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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2007)
CHOW! WINTER 2007 the accidental tourist Learning Italian food, one obsession at a time BY MOLLY TEMPLETON Y ou have to be a partic- ular kind of person to make the leap New Yorker writer and for- mer fiction editor Bill Buford does partway through Heat. As an acquaintance of chef Mario Batali, Buford asks Batali if he can try working in the kitchen at Babbo, one of Batali’s New York restaurants. Batali says yes, and Buford becomes a kitchen slave. But at some point, he becomes more than that, and not just because he moves up in the kitchen hierarchy; at some point, he quits his day job. Nice work if you can afford it. Buford gets his fair share of ribbing from the rest of Babbo’s kitchen staff, but it’s a wonder this once soft-handed writer in a professional kitchen doesn’t get more. It’s to Buford’s credit that he’s com- pletely game. He’s mocked, bumped, burned and embar- rassed, but he keeps coming back for more, and the story that results is a funny thing that sits somewhere between the inspired travelogues of Bill Bryson (for Buford begins as a stranger in a very strange land) and the accessi- ble food journalism of Michael Pollan (minus Pollan’s concern for the bigger ecological picture). Buford is an easygoing read, for all his long sentences and digressions. He’s also an entertainingly naïve narrator, his observations those of an outsider hop- ing to find an inside place. He learns at Babbo how to be part of the kitchen, but eventually particular obsessions (the origins of polenta, a change in the pasta recipe) begin to drive him to further study. Fixated on these topics, Buford slowly, gently shifts his tone: About cer- tain things, the student becomes the teacher. But when one topic is exhaust- ed, another is always waiting to be found. In the book’s last section, Buford’s fascination is meat. In a little town in Tuscany, he presents himself to a butcher, Dario Cecchini, whose shop “wasn’t simply a butcher shop but a museum of Tuscan cooking.” Dario does not care for “bizzness.” Dario is 5BEST THAI RESTAURANT 5BEST NEW RESTAURANT 2003-2004 5BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN 2004-2005 5BEST TAKE OUT 2004-2005 2 6 L u n c h S p e c i a l s • Lunch & Dinner, Dine In or Take Out H u g e V e g e t a r i a n S e l e c t i o n s • Family Owned & Operated. 580 Adams St., Eugene 344-1706 For Delivery Call Pony Express 485-2090 passionate and prickly, as apt to deny a customer a selected cut of meat as hand it over along with a quote from Dante, and his larger-than-life character, so thoroughly dedicated to the meat he pre- pares, infuses Buford’s apprenticeship. Toward the end of Heat, Buford begins to ruminate on the story of Caterina de’ Medici, rumored to have taken Italy’s food secrets with her when she left to become the queen of France. Maybe the myth is bunk, maybe it’s true, but its interest for Buford is with- out question: “If I’m really to under- stand Italian cooking,” he writes, in what may as well be a promise that Heat will have a sequel, “I need to cross the Alps and learn what happened next. I have to go to France.” ■ “Locally Grown, Locally Owned.” THE CAPELLA MARKET DELI MADE TO ORDER • Sandwiches • Coffee & Tea • Organic Juices FROM THE KITCHEN • Soups • Appetizers • Entrees • Salads SLICED TO ORDER • Side Dishes • Deli Meats • Hot Breakfast!* • Bulk Cheeses *Toast with Cheese & Tomato, French Toast, Scrambled Eggs & Cheese, Potato Romesco FOR MEETINGS & PARTIES • Box Lunches • Party Trays (Cheeses, Meats, Veggies, Olives) • Appetizers, Entrees, Side Dishes, Salads & Soups GIVE US A CALL! • 345-1014 • ASK FOR THE DELI 25th & WILLAMETTE • EUGENE • OPEN DAILY 8AM-10PM (541) 345-1014 • www.capellamarket.com www.eugeneweekly.com (across from Red Apple) • MON-FRI Lunch: 11am-3pm, Dinner: 4:30-9pm • SAT 12-9pm • SUN 4-9pm A Neighborhood Market With World-Class Variety! LIMITED INDOOR SEATING AVAILABLE 2005-2006 DOWNTOWN EUGENE’S LANDMARK BISTRO An eclectic, changing international menu The freshest local ingredients Classic cocktails & an extensive wine list Unrivaled desserts & cakes Local artist exhibitions Open All Day Everyday for Breakfast Lunch, Dinner & Desserts BROADWAY & PEARL • EUGENE • 343-3005 CHOW! JANUARY 25, 2007 9
