Book Log 2016 #45: Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

It's not hard to be intrigued by Marcus Samuelsson, the Ethiopian turned Swede who at 24 became internationally renowned as the executive chef at Aquavit restaurant in New York City. This autobiography recounts how Samuelsson perservered over losing his mother in a tuberculosis epidemic, being separated from his father (who was still in their home village), and moving to Sweden (which is pretty much the exact opposite of Ethiopia), where he regularly cooked with is adoptive grandmother, setting him on the course to fame.

I have to admit I expected more struggle once Samuelsson got to Sweden, just from a racial perspective, but it seems like where the struggle really started was when he started in cooking, where he felt he needed to be the best to get the sort of notice that European chefs would get without perfection.

I do feel like the book hit its stride at the end, when Samuelsson opens Red Rooster in Harlem and reconnects with his father (and 18 step-siblings!) in Ethiopia. This really closed the circle for me, both for how obviously excited Samuelsson was to further explore his African roots and for realizing how uniquely lucky he was in being able to see family again.