A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures In Extreme Cuisines (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Kim says I have a man crush on Anthony Bourdain. So what’s a man crush?My favorite urban dictionary definition of the term reads:Respect, admiration and idolization of another man. Non-sexual. Celebrities, athletes and rock stars are often the object of the man crush.Let’s see. Do I have a man crush on Anthony Bourdain by that definition? Let’s frame the question around my recent reading of A Cook’s Tour.This is Bourdain’s second, book, after Kitchen Confidential. The title is a “double dip”, a technique Bourdain has utilized throughout his career, in which he mines the same experience for both a book and television series. In this case the frame is Bourdain’s search for a perfect meal. However, the “perfect meal” question turns out to be of minimal importance to the narrative, which has the author traveling across the globe, sampling local cuisine and riffing on his responses to the people and culture. Bourdain’s strengths are myriad. First, he’s not some dumbass showing up in Morocco or Paris, trying a snail, and saying, “this tastes good.” He knows his food and he knows it well. The San Francisco chapter, including a visit to Keller’s French Laundry, shows off the author’s encyclopedic food knowledge. Second, he treats the people and cultures he encounters with great respect. Bourdain values consistency and hard work and seems equally awed by both the best chefs in the world and the Bedouin riders that get him high on a desert night. Third, he seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously but takes his work very seriously. While he’ll mock himself silly for his corporate whoredom to the Food Network pimp, you can tell he doesn’t want to write a crappy book or make a lame episode (although in his own estimation he’s done both). Finally, he writes and talks about food and traveling like a crime fiction fan with a couple of his own crime novels under his belt. All of which is true. He notices the guy who brings the salsa and wonders what he does after work. In some ways I don’t want to like Anthony Bourdain. I’m a vegetarian, in his eyes a sworn enemy (his shredding of a Californian vegetarian potluck is priceless). He never shuts the hell up about New York, and I’m from Chicago. If I saw him on the street I wouldn’t approach him, because I would feel like an asshole and, while he would probably try to be civil, from what I can tell he’s just want to get the hell away from anyone who ever wanted to talk with him about his books. I admire that. If he wanted to bask in fans’ attention I doubt I’d be a fan.But do I have a man crush? Two out of three. I respect and admire Bourdain, but I don’t idolize him. I don’t want to be him. I love his books, and I can’t think of a better show to which to work out than No Reservations. A Cook’s Tour reads like a murderless noir novel where the characters eat a lot and taunt the cameramen. And I like that idea. Bourdain is an original; there’s no one like him, and imitators, well, they sound stupid when they try to sound like Bourdain. So sorry, Kim, no man crush. But I’m reading Twilight next, and there’s always Edward…
Anthony Bourdain's second book has him traveling the globe looking for the "perfect" meal. Visiting locales like France, Portugal, Morocco, Japan, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as a little bit of his home country, Bourdain's goal is to try true, authentic, fresh food and not be afraid to join in and eat like the locals. No matter what their speciality is. Lamb testicles in Morocco, the beating heart of a cobra in Vietnam, haggis in Scotland, nattō in Japan. He's willing (though sometimes understandably reluctant) to try it all and along the way discover that it might actually be good. Except nattō. That just looked disgusting.Told in vignettes each section focuses on one part of the location he is currently in. There are quite a few from Vietnam and even though they happened concurrently and interspersed throughout the book which can be a little odd to read. The journey he went on was also filmed by the Food Network for the show of the same name and I have that ready to watch to add another dimension to the story. From looking at the episode titles on that it seems that is just as mixed up but in a completely different order to the book.I've always been an adventurous eater, willing to try anything once, though I don't have a very wide or refined palate. That said I'd be willing to give his trip a try (minus part of the time in Cambodia where he visited a Khmer Rouge-ran city) and hopefully have my horizons expanded. One of Bourdain's beliefs is that nothing should be wasted and all the places he visits are cultures which also embrace that philosophy. Just because some people may be squeamish with things like offal doesn't mean it should be thrown away. The more that can be used out of one animal means the less total number of animals needed to feed people. And it can be quite tasty. Liver and kidney are both nice, though I'm not really a fan of brain, heart or tongue.One of my issues with the book is it didn't venture to enough places. He visited 5 European countries, 3 in Asia, 2 in the Americas and 1 in Africa. Maybe a little less time in Europe and some more elsewhere would have been good. But his current show, No Reservations, has taken care of that. I really liked Bourdain's attitude - self-deprecating, honest, harsh but always respectful of other cultures and willing to give things a try. And also passionate about the eradication of vegans. A great book I look forward to watching the show and then probably grabbing his next book.
What do You think about A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures In Extreme Cuisines (2002)?
I love Anthony Bourdain. I have seen every episode of every TV series he's hosted and this is his third book that I have read now. I have met people who cannot stand his snarky, sarcastic, and often-times vulgar attitude, but I still love him regardless of all that (I agree, he is snarky, sarcastic, and vulgar). I agree with almost all of his opinions that he expresses publicly and I will defend him all day long to critics.I wish I had written a review of Kitchen Confidential when I read it four years ago, because now I have forgotten the impression it gave me so it is hard for me to compare the two. But I think it is safe for me to say that I like this book more than his more famous first book. I came to know and fall in love with Bourdain as a tv host who travels the world eating amazing food and making all kinds of great friends, not as the pothead punk-turned head chef at Les Halles as many others came to know him by reading his book first. I did not read Kitchen Confidential until after having seen every episode and interview I could find, and I found that book to be rather lacking: it represented a younger, more naive Bourdain. In A Cook's Tour, Bourdain is just starting out his TV show career. By the time you get to Parts Unknown, he appears much more worldly from his years of travel.Bourdain makes no claims to writing like Twain or Steinbeck, but his books are still damn good reading. Normally I would shy away from reading anything by a TV show host, but Bourdain is my one exception, my one guilty pleasure. I find his descriptions of some places and peoples to be a little bit too romanticized, but they're still enjoyable to read because he is pretty good at writing.I liked the 5 chapters he devoted to Vietnam the most in this book, but the others were enjoyable or interesting in different ways as well. If you already think Bourdain is annoying from his show, then don't read this book.
—Patrick
I'm a fan of Anthony Bourdain's books in audio format, I find the way he reads a really nice compliment to the book. Yesterday I knew I'd have a long day of driving and sure enough logged 430 miles. This book had been saved on my iPhone for a while in audio format and figured I'd listen to it all. If you're a loyal watcher of No Reservations you'll relate to many of the stories, as they are recaps of what happened on the show. There's also the typical rants about vegans, and some rather nice words about Gordon Ramsey and more than enough praise for Thomas Keller. There isn't anything breathtakingly new in the book, like I said, it's a recap of several of the better, more interesting and thought provoking episodes of No Reservations. It was a great filler for me while driving, and that's it. The 4 star instead of the 3 is because Tony Bourdain is a great story teller. While there are only so many adjectives that can truly describe food, or the experience of eating food, he manages to actually get a pretty amazing story conveyed with his typical sidebars.
—Mike Panic
I was anxious to pick up "A Cook's Tour" after having a BLAST reading "kitchen confidential" and man, this book does NOT disappoint!Based on the former food network TV series, "A Cook's Tour" follows Anthony as he travels all over the world in search of the "perfect" meal. Along the way, shenanigans and adventures are to be had as Anthony travels the globe. The book is written in the same style as "Kitchen Confidential", but as if he's going on a whirlwind tour of the world. If you're a fan of "No Reservations" and you love hearing about Tony's travels, this is a must-read book for you. If Goodreads allowed half-star reviews, this would get four and a half stars. It's a nice quick read of Tony's travels. (The part about where they come to Madame Ngoc's restaurant in Vietnam - in the story "Very Very Strong" - is simply delightful.) This is a sweet book and I'm glad I got to read this, and I'm super glad that there's more books that Anthony has written that I cannot WAIT to read!
—bethanne
