The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School

by Flinn, Kathleen

• ISBN13: 9780143114130
• ISBN10: 0143114131
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-02
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

This is the funny and inspiring account of Kathleen Flinn’s struggle in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, her own wretchedly inadequate” French, and the basics of French cuisine. Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder—until her boss eliminated her job. So she cashed in her savings and moved to Paris to pursue her lifelong dream of attending the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Fans of Julie & Juliaand the late Julia Child will be richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of self-discovery, transformation, and ultimately love.

Author Biography

Kathleen Flinn has been a writer and journalist for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Sun- Times, Smithsonian, USA Today, Men-'s Fitness, The Globe and Mail, and many other publications.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	p. ix
Prologue: This Is Not for Pretend	p. 1
Basic Cuisine	p. 5
Life Is Not a Dress Rehearsal	p. 7
Lost in Translation	p. 17
Culinary Boot Camp	p. 25
Taking Stock	p. 35
Memoirs of a Quiche	p. 46
La Vie en Rose	p. 56
No Bones About It	p. 66
Splitting Hares	p. 74
The Souffle Also Rises	p. 83
As the Vegetables Turn	p. 92
Final Exam-Basic	p. 103
Intermediate Cuisine	p. 113
Class Break: Spain	p. 115
C'est la Vie, C'est la Guerre	p. 118
A Week in Provence	p. 128
Rites of Passage	p. 134
The Silence of the Lamb	p. 143
"I Am a Pizza for Kathleen"	p. 150
A Sauce Thicker Than Blood	p. 158
La Catastrophe Americaine	p. 164
Bon Travail	p. 171
Final exam-Intermediate	p. 177
Superior Cuisine	p. 183
Class Break: Normandy, then America	p. 185
Back in Bleu	p. 189
Great Expectations	p. 202
Gods, Monsters, and Slaves	p. 211
La Danse	p. 220
Bye-bye, Lobster	p. 231
I Didn't Always Hate My Job	p. 243
An American Hospital in Paris	p. 249
Final Exam-Superior	p. 259
Epilogue: Thanksgiving in Paris	p. 271
Extra Recipes	p. 275
Acknowledgments	p. 279
Selected Bibliography	p. 281
Index of Recipes	p. 283
Menu Guide for Book Clubs	p. 286
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