Why do you think Buford is so obsessed with finding out when the egg first appeared in pasta dough? In what ways does he differ from the professionals that he encounters? Aside from the obvious financial motivations, why are all of these men unwilling to let any food go to waste?īuford is completely flummoxed by the lack of interest among the professionals he encounters in the history of pasta. Likewise, when Buford brings home the pig from the green market, he uses all of it except for the lungs. Would knowing a restaurant’s recipes alter your dining experience? Why or why not?ĭario and Batali try to waste as little as possible. When the Babbo cookbook is about to be published, Batali tells his staff that they will have to come up with new recipes since all of the secrets of Babbo will be revealed. In what ways does Batali’s celebrity affect his interactions with the staff of Babbo? How is this especially noticeable in his dealings with Andy?ĭo you think that Buford is correct in his assessment that Marco Pierre White is the first person to show Mario Batali what a chef could be? Why do you think Batali and White were unable to work together?

Do you agree that the best way to learn to cook is in the kitchen? What have you learned from cooking shows and cookbooks?

Not by reading a book or watching a television program or going to cooking school.” While Batali has done this in his own career, he is also the host of several cooking shows and author of several cookbooks. Mario Batali tells Buford, “You learn by working in the kitchen. Throughout Heat, Buford describes himself as a “kitchen bitch” and “kitchen slave.” What does he mean? Do you agree with his assessment of his status in the kitchen of Babbo? Buford says, “I came to regard the prep kitchen as something like a culinary boot camp.” In what ways do the other chefs, Elisa in particular, appear almost militaristic in their approach to cooking? How does Buford’s description of the psychical exhaustion he endures help convey the similarities between the Babbo kitchen and boot camp?

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