Product Review
For too many years a woman's place was in the kitchen--except when that kitchen happened to have a restaurant attached to it. Though every woman was expected to be a good cook, conventional wisdom declared that only men could be great chefs. Fortunately, women haven't been paying attention to conventional wisdom, as Women of Taste makes abundantly clear. Here are the stories of 32 talented and courageous women chefs, told in their own words and accompanied by a sampling of their culinary wizardry. There is Andree Abranoff, for example, a woman who never took a formal cooking class in her life, yet presides over the highly respected New York eatery, Café Crocodile. And Gale Gand, whose family was crushed when she announced she wanted to become a chef, since they believed cooking was something you did "because you can't do anything else." Their attitude has changed since Gand's ascent to the top of her profession as a pastry chef. In addition to biographies of these women and their own discussions of food, cooking, and their struggles to gain recognition in a male- dominated profession, Women of Taste includes mouthwatering photographs of the chefs' specialties, plus delectable recipes at the back. This book is proof that women chefs are baking their cake and having it, too!
From Library Journal
Russell (Women of Design, LJ 1/93) profiles 32 female chefs from the United States and Canada, along with 175 of their favorite recipes. Pioneers in the hotel industry such as Susan Weaver and Carrie Nahabedian, famous restaurateurs like Susanna Foo and Josefina Howard, and culinary impresarios such as Nancy Oakes and Patricia Williams are welcome choices. There is also a snappy interview with Julia Child. Each chef interview is preceded by commentary from the author about the chefs and their restaurants. But color pictures of the dishes accompany the interviews instead of the recipes, which are separated from their respective chefs by other chef commentaries and interviews. In addition, the recipes require preparations of professional complexity that would be difficult for the uninitiated to execute. Despite these drawbacks, Russell's respect for these women in a male-dominated profession is sensitively reflected here. Recommended for cookery collections. [See also Ann Cooper's A Woman's Place Is in the Kitchen, reviewed above.?Ed.]?Andrew Acker, New Yor.
-?Andrew Acker, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
