What we're reading now: January

The first chapters of Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain have attracted some interesting comments so far.

This week we're going to try to see if we can finish the book this week so please feel free to join in before we have to move on to our next book choice.

There's still time to join in - pick up a copy today for only £2.99!

Buy the book

Do you think your experience of food as a child has affected your eating habits in later life?
Has food ever affected you in the same sensual way as it did Anthony? 
Eating oysters was a rite of passage for Anthony - why do you think this was?

Comments

[James]

I thought the first chapter was great, almost a short story in itself!

In terms of the questions, it's interesting, I remember watching Itami's film Tampopo about noodles & food and how culturally significant they are in Japan. In the UK we don't really have that relationship with food, it does seem to be more like Bourdain's description in the first line a "substance one stuffed in one's face when hungry". I think that food choices have changed since I was a child in the 1970s, we've whole new things like pasta now :).

I don't know if it is something about seafood, but I remember as a child going to the harbour and buying fresh crabs, and eating them back home, on equally hot summer days. The smell of the washed out drying crab shells still fantastic today - I just can't bring myself to buy them from a 'fish counter'.

Don't oysters have some secret inherent properties? Or is that just as an aphrodisiac?

[David]

I think it must be seafood. The only time I've caught my own dinner was sea-fishing off Cornwall.
Within thirty minutes of dragging them out of the sea they were on the BBQ.

Fishing offers everyone the chance to get in touch with their inner hunter gatherer and it seems to me that Anthony's oyster experience is very similar.

[Francess]

For me its all about the style of writing and so far I must say the first chapter has whet my appetite in terms of what's in store. No pun intended.

Also loved the intro by A.A Gill although I have been told that the intro should always be read last. Oh well so far so good.

[Adam]

Welcome James. David and Francess. Glad you liked the book so far. This is not the sort of book I usually read but I'm really enjoying it. I think the way he roots his love of food in his childhood is brilliant but he is so omnivorous I wonder if there is anything he won't eat now he's an adult - I guess we'll have to read on and find out!

[Sharon]

I am jealous of Anthony Bourdain - my childhood experiences of food couldnt be much further away from his (fried food, with chips and beans for a lot of my meals at home; being force fed horrific school dinners at lunchtimes) and despite that as a grown up I have a passion and interest in all things food-related (yet also have some very odd eating habits/phobias!). I wonder how I might be different now, and how I might enjoy an even wider range of food had I been able to have more positive experiences of food at an earlier age.

Looking forward to reading the rest of this book (when I can prise it away from my husband who is also reading it at the moment)

[Adam]

Thanks for the feedback on the first chapter folks. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it - this is definitely not the usual sort of book I read.

This week we're going to read the next few chapters - Food is Sex, Food is Pain, Inside the CIA and The Return of Mal Carne - hope you're all looking forward to reading more as much as I am.

[Colleen]

I read Anthony's book several years ago, and it awakened my desire to try new things. It also gave me a road map to start that journey. His descriptions were so graphic, the book left me wanting more.

[Ian]

My most striking memory of this book is what a great icebreaker it is.

On a business trip to Washington DC simply the act of carrying it into a bar and leafing through it would serve to strike up conversations with just about everyone sitting near me, it's struck a chord with so many people and everyone seems to have an opinion.

Separately the life affirming endorsement of Global knives in his bit on how to equip a kitchen (we'd invested in them a year or so before) did give a nice warm and fuzzy feeling.

In this light, whatever Bourdain's shortcomings (and there are one or two) it deserves to be a classic.

[Adam]

Loads of you have really enjoyed this book. As I've said before, it's not really what I'd usually read but its brought back loads of memories from my own time working my way up from kitchen porter to waiter. We're going to see if we can finish the book this week so please feel free to join in before we have to move on to our next book choice.

[Sharon]

I am currently one chapter away from finishing the book.

After i read the first chapter i felt that Anthony Bourdain had a huge love of food, and i was jealous of his passion. As i read on, I feel more that he does the job he does because he loves the buzz, the thrill, the work environment that he thrives in. It is obvious he still loves food but it is more than that that drives him.

He gathers around others who are thrill seekers, who live on the edge, and 'his type of people' and although it just seems to work.

I am sure that not all kitchens can be like the ones he runs/works in, there cannot be enough people who could work in that type of environment for long!

A really fascinating read and insight into what happens behind the scenes in restaurants all over the world. Not quite what i had imagined - and i am sure i will think about this book every time i go out to eat in the future!

Well worth reading :)