Kitchen Confidential is the book that catapulted
Anthony Bourdain into the world of popular acclaim. It is the book that enabled
him to become a television show host which ironically meant that he is no
longer a chef. Considering the book is all about life as a chef, it’s a bit
strange Bourdain is no longer one.
The book showcases the author’s love for food and
the first part of the book revolves around the realization that ‘food is
important’. The first time he ate an oyster is described as a seminal event in
his life and in the author’s opinion, is when he took his first steps towards
becoming a man.
That love for the best ingredients also shows up in
the book as a series of warnings. He famously warns against eating fish on
Monday since the fish has been around all weekend. He also tells of some of the
cooking practices in the restaurants he has worked in, such as steak being
cooked hours before and only re-warmed with sauce before actually going to a
customer.
A large portion of the book deals with being a chef
in a busy restaurant. Bourdain portrays this as one of the most stressful jobs
you can have. His descriptions of working in a busy kitchen are enough to scare
away the casual cooks who think they can be chefs. But Bourdain isn’t
discouraging people from attempting to enter the world of professional cooking.
He expresses his love for the camaraderie of the kitchen and describes it as a
world of misfits, where everyone has a place. More practically, he lists a code
of behavior should one still wish to be a chef.
The appeal of the book is what had made Bourdain a
successful television host. He has his own style of humor which is present in
everything he says. His brand of crude language and overt sexual references add
a particular flavor which also seems to be the only correct way to describe
what it’s like working in a New York kitchen.
The book can read like an expose because of all the
hidden details it gives. But it isn’t an expose in the traditional sense.
Bourdain isn’t dissatisfied with the chef’s life and is trying to blow the
whistle. He says himself that he is trying to be accurate but he likes the way
a chef’s life is. He prefers it the way it is.
Bourdain has filled the book with anecdotes. While
he sometimes gets overly sentimental about the people he has met and worked
with, in general the stories are revealing and usually extremely funny.
Bourdain is always truthful, telling without holds about his addictions to
drugs and how he still came to work high or drunk. The amount of alcohol and
drug use by chefs, according to Bourdain, is far higher than you would expect
from high level professionals.
There’s a reason this book made Anthony Bourdain a
star. It’s because it is that good. No one else had written a book like this
before Kitchen Confidential and it
became a best seller because it was something everyone could relate to and
everyone wanted to read. The life of chef has never seemed exciting until
Bourdain invited us all in for a viewing.
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