When Daniel Duane (A Mouth Like Yours) and his wife welcomed their first daughter into the world, Duane found his writing, surfing and rock-climbing skills of little use in his life as a new father. With his wife's energy completely consumed by the baby, Duane, finding himself disinterested in changing diapers, decided to contribute to domestic life by becoming the family cook. While his initial repertoire consisted of basic burritos and stir-fry, Duane had long ago attended a preschool taught by Alice Waters, the famed executive chef of Chez Panisse, a slight connection that had inspired him years later to purchase a few of her cookbooks. So he opened up his copy of Chez Panisse Vegetables and got to work.
From this simple beginning sprang an eight-year obsession with cookbooks, kitchen techniques and obtaining the freshest ingredients. Ignoring the reservations of his wife, who grew up in a restaurateur family and was ready to leave complicated cuisine behind, Duane embarked on a journey that would eventually include butchering his own meat, diving for live abalone and taking a two-day steak-eating tour of Las Vegas. While his adventures in the culinary world sustained him through personal tragedies, they also put an occasional strain on his relationships with family and friends, finally leading him to question whether his enthusiasm stemmed from a desire to feed his family or from pure self-interest. The pitfalls he recounts, including an over-the-top truffle-themed dinner party that left his friends with a lifelong truffle aversion, range from amusing to harrowing, as Duane finds that learning to cook like a man is not as important as learning to be one.
Although Duane shares his life's triumphs and heartbreaks with readers, How to Cook Like a Man remains a lighthearted examination of how food shapes our lives and how our lifestyles in turn define our eating habits. Duane describes his evolution as a cook as it entwines with his evolution as a father, from the days when he disguised his reluctance and fear of parenthood with duck legs braised in Zinfandel to happy trips to the market with two-year-old Hannah. As he learns to relax into a simpler, more self-assured culinary style, Duane also learns to let go and fall in love with family life. Readers of any culinary skill level will relate to this funny, reflective and honest memoir of one man's struggle to find his place in the kitchen and in life. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger, Infinite Reads
Shelf Talker A memoir of one man's journey toward true manhood through both culinary mastery and fatherhood.