No Experience Necessary
The Culinary Odyssey of Chef Norman Van Aken
Lanham : Taylor Trade Publishing, [2014]
Format: Ebook
Description: 1 online resource (xiv, 321 pages, 16 pages of unnumbered plates) : illustrations (some color).
No Experience Necessary is Chef Norman Van Aken's joyride of a memoir. In it he spans twenty-plus years and nearly as many jobs--including the fateful job advertisement in the local paper for a short-order cook with "no experience necessary."
Long considered a culinary renegade and a pioneering chef, Van Aken is an American original who chopped and charred, sweated and seared his way to cooking stardom with no formal training, but with extra helpings of energy, creativity, and faith.
After landing on the deceptively breezy shores of Key West, Van Aken faced hurricanes, economic downturns, and mercurial moneymen during the decades when a restaurant could open and close faster than you can type haute cuisine. From a graveyard shift grunt at an all-night barbeque joint to a James Beard-award finalist for best restaurant in America, Van Aken put his trusting heart, poetic soul, natural talent, and ever-expanding experience into every venture--and helped transform the American culinary landscape along the way.
In the irreverent tradition of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential,and populated by a rogues' gallery of colorful characters--including movie stars, legendary musicians, and culinary giants Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, and Charlie Trotter--No Experience Necessary offers a uniquely personal, highly-entertaining under-the-tablecloth view of the high-stakes world of American cuisine told with wit, insight, and great affection by a natural storyteller.
Long considered a culinary renegade and a pioneering chef, Van Aken is an American original who chopped and charred, sweated and seared his way to cooking stardom with no formal training, but with extra helpings of energy, creativity, and faith.
After landing on the deceptively breezy shores of Key West, Van Aken faced hurricanes, economic downturns, and mercurial moneymen during the decades when a restaurant could open and close faster than you can type haute cuisine. From a graveyard shift grunt at an all-night barbeque joint to a James Beard-award finalist for best restaurant in America, Van Aken put his trusting heart, poetic soul, natural talent, and ever-expanding experience into every venture--and helped transform the American culinary landscape along the way.
In the irreverent tradition of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential,and populated by a rogues' gallery of colorful characters--including movie stars, legendary musicians, and culinary giants Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, and Charlie Trotter--No Experience Necessary offers a uniquely personal, highly-entertaining under-the-tablecloth view of the high-stakes world of American cuisine told with wit, insight, and great affection by a natural storyteller.
Contents:
Prologue: The Triangle -- Pre-chef -- Deviled eggs -- Carnival rides -- Carny corn dogs -- The fireside : Hainesville, 1972-73 -- Chef salad for Miss Kitty -- The midget : Key West, 1973 -- Bicycle Sammy's potato slaw -- The Deerpath Inn : 1973-1974 -- Toké's beef and mushroom bites -- The Holiday Inn : Greeley, 1974 -- U.S.N. mulligatawny soup -- The Gale Street Inn : Diamond Lake, 1975 -- Gale Street-style slaw -- The Fox Lake Country Club : 1975-77 -- Flame on shish kabob -- 700 Duval : Key West, 1978 -- The jar cocktail -- The Pier House : Key West, 1978 -- The meatloaf contest -- Shit happens -- Tequila races salsa -- The Port of Call : Key West, 1979 -- Oysters Remick -- Chez Nancy : Key West, 1979-80 -- Smothered pork chops adobo -- The Port of Call (reprise) : Key West, 1980-82 -- Tennessee's streetcar -- Sinclair's : Lake Forest, 1982-84 -- Gordon's artichoke fritters -- Sinclair's American Grill : Jupiter, 1985 -- Daisy Duke's papaya ice cream -- Louie's Backyard : Key West, 1985-88 -- Beer-steamed shrimp with mojo rojo -- Mira : Key West, 1988 -- Tuna tartare -- Boca, Boca, Boca! : Boca Raton, 1989-90 -- Latkes with caviar and sour cream -- A Mano : Key West, 1990-92 -- Vietnamese soft spring rolls -- Epilogue: The triangle comes full circle.
Subjects:
Van Aken, Norman, 1951-
Cooks -- United States -- Biography.
Cooks -- Florida -- Key West -- Biography.
Cooking, American.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General.
COOKING / General.
Van Aken, Norman, 1951-
Cooks -- United States -- Biography.
Cooks -- Florida -- Key West -- Biography.
Cooking, American.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General.
COOKING / General.
ISBN:
9781589799158
Availability | |||
---|---|---|---|
Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
Main (Downtown) | In | ||
Main (Downtown) | In | ||
Main (Downtown) | In |