Book Review: Yes, Chef! by Marcus Samuelsson

Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson tells the story of his life in Yes, Chef!. I was first introduced to Samuelsson through his appearance on Bravo TV's Top Chef Masters, a reality cooking show featuring some of the country's most established and award-winning chefs competing both for the title of Top Chef and to raise money for a cause. Samuelsson won the competition, and his story intrigued me. In Yes, Chef! we learn much more of his history, and get a sensory tour of the kitchen along the way.

Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, but his mother died during a tuberculosis outbreak when he was three. Samuelsson and his older sister were eventually adopted by a Swedish couple, which is where he got his new name. His adoptive grandmother introduced Samuelsson to cooking, and at a very young age he found he had a knack for combining flavors. He attended culinary school near his childhood home, interned at elite restaurants in Europe, then worked on a cruise ship for a time to get a broader sense of world cuisine and to see a little bit of the world. Samuelsson now is one of the most recognizable faces in the culinary industry, but he had to work from the bottom up to get to where he is. He tells the story of first coming to America with little money and nowhere to stay, getting hired at a Swedish restaurant (Aquavit), and working his way up to executive chef, where at 24 he was the youngest person to ever win three stars from the New York Times. A James Beard award (the restaurant world's equivalent of the Oscars) for best chef New York City followed. He later won another Beard award for food writing for Yes, Chef!

More than a biography of Samuelsson's career, Yes, Chef! discusses the racism, both subtle and overt, that Samuelsson has encountered in the industry, including how it affected his early efforts to work in European restaurants and the restaurant industry in America. It is a book about identity. As an Ethiopian born Swede, Samuelsson eventually took a journey back to Africa to find his roots, and found both family he didn't know he had as well as a broad flavor spectrum that wasn't well known outside of Africa. That discovery was the basis for his award winning cookbook The Soul of a New Cuisine.

You would expect a book from a master chef about his career to discuss food. Like his culinary creations, Samuelsson's writing exceeds your expectations. Even his earliest childhood memories are infused with the smells and flavors of the kitchen, the ingredients and flavor combinations leaping off the page. We see not only the inspiration and the thinking behind the recipes, but the trial and error that leads to their perfection.

Yes, Chef! is an absolute must-read for foodies and culinary students. Samuelsson's appeal as a celebrity chef, well-known from many television appearances, will also help the book find the larger audience it deserves.