Marcus Samuelsson is someone I first heard about when he was a judge on Top Chef. At the time I was intrigued by a Swedish chef making it in the US to the degree that he joined the Top Chef “family.” (I realize that this is not a parameter of success in the cooking world, but apart from NOMA, which I know has delicious food from experience, I get my cooking fix from reality shows.)
When I discovered that he written his autobiography, I picked it up, hoping to get an impression of his back story.
It fulfilled my expectations in that regard.
The book is well written, and tells the story of how Marcus made his way to what he is today, adopted from Ethiopia at a time when people of a different skin colour were outside the norm in semi-rural Sweden, with culinary stops in Austria, Switzerland and France along the way.
I especially like that he puts it “all” on the line – telling the story both good and bad. And I appreciate the detail that went into it.
I’m also feeling very ambivalent about it, even though I liked it, I wish that it would have been written by someone else as a biography, and with a bit more critical look on the story. But at the same time, it is a good story, and it is that whole – Scandinavian does well-ish abroad that I like…
Has anyone else read it?
