A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain

A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines Reviews

• 
  Gabrielle

  "Dear Anthony,
  
  This is awkward because I am married and you are dead, but... I think I'm in love with you. I guess developing a posthumous crush is a tad creepy, but hey, no one ever called me normal. Besides, I know you wouldn't have given me the time of day: I eat too much vegetarian food for things to have ever worked out between us. But damn, man, you were truly one of a kind. I've been reading your books and watching old episodes of your shows on Netflix; it breaks my heart a little bit every time, because of the way you left us - but what a legacy you left behind! This book is clearly the ancestor of “The Layover” and “No Reservations”; I devoured every page and wished you'd written a much bigger book. Or a bunch of sequels.
  
  This book gave me a glimpse of you that "Kitchen Confidential" (
  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) simply didn't. This time, I got to know you, not just your job. You put your soul on those pages, which makes this book vastly superior to its predecessor. I found out here that you were actually a romantic (not something I would have guessed from the other book!), who watched a lot of amazing movies and then went off to find out what happened off-frame in "Apocalypse Now", "Dr. Zhivago", "Laurence of Arabia" and "The Quiet American". What a crazy, beautiful thing to do!
  
  I must say, I am a bit jealous. You figured out a way to get paid to travel, eat your heart out and get drunk with the locals. Where do I get that job?! Even if the stuff you did for "A Cook's Tour" was grittier than "The Layover" and "No Reservations", it was still pretty damn epic. The way you describe how people live in mysterious places I have never had the chance to visit is so evocative and vivid: I learned some incredible things, and not just about their food! You truly had a way with words, and a gift for observing the world around you: you saw its beauty even in the seediest, most dangerous spots on the planet. You make me want to go there.
  
  I mentioned the vegetarian thing being a potential obstacle to our ever-lasting love, but frankly, as much as I love my tofu, reading what you write about foie gras somehow makes me question all my lifestyle choices (though I am truly sorry you had to suffer that vegan potluck in San Francisco; these people clearly don’t respect the vegetables they eat, which is just sad). This book contains a few very frank passages about where the meat that's on people's plates comes from and I actually find that fascinating - if a bit repulsive. My thinking is that if you are going to eat the stuff, you do need to know where it comes from, and if that offends some readers, well... fuck 'em. They can read something else if they want: I personally loved your thoughts about the dietary habits of North Americans and why a lot of them are silly at best, and hypocritically privileged at worse.
  
  I read your writing and it makes me want to pack a bag and just go to all the places I haven't been yet, to see how people live there, what they eat and if they'll be my friends. And don't worry about selling out to the Food Network: most of us are whores to a corporate overlord somewhere. You took their money and did exactly what you wanted with it, which is the best way of dealing with this. Your unflinching honesty and shamelessness has a disarming charm that makes me go completely gaga. Your appreciation for all the things (food, obviously, but people's hospitality, their traditions and their work) is so intense that it makes me feel like I've only lived half a life. Your fearlessness inspires me so much.
  
  Goodbye, Anthony. I would have tramped all over the world with you."
• 
  Knjigoholičarka

  Izuzetan je osećaj kada od knjige dobijete upravo ono što ste očekivali, a to mi se ovog leta dogodilo čak dva puta. Osećam se kao miljenik nekog knjiškog božanstva. :D
  
  U svakom slučaju, ukoliko ste gledali neki od serijala pokojnog Bordejna, bilo da je u pitanju "A Cook's Tour" (čiji nusproizvod je ova knjiga) ili "No Reservation" (isto to, samo u produkciji druge televizije), i ostale njegove emisije, znate šta da očekujete. Taman kad pomislite da vazda nadrndani Entoni u pojedinim situacijama ne može biti ciničniji ili onako velegradski nadobudniji, potpuno vas razoruža otvorenošću i radoznalošću prema drugim kulturama, kao i odsustvom snobizma kada je hrana u pitanju. Tek što je blebnuo neku budalaštinu usled neinformisanosti ili predrasuda, u stanju je da sa toliko ranjive samokritičnosti prizna da je pojeo govno i pogrešio, što je osobina koju iskreno cenim, zajedno sa odsustvom prenemaganja i palamuđenja. Prostora za napredak i učenje, naravno, uvek ima, i žao mi je što više nećemo biti u prilici da to zaista i vidimo.
  
  A što se hrane tiče, znate da je u pitanju osoba sa tačno nula gastronomskih inhibicija, pa očekujte sve - od pačijih embriona i jagnjećih muda, preko lastavičjih gnezda i hegisa, sve do obične piletine sa pirinčem ili pohovanih čokoladica u zadimljenom škotskom pabu. Sve to uz povremeni uvid u suludi svet profesionalnog kulinarstva.
  
  Da je poživeo, možda bi se pod stare dane zaista preselio u voljeni Vijetnam, pio svakog jutra kafu na plovećoj pijaci i sa nostalgijom se sećao adrenalina u njujorškom ratu restorana. Grešio bi mnogo, naučio još više, tražio i dalje savršeno jelo i zalivao ga jeftinim pivom iz obližnjeg dragstora. Možda bi stigao i do bureka, ćevapa, banice, pečene paprike, kulena, ajvara, peglane kobasice, belmuža, možda bi jeo gravče na tavče, duvan čvarke, jagnjeće sarmice, pihtije...
  
  Znam samo da mi je otvorio apetit za ostrige, koje su mi do pre neki dan bile ravne slanim slinama, a sad bi im opet dala šansu, eto kakav je to kuvar i poguzija bio.
• 
  Patricia Pham

  Bourdain - a privileged, hypocritical, crude bastard - manages to write prose that is intriguing, funny, and surprisingly poetic. I began the book as a critic of Bourdain, having just read KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, which I found to be shallow and boring at best, and also having watched his show NO RESERVATIONS, which often leaves a bad taste in my mouth for several reasons. Despite all this, there has always been something in Bourdain's writing that has kept me coming back. After reading this book, I've been unwillingly converted.
  
  A COOK'S TOUR is actually about FOOD - where it comes from, our relationship to it, and what it reflects - all unfolding through a narrative of vivid, hilarious, and usually grotesque anecdotes. Bourdain's arrogance and self-righteous tirades are quelled by more substantial moments of sensitivity, humility, and romantic introspection. I laughed out loud a minimum of twice per chapter and, at times, was choking with overwhelming sadness. In the end, he might be unfairly frolicking around milking his celebrity, but Bourdain has and will continue to experience the entire world in ways most of us cannot. Again, a lucky asshole who writes a damn good story.
• 
  MacK

  Goals for my life:
  
  1) Write better
  
  2) Cook better
  
  3) Travel more
  
  Redefined goal for life:
  
  BE LIKE ANTHONY BOURDAIN.
  
  I've listened through this book twice now, and I've loved it both times. In every case there's a new discovery to be had, a new element to enjoy, a new allusion to catch. Bourdain's voice doing the narration, a comforting mix of professor with a smoking habit and friendly guy at the bar, is perfect--naturally because it's his voice reading his words.
  
  The meandering journeys through Asia, Europe and Latin America encourage wanderlust in even the most entrenched home bodies. The accounts of food and meals will give you hunger pains even if you're full to the brim on grandma's beef stroganoff. The wit and wisdom and unedited work of America's foremost connoisseur of all things international makes this book a most read for anyone, everyone who enjoys literature, food or travel--which should be (one, two, thre---all of you)
• 
  Kim

  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.
• 
  Richard

  I can't figure what holds me back about his book. I love Anthony Bourdain's attitude about food and his philosophy about what makes a great meal. I love his desire for absolutely fresh food, right off the bleeding stick or never touching a refrigerator, and I admire the distinctions he makes about how food looks and how it tastes--my wife is one who cannot get over the appearance of food and lets it affect her enjoyment of it, while I don't care how food looks, but simply want good-tasting stuff. I love Bourdain's sense of experimentalism, his willingness to try live cobra heart, and his sense of adventure, how he searches out a fugu chef (who knows how to properly prepare poisonous blowfish), and my wife is now relieved that I take Bourdain at his word that the stuff doesn't really have much flavor and wasn't quite worth all the excitement.
  
  The concept of this book is fantastic--Anthony Bourdain travels to Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Portugal, Russia and other fine spots for the adventure of eating. And we're not just talking about the food itself--Bourdain wants the whole experience of food, from the killing of the livestock to the last shot of vodka before heading out into the night. He understands that food comes from a place and people, and he wants to know both as intimately as he can to get a true sense of what the food is about. It is a brilliant gesture in a category of writing that I find all too sterile, a style of writing often taken over by self-professed food gurus sitting in palaces removed from the real cooks and snubbing their noses at true cuisine while only praising what is served in delicate portions in a fine atmosphere. That Bourdain continually bashes Food Network stars is wonderfully brilliant and it makes me trust the man implicitly--were he to serve me brains wrapped in pig cheek and smothered with mayonnaise, I would gladly eat it if he told me it would be some good stuff.
  
  But for whatever reason, I found this book as a whole not so engaging to read, and I can only attribute that to the writing itself. I don't know if this books suffers from Bourdain's inexperience at writing, or if this simply has been edited to death to remove a lot of life from the prose. I would love to praise this book as one of the best that has ever crossed my path, for the content itself is comforting in that it expresses the heart of a true food lover, one I will probably emulate for years to come, but as a book itself, I must say that I skipped over passages that I found highly tedious to read.
• 
  Karen Foster

  Book Club Read.... Loved this travel memoir so much.... Anthony Bourdain's writing captures a precarious balance of cynicism and true wonder that's very hard to achieve. His genuine passion for good food and good people leaps off the page, as he revels in the simplicities of tradition and family in the places he explores. My mouth watered, my feet itched and I laughed my arse off. This book really spoke my language... Off now to binge watch the accompanying tv show, now streaming on Hulu...and crush on him just a little ;)
• 
  RandomAnthony

  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…
  
• 
  Emily

  I enjoyed this a lot more than
  Kitchen Confidential, primarily because Anthony Bourdain allows himself to fade into the background in several chapters of the book. I loved his descriptions of meals across the world, and almost every single chapter made me hungry and/or made me laugh out loud. There's a pig roast in Portugal, a market in Vietnam, taco stands in Oaxaca, vodka-soaked dinners in Russia and sake-soaked dinners in Japan.
  
  Bourdain has a true gift for writing about food and about meals. This book is about the search for the perfect meal, but he makes sure to qualify that - the perfect meal is "very rarely the most sophisticated," because "context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life." This is absolutely true, at least for me. The thought of venison sausage brings me back immediately to the Texas hill country in the early 2000s, and there's probably nothing better (or less authentic) than my mom's spaghetti. The adventure in this book is less about the search for the perfect meal, and more about reading other cultures through his culinary explorations. The chapters that I enjoyed the most were the most contained and conveyed an absolute sense of place through the meals (Basque, Morocco, Russia, and Portugal).
  
  I found the structure of the book a little odd, as well as the choice of locations. Bourdain has three separate chapters about Vietnam. I could certainly read about Vietnamese food forever, but because the chapters are split up through the book I was continually surprised by each return. There's also, rather shockingly, a chapter set in Cambodia, where he pays locals to take him to a Khmer Rouge stronghold. The history lesson on Cambodia is useful, but I found the entire idea that Bourdain would drag (1) his crew and (2) a bunch of local Cambodians to Pailin to be so distasteful that it soured the second part of the book for me. Bourdain repeats a couple of times that he wants to have Adventures, potentially in the style of a Joseph Conrad villain (!); he also mentions that his TV producer gently suggests that he look at a map before he goes to a country. This is certainly an honest representation of why he's choosing to travel, but it veers into a reckless arrogance that I don't particularly like.
  
  Bourdain also spends part of an entire chapter defending Gordon Ramsay for being crass and confrontational in his kitchen (I wonder why Anthony Bourdain would do that?), and writes a chapter about San Francisco that seems to be specifically targeted towards demeaning vegetarians. It's certainly possible to go to San Francisco after visiting Cambodia and feel that Americans are lucky to have accessible meat, at all, but Bourdain's attitude towards vegetarianism is so antagonistic and puzzling. If kids in Cambodia are starving, should everyone around the world say, "You're right! We should be consuming as much factory-farmed meat as possible, because that's an authentic expression of our cuisine?" There's a world of difference between Bourdain's elevation of the Portuguese pig farm slaughter and his cursory few sentences about the bland and fattening mass-produced food of the Midwest. Are we all supposed to ignore climate change until we've solved world peace? If he didn't want to go to a vegan restaurant in Berkeley, couldn't he have decided to visit India, or Israel, or Ethiopia? You don't have to be popping entire roasted birds in your mouth in Vietnam in order to experience the world's cuisine.
  
  Anyway, I liked this a lot, and Bourdain is a gifted writer. But I'm still puzzled by his position as an elder statesman of American food culture. I don't think I particularly like him.
• 
  Lola Sebastian

  This one is really something special. Much better than Kitchen Confidential. There’s a lot of heart and soul in these pages and a part of me really wishes that this were his most popular book.
• 
  Vasko Genev

  Завърших книгата в същия месец август, в който е завършена и самата тя. Синхроничност.
  
  Сред американците за аристократ се смята всеки талантлив мошеник с повече от четири коли и къща със собствена брегова ивица в района на Хамптънс. Установих, че в Шотландия смисълът на това понятие е съвсем различен. Богатите говорят различно.
  Не познавам богати американски семейства, които биха могли да посочат величествента гора с високи дървета и прелестни дълбоки потоци и да кажат: "Моят пра-пра-пра дядо е засадил тези дървета". Беше невероятно красиво.
  
  Зарових голите си стъпала в пясъка и останах така за дълго, наблюдавах как слънцето потъва между дюните като спихваща плажна топка, цветът на пустинята бързо се промени от червен в златист, премина през охра и стигна до бяло, небето също се промени. Чудех се по силата на какъв необясним късмет един нещастен, маниакално-депресивен, застаряващ, недостоен шмекер като мен - обикновен готвач от Ню Йорк без особени отличия в дългата му и скандално неравна кариера - успя да се озове тук и да осъществи мечтата си.
  
  Аз им казвам: "Аз съм най-милото и сладко същество на света. Звъниш ми в четири сутринта, защото ти трябват пари за гаранцията? Отзовавам се мигом. Няма да ти стопявам лагерите, както правят някои други главни готвачи. Няма да те унижавам пред подчинените ти или пред когото и да било друг. Не е нужно постоянно да се обръщаш към мен с "шеф". Имам чувство за хумор и във времето ми за почивка съм покварено и пропаднало животно - също като теб. Ще ти хареса да работиш с мен. Ще се забавляваме... Но ако някога ме прецакаш, ако говориш гадости зад гърба ми, ако допуснеш груба грешка или закъсняваш, ако покажеш нелоялност под каквато и да било форма, не ме е грижа дали си най-скъпият ми приятел, не ме интересува дали си спасявал проклетия ми живот, ще уволня нещастния ти задник, все едно си духам носа. Разбрахме ли се? Ясно ли е? И би ли искал да ти го напиша?" На това му се вика "откровено предупреждение". Начертал си границите. Прекоси ли ги - сбогом.
  
  Споменът е могъщ инструмент в екипировката на всеки готвач. Използван умело, би могъл да бъде смайващо ефикасен. Не знам за друг, който да си служи така успешно с него като Келър. Когато ядем четиризвезно ястие в едни от най-добрите ресторанти в света, и някакво дребно подсъзнателно напомняне продължава да ни връща назад към печените сандвичи със сирене, приготвяни от майка ни, към първото ни посещение в "Баскин-Робинс" или към първото ни ястие във френско заведение, не можем да се спрем - дори най-циничните сред нас - и да не бъдем очаровани и тласкани към състояние на блаженно смирение. Достатъчно добре е, когато едно блюдо някак ни напомня за скъп момент или грижливо скътан вкус отпреди години. Когато тези очаквания и предварителни предст��ви след това бъдат надминати, се оказваме изключително приятно изненадани.
  
  Бурдейн пише интригуващо. Книгата е леко хаотична, но е изпълнена с множество интересни истории от цял свят. Разбира се, има много храна. Кулинарна вакханалия. Бях се настроил за книга, сякаш писана от един общ образ съчетал дънгалаците Антъни Бурдейн, Джереми Кларксън и щипка от Чарлз Буковски, и горе-долу това получих, доволен съм.
  
  Любопитно ми беше да разбера, че Бурдейн толкова много е харесал Виетнам, дори си е представял да живее там.
  
  Пълен майтап беше, когато се появи българинът Миша в Камбоджа :) С него дори имаше поне две сцени, включително момент, в който карат заедно мотори, спира ги караул и на Миша се налага да влезе в качеството си на преводач :)
  
  Антъни Бурдейн е имал голяма любов, книгата започва и завършва с нея.
  
  Разбрах, че Богът на кухнята според Антъни Бурдейн, а така също и за цяла плеяда от известни готвачи, е Томъс Келър.
  
  Бурдейн е искал да напише книга за "перфектното угощение". Разбира се, накрая ставя ясно, че "перфектното" е мираж.
  
  Мексико е страната, без която ресторантьорският бранш в Америка би се сринал. Оказва се, тази страна е дала едни от най-добрите шеф готвачи в Америка, включително най-добрите специалисти на френската кухня!
  
  Разбрах, че Бурдейн е открил най-близкия вариант на споменатото "перфектно" в Япония. Там, колаборацията между уникална култура, поведение и професионализъм, почти е създала "перфектното".
  
  Колкото повече четях, толкова повече ми се гледаха предаванията на Бурдейн. Честно казано, предпочитам да го гледам и слушам. Твърде много изброени ястия, зави ми се свят, загубих се в сложните им имена :)
  
  Дояде ми се, догледа ми се, дослуша ми се! Не ми се чете за храна :D
  
  Странно, оказа се, че книгата ми е омазана само с шоколад :)
  
  
  ПП. И все пак, ако искате книга за услаждане, прочетете Сватовникът от Перигор.
• 
  Obsidian

  My Goodreads account is not keeping up with my books currently reading. I started this on Saturday (December 9th) and finished it yesterday.
  
  Anthony Bourdain is always a good read to me. I really loved his first memoir, Kitchen Confidential. I think due to what is going on in the U.S. right now, I have been reading a lot of cooking memoirs the past few weeks. There is something wonderful about reading about other cultures and their love of food. And I have tried to recreate some menus (did not attempt any in this book though for obvious reasons).
  
  Off the bat you get that Bourdain loves food. He loves meeting/talking to other food obsessed people. Starring in a television show that is taking him around the globe to eat food seemed like a win-win. Some scenes were rather hard to read about (the one describing how ducks are stuffed to make foie gras---no thank you), others are humorous, and at times you get a feeling of sadness depending on what Bourdain is going on about in a particular chapter.
  
  I have to say that the book itself jumps around a lot. I don't know if this is the order he filmed or what. We go to Russia, Tokyo, Scotland, France, England, Saigon, and other countries with Bourdain and his camera crew along with local men/women who show Bourdain how to eat/prepare their favorite dishes.
  
  I would say don't read this if you have a weak stomach though. You read about a pig being slaughtered, a goat, and about Bourdain hunting rabbits (seriously).
  
  I think my favorite chapters has to be about Bourdain waxing enthusiastically about Gordon Ramsey and Hubert Keller. I really wish I could eat at The French Laundry cause it sounds wonderful.
  
  I didn't rate this five stars since the book jumped around a lot and I didn't know what angle Bourdain was going for in the final execution of this book. Was it to share his love of food? His realizing there is no such thing as a perfect meal, rather it's the memory that you go chasing when thinking of your favorite food? Or was it to showcase other cultures and how they got really screwed by other countries (Vietnam and Cambodia).
• 
  Leftbanker

  I read this in the wake of my lament on hearing of the author’s death. His posthumously aired episode on Berlin on CNN was something of a minor masterpiece and makes me want to pack up and mover there.
  
  His short chapter on Gordon Ramsey totally turned my opinion around about that guy, at least until I see him again on TV.
  
  Part of Bourdain’s shtick is to bust on all things vegetarian, but his screed in this book is sort of childish and lacks something that is infused in almost everything he writes: humor. I just think that going through life without ever eating meat is dumb. I always mention goiters in my argument, a horrible condition brought on because of the lack of just a trace amount of iodine in the diet. What could people who avoid animal products be missing? All of their former arguments in favor of never eating meat have mostly been invalidated. It just seems stupid and random to say that you don't eat this of that. I could probably survive if I ate less pork, but to swear off this delicious animal for a lifetime is simply a profound error. It smacks of religious fanaticism, and everyone hates religion, right? Most vegetarians are suffering from an eating disorder. It's a way to control what you eat, which is pretty much the definition of an eating disorder.
• 
  Daniel Jr.

  As someone who grew up poor, ate cheap, salty stuff out of boxes and cans (powdered milk was a staple of my childhood), and never traveled, I'm a culinary dilettante at best and likely always will be. Much of the insider foodie stuff is over my head if not interesting and often fascinating. But like all quest narratives, Bourdain's--under the guise of a quest for the elusive "perfect meal"--is a quest for identity. And the guy can write. At his best, he's as good as any of the too-many memoirists out there and better than most. I'm about half-way through the book and really enjoying it.
  
  ...AAAAAND it held up very well indeed. #finished
• 
  oishi

  I want to start off by saying that this memoir (and I do think it is a memoir) made it easier to enjoy life during some especially new and turbulent moments, and I can only attribute that to what an engaged narrator Anthony Bourdain is. But, hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself.
  
  The goal of this book is clear- the blurb may convince you that the book is an insight into Bourdain's neo-colonial voyage into the best food the world has to offer, and it definitely is; but more honestly, it is Bourdain documenting his experience of starring in a reality show paying big bucks to watch one of the world's most beloved chefs eat bugs. And Bourdain doesn't shy away from how fucked both those goals are.
  
  The book in its most material, obvious sense is about taste, sensation, sweet, sour, hot, sticky, rotten. And a little bit beyond that, it is even more obviously about the importance of food, specifically in discussing "history" and "culture". Bourdain effortlessly makes evident his strange position in generalizing cultures through their tastes, experiencing freshness and spice in Vietnam, a grotesque thrill in Cambodia, the stale ferment of alcohol and nostalgia in France. Simultaneously, though, Bourdain also makes evident the inadequacy of simply food as a narrative tool, the most important takeaway for cooks and food writers, journalists, and dare I say, anthropologists everywhere. That the food, without the people and the places and their sticky knotty fractured contexts, in front of a camera crew especially, is an unforgivingly incomplete portrayal. In making this clear, I think Bourdain portrays (and not implicitly) the hubris of a chef going on world tour to try "extreme cuisines" in search of a "perfect meal", and simultaneously, our hubris, as self proclaimed food connoisseurs and enthusiasts, who like to believe we know a thing or two about taste (both literally and culturally). I realize this review is wildly inarticulate and too gushing to be read seriously, and perhaps I am a poor critique because I really do believe I fell in love with the charming, funny, self deprecatory narrator and still his beautiful prosaic description of food, I think I recognize that. But I do think 'A Cook's Tour' begins to teach us a discomfort that we must reckon with as we make any claims about what we eat. In knowing his inadequacy and his writing's inadequacy, Anthony Bourdain tried and fell short wonderfully.
• 
  holden

  Ako bi osoba bila žanr u muzici, onda bi Bordejn bio rock (and roll), a njegovi opisi mnogih država i hrane koju je probao u njima maksimalno energičan solo na električnoj gitari.
• 
  Lauren

  Anthony Bourdain passed away this past week. In many ways, his manner of death was shocking -- and in some ways it wasn't. I've been following Bourdain for years, introduced to me (as mentioned in a prior review of Kitchen Confidential) by a chef-boyfriend of mine, though I have no ties to food myself. Not even as a home cook. Not even as someone who can call themselves a foodie. But Bourdain has a way of touching you whether food is your thing or not because his focus always went past the food: to the people making it, the people eating it; always the people.
  
  I started (re)reading A Cook's Tour several weeks ago, unsure of whether I had read it before or not. I had, and as a result I let it sit on my bedside table untouched until I heard of Bourdain's passing. It struck a chord with me, a sense of melancholy that I realized I'd experienced before, delivered by Bourdain himself.
  
  Sometimes it's all too easy to look at a life ended of one's own volition and ask "why?" Certainly when that individual is a celebrity and appears to have it all. For Anthony Bourdain, he was living a life few of us could dream of achieving and it can make it all the more difficult for those struggling to hear that people we feel are more successful than us, living a better or more leisurely or more exciting life than us can find reason to end those better, more leisurely, more exciting lives. "If they can't make peace with their demons while sipping mojitos on the beach, how can I be expected to?" is an easy question to find oneself asking.
  
  But there's always more going on. Below are two quotations that helped remind me of this as I reread A Cook's Tour.
  
  

  "But it still wasn't happening for me. It's not that I wasn't happy. It was great to sit a table in France again, to look up from my food and see my brother again, to watch him unrestrainedly enjoying himself, bathing in the normalcy, the niceness of it all. Compared to most of my adventures, this was laudable. Gentle. Sentimental. No one to get hurt. Waste, disappointment, excess, the usual earmarks of most of my previous enterprises, were, for once, totally missing from the picture. Why was I not having the time of my life? I began to feel damaged. Broken. As if some essential organ - my heart perhaps - had shriveled and died along with all those dead clumps of brain cells and lung, my body and soul like some big white elephant of an Atlantic City hotel, closed down wing by wing until only the lobby and facade remained."

  
  

  "Like everything I'd eaten, it was wonderful. But I felt pulled in twelve directions at once. I was not happy with being the globe-trotting television shill. I had been cold - and away from home for far too long. I yearned for the comfort and security of my own walled city, my kitchen back at Les Halles, a belief system I understood and could endorse with no reservation. Sitting next to these two nice people and their kids, I felt like some news anchor with a pompadour, one of the many glassy-eyed media people whom I'd flogged my book with around the United States. 'So, Anthony, tell us why we should never order fish on Monday.' My spirits were dropping into a deep dark hole."

  
  Thanks, Tony. You'll be missed, but you brought something truly important to the world during your time in it, something most of us will only aspire to.
• 
  Ed

  I am an enthusiastic fan of Bourdain's CNN series, "Parts Unknown". I also liked his Food Channel series, "No Reservations" even though the production values weren't as good as they are on CNN.
  
  This book is a narrative of his search for the perfect meal with the Food Channel folks tagging along. I don't think it a spoiler to say the search was both successful and unsuccessful. To understand why this is so, the reader needs to get to the last few pages of the book.
  
  The biggest surprise for me was that his writing imitates his speaking in the programs: the same tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating sense of humor with great analogies and complete descriptions of both places and people.
  
  He is unafraid to trash those things he sees as trashy and extravagantly praise those things he sees as worthy of extravagant praise not unlike his TV persona. It helps that I share his admiration for the Vietnamese people, his ambivalence towards Tokyo and San Francisco, his disdain for what's happened to the American palate, and many, many other opinions, he's only too happy to share both in his writing and on his TV shows.
  
  It is unusual for me to describe a non-fiction collection of essays such as this using terms like, "I couldn't put it down". I finished the book in less than 3 days, in spite of my obsession with Football.
  
  The book was published in 2001 and in spite of its age is relevant and real. I plan to read all of Bourdain's books and am happy I started with this one.
• 
  Hannah Eiseman-Renyard

  He's Still Got It - and Now He's On the Road
  
  If you loved
  Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, then imagine all that again, with some incredible travel writing (ie even more exotic delicacies, and the occasional threat of death) chucked in for good measure.
  
  Also wonderful are the behind the scenes story about filming Bourdain's show (Reasons You Don't Want to Work in Television, sections 1, 2 and 3)
  
  There's something magical and infectious about letting someone, anyone, talk about what they love - and when they're as smart, funny and talented as Bourdain you have gold.
  
  The only reason it doesn't have the full five stars from me is that (unsurprisingly) there isn't really a sense of overall plot - it's a series some amazing travel/food articles.
  
  I devoured this book in a few days, and would recommend it to just about anyone with a sense of humour, a high shock threshold, and who likes their food. Even if (like me) you're a vegetarian, and therefore the butt of Bourdain's every joke.
• 
  Rob

  Although he occasionally comes across as a Jeremy Clarkson of food, all bombastic arrogance and impatient with anything that infringes his right to do what he likes, I am rather fond of eating, so Anthony Bourdain's pesrpctive is one I largely share, even if his playful likening of vegetarians to the hezbollah is something of a one angled view.
  
  In particular, he has no time at all for the lily-livered, western-centric tendency towards fussiness - if it's there to be guzzled, be it the still beating heart of a cobra, haggis, bone marrow on toast or the bile of a snake, he'll be up for it (although he draws the line at iguana and bird's nest soup). This tour of the world's nourishment stops is never less than entertaining - with particularly good coverage of South East Asia (Vietnam and Cambodia in particular).
  
  Also good are the English and Scottish sections with deep fried mars bars consumed north of the border and Fergus Henderson's magnificent St. John restaurant in London rightly lauded. Many have followed Bourdain down the path of food tourism since but few have done so with more gusto.
• 
  La Petite Américaine

  When I picked up this book on my most recent trip to the States, I thought I'd randomly found a charming new read at the bookstore. I had no idea that the author was already famous, that I'd actually eaten in his restaurant in New York several times when I was living there, and have actually caught some of his shows on the Travel Channel.
  
  That said, Anthony Bourdain gets paid to travel around the world eating, getting drunk, and writing about his experiences. Lucky, lucky, lucky bastard. He has my dream job.
  
  Nice book. I like the stories of his travels, the crazy food he has the balls to eat (the still-beating heart of a cobra, tree grubs, etc.), his descriptions of killing animals to eat are eloquent and touching, and his rants about vegetarianism, obesity, etc. are dead-on. He's charming, honest, funny, simple, and able to connect with the reader on a variety of levels.
  
  Liked it.
• 
  Sesana

  Before No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain did a short-lived series with much the same premise for the Food Network. There was an actual plot, of sorts: the search for the perfect meal. From reading the book, it seems like he gave up on that as impossible idea early on and just enjoyed himself. From the show? The fact that it was on Food Network explains very neatly why the show hasn't seen the light of day in years and this book is the one and only exposure most people will have to it.
  
  Anthony Bourdain is very acerbic and sometimes crude, but there's no question that he loves food and respects the various cultures he came into contact with during the making of A Cook's Tour. (Except the vegetarians, but that's both another subject and hilarious to read.) Everything that makes No Reservations fun to watch is here, in development, in A Cook's Tour. If you like watching him, you'll like reading him. And if you don't like watching him... Well, you know to let this pass by.
• 
  Axion

  Dear Anthony Bourdain.
  
  I do not know who you are, and since picking up this book I have no interest in finding out any more about you either. You are a pompous, whiny, brat who spends 260 pages taking the attention off some truly incredible places and foods and onto yourself. I cannot put into words how much I dislike you moaning so profusely about a TV show you signed up for, and who funded your travels around the world.
  
  Thankfully there is a small amount of the book which is well written. You also raise some pertinent issues about the consumer knowing where their food comes from. Sadly you destroy any credibility you have for me by grousing so frequently. No one cares about how few places there are to smoke in an airport apart from you.
  
  
  Chris (Not your brother.)
• 
  Girl

  I really hoped this would be something more - more interesting, more grabbing, more unputdownable. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work for me this way. I mean, there are some good fragments (about food), and some less good fragments (oh noes the European Union is destroying food in Europe / the vegans are destroying all of us). But underlying all of this, there is the unavoidable truth that Bourdain was already suffering from depression (and possibly other mental health problems) at the time of writing this; it just oozes through the book. And it just makes the experience of reading this book so very, very sad.
• 
  Charlie Bray

  Vividly captures the cuisine and soul of each place he stops. Almost more of a survey of humanity than of food.
• 
  Miya (severe pain struggles, slower at the moment)

  I miss him. These books are a way to have hear his words again. Loved it.
• 
  ingrid

  Anthony Bourdain and I are both judgmental and mean and call it honesty, so I knew I'd enjoy this. Despite his bluntness, his inability to tolerate vegans, and his foul mouth, he has written one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. If I can write anything with half as much heart and love as he has written this with, I will die a happy, happy person.
  
  The opening rumination on food, memory, family, and loss will never leave me. I apologize to everyone who has already heard me talk about it and everyone who no doubt will, but damn, can the man write about an oyster. The ending, too, is very Bourdain—short, to the point, focused on food and love to the very end, harsh and blunt and yes, honest, without ever crossing the line into malice or scorn. I've highlighted the crap out of this. I am buying a copy to sit next to my destroyed paperback of Kitchen Confidential immediately.
  
  I know I'm over-reflective, overdramatic, and generally just, you know, annoying. But when I say that Anthony Bourdain's writing on food, what it means, why we love it, and what it can do has both perfectly reflected my own feelings and experiences and made me feel completely detached, inadequate, and hopelessly untalented and uninspired, it's because he's somehow managed to be both an amazing chef and an amazing writer. I can only imagine how tiring it is to be exceptional, but he does it so gracefully.
  
  So basically, I can't wait to revisit this. Tony, you were a gift. And everyone who has ever eaten a perfect oyster (or plate of pasta, or piece of durian, or sheep testicle, all of which is described at length in this book) should read it, too.