Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking

Dirt is an absolutely outstanding book. It’s substantial fare, but I devoured it quickly. I anticipate going back to it in the future to better savor certain sections. You don’t have to, but I recommend reading his book, Heat, before reading this.Having learned a lot about working in a restaurant kitchen (Babbo), Italian cooking, and the Italian approach to food (see Heat published in 2006), Buford feels compelled to take the same approach with French cuisine. His wife, who speaks French and is a wine expert, is supportive and crucial to making it happen. They end up living in Lyon, France, with young twin sons for five years from, I believe, 2009 to 2013.Although Buford had some pretty good introductions to French Chefs via his contacts in the U.S, it was no easy matter getting into a French kitchen. He studied at a famous culinary school there, worked at a well known restaurant, and also a bakery and participated in more rustic food preparations such as the butchering of a pig and making of sausage. I think it helped that he did a couple episodes of a food show for the BBC while there and he and his wife were able to form friendships that exposed them to more of the culture than a tourist would be able to discover.He wonderfully describes the French kitchen team “le brigade” and the seriousness they bring to their craft and their adherence to the rules. These rules become the foundation for tremendous creativity as demonstrated by one of his mentors, the chef Michel Richard. Working in a French kitchen iis extremely demanding work, and there is a pride in the rigor and discipline they have. Unfortunately, bullying also seems to be prevalent.One of the themes running through the book is the relationship between Italian cooking and French cooking--namely which influenced the other--and Buford dives deep into Renaissance history. This was a topic I had little familiarity with and found it interesting, although it got a little tedious for me during points such as the comparison of French ragout to Italian ragu and the changing meaning of the term vinaigrette.I would have liked it if there had been pictures included in the book. If you’re curious like me, search in Google Maps for “Boulangerie Saint Vincent, Lyon France,” to see the bakery that Bill’s friend, Bob, owned and view the neighborhood where the Bufords lived. The backside of that building is the fresque of the Lyonnais.

Dirt is so much more than its rather zany premise. Many readers might focus on the author’s decision to leave his comfortable life as an editor at the New Yorker to plunge into training in the culinary arts in Lyons. It is easy to sympathize with his wife and twin toddlers who had their lives uprooted and discombobulated by what could be referred to as a strange whim. However, what may seem like a whim turns into years devoted to apprenticeship.But really the book has so many interesting things to say beyond the cliche of “let’s do something off the beaten path and write a memoir about it.” The book explores the relationship of France and Italy—both culinary and cultural—the peculiar role food plays in French culture, what life is like in Lyons beyond the typical romantic image of France and the changing aspect of male chauvinism in French kitchens.Ultimately, it gets at something even deeper. How food is tied up in what it means to be human. And while the theme of unnatural, processed food and its effects on this primordial relation are well known, it has rarely been plumbed better.Don’t get me wrong. There are many pages of meal creation that will delight any foodie. But the author aims at something deeper, beyond the surface descriptions of exotic French dishes and eccentric coworkers.I thought this book would be a pleasant diversion but I actually would recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand contemporary France as well as those simply with an interest in French cuisine. If nothing else, it carries an intellectual heft not common in mere diversions. Somewhat like a good restaurant it has something appetizing for every reader.

Expat books are fascinating because they illustrate the differences between the culture we live in and another. This book is focused on cooking, the story of Mr. Buford moving to France to learn the trade. I thought the book spent too much time on some areas and skipped others entirely. You are dozens and dozens of pages into the book before they even move to France. Their travails in moving from the US could have been a short chapter, not the fifty plus pages it takes.Buford knows many of the top chefs in the US and France, and in some chapters we learn details we could never get elsewhere. And while he talks of life in France, so much else seems to be missing. We don't learn much about neighbors they met (or if they got a cold shoulder). His children go to French schools but missing is discussion of what they are actually learning there (meals, that he covers) and how their experiences might differ from the US. Buford alludes to not speaking French well when he starts but glosses over how he was communicating with the chefs and kitchen staff his first year in France. And that first year is a key, because although his family spent about 5 years in France the book is almost entirely about the first year. The last four get just a few pages of mention.Rather than looking over the shoulder of Buford and his family during their France journey along with commentary on what they were thinking, the book is more vignettes from their first year. There seems to be so much more than could have been told.

In North America, organic, locavore, farm-to-table, snout-to-tail, and other eating practices are found in shapes that vary from fad to movement to creed, and usually amongst the affluent strata of society. In other parts of the world these are engrained in centuries-old culture. There are places where you simply eat better. Lyon is the gastronomic capital of the world. I am an unashamed foodie, flavour driven, omnivorous eater, and a cooking aficionado, and I can vouch from firsthand experience that it is so. I am also aware that like with other any quasi-religious dogmatic statement, not everyone would agree. I would invite those in this last category to read Bill Buford’s Dirt. You don’t have to agree with his chosen path, you don’t even have to like him, but take the time to see through his eyes, those of an outsider plunging as deep as possible into another culture, what are all the converging elements that make this unique city such a wondrous and unbeatable place to eat. Bon appétit.

This my first Buford book and was intrigued to read it after a positive review in The Globe and Mail. While Buford’s love of food is obvious and flows easily from the pages, he has a noticeable level of detachment when it comes to sharing his true feelings.One passage where his detachment landed with a thud was when his wife suddenly announced, seemingly out of the blue, that the family is moving back to America and all he can muster is ‘when did this happen’?...and then, bang, they are at the airport. No natural display of disappointment here - too close - let’s just sweep that one under the rug.This detachment happens several times throughout the book as he invites you along on his epicurean journey but leaves you out of any emotional connection. Puzzling indeed.

a somewhat uneven book, with some interesting bits and some slow bits. I liked it but wouldn't rush to read anything else by the author.

A very enjoyable and educational book. If you are a person who enjoys cooking ( and dining ), it is a definite must-read.

Terrific book for anyone that enjoys France, food, or a good story. The author tells his story in an incredibly humorous way, and has a way to describe everything that transports you as if you were there. Can not recommend this book enough!