Synopses & Reviews
Dodging minefields in Cambodia, diving into the icy waters outside a Russian bath, Chef Bourdain travels the world over in search of the ultimate meal.
The only thing Anthony Bourdain loves as much as cooking is traveling, and A Cook's Tour is the shotgun marriage of his two greatest passions. Inspired by the question, 'What would be the perfect meal?', Anthony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail.
Our adventurous chef starts out in Japan, where he eats traditional Fugu, a poisonous blowfish which can be prepared only by specially licensed chefs. He then travels to Cambodia, up the mine-studded road to Pailin into autonomous Khmer Rouge territory and to Phnom Penh's Gun Club, where local fare is served up alongside a menu of available firearms. In Saigon, he's treated to a sustaining meal of live Cobra heart before moving on to savor a snack with the Viet Cong in the Mecong Delta. Further west, Kitchen Confidential fans will recognize the Gironde of Tony's youth, the first stop on his European itinerary. And from France, it's on to Portugal, where an entire village has been fattening a pig for months in anticipation of his arrival. And we're only halfway around the globe...
A Cook's Tour recounts, in Bourdain's inimitable style, the adventures and misadventures of America's favorite chef.
Review
"Take a little Bruce Chatwin, a heavy dose of MFK Fisher, the lacerating nastiness of Gore Vidal, and you might come up with something like A Cook's Tour, a thrillingly alive, somewhat out of control, mad, swirling bacchanalia of a book. Bourdain's around-the-world party (with stops in Cambodia, Vietnam, Russia, and Japan, among other places) of eating, drinking and surely participating in lots of activities that didn't make it into the book, is rapturously gluttonous, unrepentantly hedonistic. No one (except maybe the great Ms. Fisher or Elizabeth David) writes about food like this food as love, as passion, as life." Adrienne Miller, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
The only thing "gonzo gastronome" and internationally bestselling author Anthony Bourdain loves as much as cooking is traveling. Inspired by the question, "What would be the perfect meal?," Tony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail, and in the process turns the notion of "perfection" inside out. From California to Cambodia, A Cooks' Tour chronicles the unpredictable adventures of America's boldest and bravest chef.
About the Author
Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels
Bone in the Throat and
Gone Bamboo, in addition to the mega-bestseller
Kitchen Confidential and
A Cook's Tour. He is the host of the popular television show
No Reservations.
Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo, in addition to the mega-bestseller Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour. He is the host of the popular television show No Reservations.