Completed: A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal

Many years ago, I read a book called Cosmopolitan by Toby Cecchini. It was recommended to me because I was told that anyone who has worked behind a bar (as I did for many years) needed to read it. I have since told many a service-industry person the same thing. Anyone who hasn't worked front-of-house will still enjoy it, but they just might not get it as much.

A few years later, I was introduced to the back-of-house equivalent of Cosmopolitan. It was (is) called Kitchen Confidential, by a chef named Anthony Bourdain. I remember lending it to my Dad one summer - we spent a week or so at a cabin belonging to a family friend on Manitoulin Island. Dad spent hours reading it, bursting into his high-pitched laugh every few minutes.

So, when I came across another autobiographical Bourdain book in a bargain bin, I couldn't help it. It has sat on the shelf, as have hundreds of my books, for several years. I finally picked it up as lighthearted reading material for my lunches at work a few weeks ago. It may not have been the best selection for meal time - he eats some damn disgusting food as he jets around the world. But the man just has a way with words. You can't help but be right there, feel the emotions he's feeling. A high while eating perfect Moroccan food in Fez. Stomach turning due to food poisoning or drinking cobra bile. He's almost convinced me I need to visit Vietnam. I certainly need to visit the south of France.

More than anything, his book convinces me that there is no such thing as the single most perfect meal. It's a sentiment I've always agreed with, but now I can formulate that conclusion more consciously than I could before. A crepe purchased off a street vendor in Paris, or a calzone from a basement restaurant in Hungary, are just as delicious as Il Mulino in Toronto or Coast here in Vancouver. I will always crave a kartoffelpuffer (potato pancake with garlic sauce) and some roasted maroni (chestnuts) on a cold winter's day in Vienna just as much as a perfectly cooked lobster.

Stay tuned for a Word of the Week catch-up post - Bourdain uses enough culinary terms to make your head spin!

Title: A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal
Author: Anthony Bourdain
Pages: 274

Total books blogged: 5
Total pages: 2,148