An easy read
- Book: The Chef
- Location: St Moritz, Zurich
- Author: Martin Suter
I read the English translation of the German, so had to allow for some translation issues. No major faults.
It was easy to read, undemanding and entertaining.
The hype on the cover about it being a bit racy was all in the early Mills & Boon style…no detail and I am sure nothing like 50 Shades of Grey 🙂
The book sets off with a number of trails: Maravan, a Tamil chef restricted to working as kitchen washer-upper, a beautiful Swiss (I think) creative waitress and a quintessential Swiss go-between.
How their stories evolve and intertwine is what gives the book its interest.
Clearly Suter is also interested in Ayurvedic cuisine/molecular cookery, which all went a little over my head and also restaurants, economics, international trade and the shallowness of some cultural views.
For a light read, this is an easy novel set against the backdrop of Zurich, Switzerland.
I felt I was in Switzerland, not because of the casual references to events happening in passing, rather because the characters were soooo Swiss!