chef, Katherine and her quirky fellow students frequently find themselves the objects of scorn as their teachers wage psychological warfare over steaming pots of bisque. It’s a cutthroat world, and no one ever made a soufflé without breaking a few eggs—or cracking a few heads together. Filled with delicious food lore and trivia, and including dozens of classic and original French recipes, Under the Table takes readers deep into the trenches of one of the world’s most prestigious cooking schools—and shows what really goes on behind the doors of every great restaurant kitchen.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers dreaming of culinary school can indulge vicariously through this engaging memoir by food writer Darling. In her 20s, armed with a passion for cooking, the author left her job at a Manhattan literary agency to enroll at the French Culinary Institute. She takes what appears to be a day-by-day analysis of her entire six-month experience and extracts more narrative than might be thought possible, conveying the challenging process in episodes from omelet minutiae to the larger victories of culinary education. Darling makes the most of various incidents with her classmates who become competitors, comrades and co-conspirators—sometimes all three. As they progress together through the school's four levels to graduation, the author expands on their lessons with end-of-chapter recipes. Though the book doesn't stake out original territory, it thoroughly captures the built-in drama of a professional cook's education. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Blessed with a mother who took cooking for her family very seriously, Darling is inspired to give up her office job to take the family passion to a new level as a professional chef. She enrolls at New York City’s famed French Culinary Institute, but she finds immediately that school presents unanticipated challenges. Her fellow students run the gamut from brash urban youths to small-town naïfs not quite up to big-city challenges. A demanding curriculum keeps students hopping, and some instructors lack social graces, bluntly belittling their charges. Students are not above taking out their frustrations on one another, one of them going so far as to impale the author with a vicious trussing needle. Darling manages to hook up with a few other seriously committed students and eventually graduates first in her class. A few well-chosen recipes appear, an especially intriguing one transforming a mayonnaise disaster into a tasty pasta sauce. --Mark Knoblauch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416565299
• ISBN-13: 978-1416565291
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and Charming!, April 23, 2009

By 

Abradabra "Chicago Foodie" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Table (Kindle Edition)

I've been on a cookbook reading binge of late, so when I saw a woman reading this in the airport this weekend and laughing out loud, I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle. I found the writer's style was refreshing and humorous. Her descriptions of her Gallic chef instructors and their mannerisms had me giggling the whole way through and it is clear that Ms. Darling has a deep and passionate love of food, which really made me root for our heroine throughout the story. This book reinforced my love of cooking (I can't wait to try the Buttermilk Pie - it sounds divine) and I whole-heartedly recommend it to any food lover.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a little sauce, a lot of fluff, May 20, 2009

By 

Tommy York (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School (Hardcover)

I picked up this book at my local library, frankly, because of the appealing cover. It was no surprise to later learn that Darling worked for a time in publishing. The blurb made me think I was going to get some scandalous retelling of the trials and tribulations of chef school, and although the chef instructors were never as rough as you're originally led to believe, Darling and her fellow students make for some interesting characters.

It's a long book (at well over 300 pages), but the chapters are short, and most end with recipes. I appreciate the author's candor about not always having to be a perfect cook (at home), and most of the recipes are totally doable. Slight warning: if you're wondering about the outcome of her tenure in school, don't read the author's biography on the inner book jacket.

If you're looking for The Devil Wears Chef's Clogs, then try again. But if you want a fairly quick read (despite the size) about food and how lowly dicers become tested chefs, then this book is for you. It made me hungry quite a bit, so be prepared.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hoping for better, August 11, 2009

By 

Book Hound - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School (Hardcover)

This book is entertaining if you have a fairly wide culinary experience. However it's not what I'd call "gripping." The author occasionally has moments of self-depreciation, but it's not believable. Her ego comes thru loud and clear. The description of culinary school is interesting to one who has never attended and always wondered. The author tries to make you like her and admire her culinary skills, however by the end of the book, she was irritating and incredibly "perfect." Entertaining but not fascinating....