Product Description

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable people, and the love of tales well told.  Beginning with Reichl's mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and her tastes, from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her first soufflé, to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley who championed the organic food revolution in the 1970s.  Spiced with Reichl's infectious humor and sprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the Bone is a witty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist's coming-of-age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13670 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-02
• Released on: 1999-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.com
New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl shares lessons learned at the hands (and kitchen counters) of family members and friends throughout her life, from growing up with her taste-blind mother to the comfort of cream puffs while away at boarding school on "Mars" (Montreal seemed just as far away) to her most memorable meal, taken on a mountainside in Greece.

Her stories shine with the voices and recipes of those she has encountered on the way, such as her Aunt Birdie's maid and companion, Alice, who first taught Reichl both the power of cooking and how to make perfect apple dumplings; the family's mysterious patrician housekeeper, Mrs. Peavey, who always remembered to make extra pastry for the beef Wellington; Serafina, the college roommate with whom Reichl explored a time of protest and political and personal discovery; and, finally, cookbook author Marion Cunningham, who, after tales of her midlife struggles and transformation, gave Reichl the strength to overcome her own anxieties.

Reichl's wry and gentle humor pervades the book, and makes readers feel as if they're right at the table, laughing at one great story after another (and delighting in a gourmet meal at the same time, of course). Reichl's narrative of a life lived and remembered through the palate will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

From Publishers Weekly
Reichl discovered early on that since she wasn't "pretty or funny or sexy," she could attract friends with food instead. But that initiative isn't likely to secure her an audience for her chaotic, self-satisfied memoirs, although her restaurant reviews in the New York Times are popular. Reichl's knack for describing food gives one a new appreciation for the pleasures of the table, as when she writes here: "There were eggplants the color of amethysts and plates of sliced salami and bresaola that looked like stacks of rose petals left to dry." But when she is recalling her life, she seems unable to judge what's interesting. Raised in Manhattan and Connecticut by a docile father who was a book designer and a mother who suffered from manic depression, Reichl enjoyed such middle-class perks as a Christmas in Paris when she was 13 and high school in Canada to learn French. But her mother was a blight, whom Reichl disdains to the discomfort of the reader who wonders if she exaggerates. The author studied at the University of Michigan, earned a graduate degree in art history, married a sculptor named Doug, lived in a loft in Manhattan's Bowery and then with friends bought a 17-room "cottage" in Berkeley, Calif., which turned into a commune so self-consciously offbeat that their Thanksgiving feast one year was prepared from throwaways found in a supermarket dumpster. Seasoning her memoir with recipes, Reichl takes us only through the 1970s, which seems like an arbitrary cutoff, and one hopes the years that followed were more engaging than the era recreated here.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-This gastronomic delight is best taken slowly so that readers can savor each word. Motivated by fear of her mother's bizarre cooking escapades ("She liked to brag about 'Everything Stew,' a dish invented while she was concocting a casserole out of a two-week-old turkey carcass"), Reichl learned to cook early and her entertaining descriptions of kitchen disasters are sure to cause howls of laughter time and again. There were also some requisite difficulties, too, and readers will wince while reading of the author's weight battles and self-image problems while growing up; her college roommate's estrangement; and her mother's mental imbalances. Every job she took, from social work to commune cook, gave her one more piece of experience that eventually led to her current career, that of restaurant reviewer and writer extraordinaire. As an added bonus, this thoroughly enjoyable memoir also includes a handful of recipes that will make readers' mouths water.
Susan R. Farber, Ardsley Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Delicious to read
I've just finished reading Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table, by Ruth Reichl (former restaurant critic for the New York Times), and I feel as satisfied as if I'd just had a good meal.

Reichl guides the reader through her early experiences with food. She tells a good story, detailing her mother's manic entertaining style, the comforting aromas of her grandmother's house, her own initial forays into cooking exotic fare, and the wonderful food she encountered while traveling in Europe and North Africa.

I loved reading about Reichl's early adventures in the world of food, and she has a wonderful, self-deprecating writing style that I really like. It's hard to hate her for having an awesome job where she eats fabulous food all day because she's astonishingly honest about her life, her shortcomings, and all the ugly flaws that make her human.

Because Ruth uses food to bookmark events in her life, recipes that have been particularly memorable to her are interspersed throughout the memoir. Some that I've copied to try later include Milton's Pate (a chicken-liver pate. I've never made pate, but this one looks easy enough to try.), Claritha's Fried Chicken (I can tell from the recipe that it's going to be good.), Coconut Bread (This one just sounds so delicious that I want to give it a go.), and Alice's Apple Dumplings with Hard Sauce (which looks easy, yummy, and infinitely eatable).

I so enjoyed this book, and I'll be reading more of Reichl in the future.

Warning - lot's of gushing to follow
I was in love with this book from the first words of the introduction, where Reichl tells us about the story telling tradition in her family. She introduces her book thus: "Everything here is true, but it may not be entirely factual. I learned early that the most important thing in life is a good story". She then proceeds to tell her stories so convincingly, with such candor and feeling, that you completely forget that some of it is embellished for story telling purposes.

The recipes are absolutely charming and wonderful, a very genuine addition. They may not be the best recipes, some of them may well be old fashioned, but they are honest and intended as an illustration; she includes no photos after the one on the cover - the recipes serve as photos of her life as told here.

This book is about Reichl's life with food. It is not a true autobiography, but anecdotes that are slices and bites of her life. We feel we know Ruth while realizing that we don't know everything about her. But then isn't that the reality of most friendships? And Ruth does feel like a friend that you are getting to know.

Anyone who loves food and cooking will get great pleasure from this book. It is always charming, always engaging, always entertaining. I ordered her sequel the minute I read the last word.

!!
Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone opened my eyes to a new way of looking at life. I never imagined that a person could find themselves so entranced by food. Her passion for cooking, tasting, eating, and critiquing food is proudly revealed with each word. Although she began her career as a food critic for the New York Times, she impresses me with her versatility when she writes such an intriguing and personal memoir as Tender at the Bone.
Each important relationship she has is usually documented with a recipe or a dish. When Ruth's mother comes to meet her daughter's new and perpetually tan roommate, she jumps to conclusions: "I guess I'm a prejudiced person. It never occurred to me that your roommate would be negro". Ruth replies, " 'Oh, she's not...Her family is from Guyana...They are not negro.' And to prove it I gave her some of the coconut bread that Serafina's mother had sent" (107). On the following page, the coconut bread recipe is provided. I never would have thought that coconut bread could hold such secrets as family heritage!
Reichl also tends to judge people based on their cooking. Her mother, for example, is outrageous and creates equally outrageous concoctions that Ruth must prevent her loved ones from eating, otherwise they will end up in the hospital with food-sickness (as 26 of the guests at her son's engagement party did). Her Aunt Birdie, who is very set in her ways, has her one dish: potato salad. This lack of culinary diversity characterizes Aunt Birdie as the simple, old-fashioned lady that she is. With this memoir I have no doubt become more aware of people's cooking habits, and what it reveals about their personalities.