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A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain (2001, Hardcover)
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Author: Anthony Bourdain
Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
Publication Date: 2001-12-07
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1582341400
ISBN-13: 9781582341408
Product ID: EPID1912247
Description: Anthony Bourdain follows up his best-selling memoir, KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, with this account of a world tour in search of not only the perfect meal but the perfect total food experience. Traveling to Vietnam, Japan, France, Mexico, and o...
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A No Holds, No Reservations Search for the Perfect MealReview created: 01/04/09
by:
) 
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour is a well-written record of his travels around the world in his search for the perfect meal. All too conscious of the state of his aging knees after a working life standing at various restaurant stoves, and flush with the unexpected boon from his first book, Kitchen Confidential, he concludes he needs a bit more wind under his wings. Bourdain defines "perfect meal" not so much as the most upscale, chi-chi, three-star dining experience, but the ideal combination of food, atmosphere, and company.
The story arc takes the reader to fishing villages in Vietnam, bars in Cambodia, and Tuareg camps in Morocco for roasted sheep's testicle. It serves up smoked fish and sauna in the frozen Russian countryside and the French Laundry in California's Napa Valley, exquisitely refined kaiseki rituals in Japan after yakitori with drunken salarymen. There is deep-fried Mars Bars in Glasgow, dining with Gordon Ramsay in London, and the still-beating heart of a cobra in Saigon. Drink, danger, and guns. All with a TV crew in tow, featuring many don't-try-this-at-home shots of the author in gastric distress or crawling into yet another storm drain at four in the morning.
You are unlikely to lay your hands on a more hectically strenuous, more entertaining book for some time. Bourdain eats and swashbuckles round the globe with American swagger and liberal use of profanity. The man can write. His timing is great. He is very funny and is under no illusions whatsoever about himself or anyone else. But most of all, he is a chef who got himself out of his kitchen and found, all over the world, people who understand that eating well is the foundation of harmonious living.
The story arc takes the reader to fishing villages in Vietnam, bars in Cambodia, and Tuareg camps in Morocco for roasted sheep's testicle. It serves up smoked fish and sauna in the frozen Russian countryside and the French Laundry in California's Napa Valley, exquisitely refined kaiseki rituals in Japan after yakitori with drunken salarymen. There is deep-fried Mars Bars in Glasgow, dining with Gordon Ramsay in London, and the still-beating heart of a cobra in Saigon. Drink, danger, and guns. All with a TV crew in tow, featuring many don't-try-this-at-home shots of the author in gastric distress or crawling into yet another storm drain at four in the morning.
You are unlikely to lay your hands on a more hectically strenuous, more entertaining book for some time. Bourdain eats and swashbuckles round the globe with American swagger and liberal use of profanity. The man can write. His timing is great. He is very funny and is under no illusions whatsoever about himself or anyone else. But most of all, he is a chef who got himself out of his kitchen and found, all over the world, people who understand that eating well is the foundation of harmonious living.
Review ID: 10000000010036746
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Great ReadReview created: 04/07/09
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) Anthony Bourdain is as interesting on paper as he is in person. This is a great read from start to finish. It will keep you reading.
Review ID: 10000000011511546
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Great book!Review created: 06/08/08
by:
This is my first book of tony bourdain, and so far so flipping good, i love this man, i think the book captures his essence greatly, i also happen to love food and traveling so yes this book is as good as it gets, if u r a fan of tony this book is a must! :D
Review ID: 10000000007500752
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A cooks tour by Anthony Bourdain
) I bought as a gift for my son. It was in brand new condition. I know my son loved it because he already had a copy.
Review ID: 10000000004999799
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From France to Phnom Penh - Bourdain embraces adventureReview created: 09/03/06
by:
A Cook's Tour will take your senses to a new high - sometimes literally - in Tony's adventure to seek out the exotic adventure "in search of the perfect meal." We are reminded that good food is an adventure. Good meals come from the warmth of family cooking and tradition regardless of location, and not from the fattening of society at the hands of fast food. In the pages of A Cook's Tour, you will be catapulted into Bourdain's world. You will understand the meaning of what is "the backbone of everything good."
A Cook's Tour is part of a series of writings done while on assignments for the Food Network and the Travel Channel. I would suggest reading Kitchen Confidential first. If you've read Bourdain's later writings, such as The Nasty Bits written while adventuring for The Travel Channel on "No Reservations," and Kitchen Confidential, you must have this one in your collection. I was excited to read more of his boyhood France. I felt as if I was in the minivan on the Highway of Death on the way to Can Tho. I could smell and almost taste the pho in Vietnam.
Bourdain likes to play a game with chefs after hours. It is a game of chance. Tony asks - if you were to die tomorrow morning, what would your last meal be? While not of surprise feeling the same way, it is interesting to see how people from diverse cultures embrace food in the same way. It is the hardy meal we remember from mom's kitchen that we seek the most. It is the boiled up bits and pieces of everything good coming together to make a dish of warmth and comfort. In Bourdain's travels, he finds this repeatedly. When looking for good meals, it is typically found where common folk gather. It comes from chefs who know first hand the sweat, blood and tears of the demand for excellence with an focused mind and an organized mise-en-place. You will find this in A Cook's Tour. You will find inspiration to be a risk taker with food and in your own kitchen.
A Cook's Tour is part of a series of writings done while on assignments for the Food Network and the Travel Channel. I would suggest reading Kitchen Confidential first. If you've read Bourdain's later writings, such as The Nasty Bits written while adventuring for The Travel Channel on "No Reservations," and Kitchen Confidential, you must have this one in your collection. I was excited to read more of his boyhood France. I felt as if I was in the minivan on the Highway of Death on the way to Can Tho. I could smell and almost taste the pho in Vietnam.
Bourdain likes to play a game with chefs after hours. It is a game of chance. Tony asks - if you were to die tomorrow morning, what would your last meal be? While not of surprise feeling the same way, it is interesting to see how people from diverse cultures embrace food in the same way. It is the hardy meal we remember from mom's kitchen that we seek the most. It is the boiled up bits and pieces of everything good coming together to make a dish of warmth and comfort. In Bourdain's travels, he finds this repeatedly. When looking for good meals, it is typically found where common folk gather. It comes from chefs who know first hand the sweat, blood and tears of the demand for excellence with an focused mind and an organized mise-en-place. You will find this in A Cook's Tour. You will find inspiration to be a risk taker with food and in your own kitchen.
Review ID: 10000000001719231
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Eating around the worldWritten in a friendly, conversation-style prose, this book explores the often macabre raising, killing, and preparation of foods from around the world. Fascinating, sometimes repellent, it explores the culture of food and customs of eating in parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. A fun and fast read for anyone interested in the multicultural food experience.
Review ID: 10000000001362851
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