Sometimes I feel like the Midwest doesn't get much love from those who aren't here. We're not New York. We're not L.A. We have no oceans. But we do have a lot of heart. And that's one of things I love about chef Amy Thielen's memoir, Give a Girl a Knife.
First, let's get cheffy. Amy Thielen may be from Minnesota, but she kicked around in Manhattan's top kitchens for seven years, earning her stripes under David Bouley, Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, considered some of the best European chefs in America. A year or two in any of those kitchens can open just about any door in the world of cuisine. Listening to the stories of working their lines makes my foodie book brain so happy. I do love a good memoir about working in kitchens. And Amy Thielen's book is really good.
Each chef has their own way of approaching food. Amy's is through color. She sees the colors on the plate and builds flavors and textures from there. I so loved hearing about how she sees food, how she layers the flavors, how she experiences her time in a kitchen. Reading her take on cooking forces me to think of food differently, to see possibilities, to see the artistry.
And as amazing as that part of the memoir is, it's only half the story.
The other half of Amy's story is that of growing up in the Midwest, of the Minnesota hot dish, of her mother teaching her how to wipe down a counter with a steaming hot towel or buttering toast so thoroughly that the melted butter drips onto your chin and down your arm. She talks about the time she and her then boyfriend (now her husband) lived in a tiny handmade cabin with no running water or electricity for three years, so he could concentrate on his art. Amy spent that time growing vegetables, learning to cook with what she had, canning and pickling, tasting, testing, experimenting. She spent her free time voraciously reading cookbooks from the previous generations of Midwestern mothers cooking for their family, discovering native flavors and drawing them out, living close to the land, eating farm to table decades or even centuries before it became a popular restaurant affectation.
Amy's cooking now, her cookbook The New Midwestern Table, and her television show Heartland Table, come out of both of these traditions. She cooks with the skill and precision of an expertly trained New York chef as well as the heart of a Midwesterner who understands the land and its offerings. And just like her recipes, where she takes her favorite Minnesota ingredients and elevates them to culinary perfection, Give a Girl a Knife takes the Minnesota girl and infuses her with the confidence and prowess of a Manhattan chef, making this memoir the perfect combination of high end restaurant and down home soul.
It feels like we Midwesterners finally get the book we deserve. And I don't care what part of the country you're in, you should definitely read this book immediately.
Galleys for Give a Girl a Knife were provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.