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Book on CD performed by Neil Shah
Hassan Haji was born into a restaurant family. Starting with his grandfather’s restaurant in Mumbai, the family has made food their passion and careers. But after a tragic fire, they pull up stakes and set out across continents, ultimately settling in the small mountain village of Lumiere France. The village has never seen anything like the noisy extended family with their exotic Indian cuisine. And across the street from their Maison Mumbai is the venerated Le ...more
Hassan Haji was born into a restaurant family. Starting with his grandfather’s restaurant in Mumbai, the family has made food their passion and careers. But after a tragic fire, they pull up stakes and set out across continents, ultimately settling in the small mountain village of Lumiere France. The village has never seen anything like the noisy extended family with their exotic Indian cuisine. And across the street from their Maison Mumbai is the venerated Le ...more
This was an enjoyable, quite delicious read. I loved viewing the development of a top chef from start to finish, from the inside. A teenager from India, with a stop in England and then on to France, goes on to be a three star chef in French cuisine. I could feel his teenage angst as he grew up, his love/embarrassment for his father. The book is full of interesting, quirky characters that inhabit his life as he single-mindedly pursues his passion. The passion for cooking seems to preclude other p
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To begin, I rate the book 3.5 stars. An interesting story of human relations, evolution of the self, and a passion for the culinary world. I enjoyed, very much, Hassan's rise to success especially his relationship with Madame Mallory. The author brought life to food in such a way that as many others have expressed, "...the food is a character of the story." My main critique is the pacing of Part 3, some segments were a bit lengthy and didn't benefit the overall story.
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Jan 23, 2011
Kelly
marked it as to-read
Feb 02, 2016
Celia
marked it as maybe
