I've said it before and I'll say it 'til the end of time...I am a bookworm. I love to read almost as much as I love to cook...maybe just as much, actually! To be fair to books, I have been reading longer than I've been cooking (by a few measly years), so I should definitely give books credit where credit is due! So, imagine if you will how thrilled I was to stumble across the group Cook the Books. Cook the Books is group of bloggers (I think mostly or all foodie bloggers, but since I'm not positive I won't confirm) who pick a book to read on a bi-monthly schedule, then cook something up...related to the book in some form...and blog about it! Brilliant. So I jumped on the bandwagon (let's call it a bookmobile in this instance) and rented this month's pick from the library. I think I'd actually started it before, but never finished it...so, here was my chance. The book du jour this time was Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
Ah, Tony (think he'd mind me calling him Tony??)...what can I say. He is a paradox. He's the kind of guy you love to hate...but also, you hate to love him. He's a food snob. Yet, he loves the salt of the earth people...and their food and their cooking. He has a loud mouth, but he knows when to shut it (okay, usually). If you haven't worked in a restaurant kitchen before, you may find yourself picking up your jaw after reading about the, shall we call them...antics, that go on behind the scenes. But for somebody who has done their time in the trenches...picked up those scalding saute pans bare-handed and kept on working...thrown jabs with the big guys...hoarded side towels, had their mise en place raided, worked all night...and the next day, too...worked side by side with some of the greatest misfits in town...I found myself laughing, nodding my head, reminiscing and actually identifying with parts of this book. Now, I am definitely not claiming to have seen or done all of the crazy things Mr. Bourdain has, but I could tell a few tales. Hmmm, maybe I will write it all down...you never know, right.
