Don't Eat Before Reading this
Anthony Bourdain...
I did
I particularly enjoyed Anthony Bourdain’s piece. I, again, could really sense his honesty. After we mentioned the whole aspect of how an author must gain an audience’s trust (in terms of memoir) that has been all I’ve been able to think about. I think I enjoyed how Bourdain started off the piece. He basically just flat out told his readers that cooking was not a glamorous profession at all. In fact, quite the opposite actually… Gruesome. I particularly like his fish/ seafood references throughout the piece, that really give you a fair warning as to what might happen if one might consume a bit too much, thanks for the heads up! In addition to his honesty about the profession as a whole, he’s also extremely honest about how his restaurant doesn’t follow every rule perfectly, as no restaurant would quite be able to accomplish such a thing. It was really cool how he talked about that he partially became a cook because of how the profession was really far from perfect, and was in some ways presumed to be pretty sketchy, honestly. Bourdain definitely has influenced me to no longer (or should I say “ever”) order anything cooked well done. Never again. To be honest, I don’t want to go to another restaurant ever again, and I will definitely be on the lookout for those gloves. I find it slightly humorous that we read about Anthony Bourdain dissing vegetarians in the last book, but here we are again! He must not have had very positive encounters with them. But my favorite part of this entire reading, is how Bourdain’s passion and excitement for food still shines through. Even in a piece, about how gross, odd, and sometimes even illegal restaurants and the food industry itself can be, you can still feel Bourdain’s excitement. He loves food. I started to get a better sense of his passion towards the very end of his chapter, I believe the second to last page. Even though he expresses his fire for his food and his work in somewhat of a whacky way, I know he loves what he does.
Abby, I agree that Bourdain’s voice is definitely evident in his chapter “Don’t Eat Before Reading This.” We see that he shares different gruesome aspects of the food industry so that, as you mention, he can gain the reader’s trust. I agree with you that I will never again order a hamburger well-done. That part in particular, where Bourdain describes what chefs do with unsavory meat, was my favorite part of the piece. If someone had not trusted Bourdain before, it was at that part that anyone would start to trust him.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel the same way about not wanting to eat at a restaurant ever again. Just the fact that some things that are important, such as gloves, are overlooked is somewhat disturbing. However, I never really thought about the behind the scenes of the food industry until I read this piece. I also did think of the idea of getting your audience to trust you, and definitely agree that this is what Bourdain was able to do, for me at least.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel the same way about not wanting to eat at a restaurant ever again. Just the fact that some things that are important, such as gloves, are overlooked is somewhat disturbing. However, I never really thought about the behind the scenes of the food industry until I read this piece. I also did think of the idea of getting your audience to trust you, and definitely agree that this is what Bourdain was able to do, for me at least.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I enjoyed your insightful and humorous analysis of Bourdain's piece. I agree that his genuine voice was very apparent in the piece, and I'm definitely reconsidering what I order at restaurants now as well. It's clearly the mark of an excellent author when they can detail all these gruesome facts to you and yet you still like to read their writing.
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteI agree- Bourdain's passion always comes through in his writing, and his piece was especially enjoyable to read for this reason, despite his insights into the kitchen. I've worked in the kitchen, and although I agree that there are some gross things about getting food at restaurants, I think dining out is special. Like AJ Liebling said, it is great to hear when Americans visit France and say they have eaten the best meal ever. Maybe it it slightly different in America, but it seems that in places like France, dining out is truly an event, and the best part is that the food transports you (so it is easy to forget about how sanitary the handling was).
Abby,
ReplyDeleteThe bit about fish was also of interest to me. I made everyone in my family read that part when I originally read for the first time in his book. Thanks to Mr. Bourdain, no members of my immediate family will have to risk eating bad fish.
Abby,
ReplyDeleteYes! I extremely agree with you on the point of the reason why his works are very interesting is his HONESTY. He shows us the answers or secrets about what we are curious in daily lives. When we read his work, we can know many new things or different points of views. Maybe that's why we can immerse in his work like this.
Haha Abby! I appreciate your response and I feel similarly about connecting to Bourdain's voice. I loved when he talked about brunch-people, then segued into the horrors of vegetarians and especially vegans. For Bourdain, it seems that truly good food inherently means there will be meat. I love that this piece ends in the hustle of the kitchen, amongst the chaos, when he feels most at home... it seems like, similarly to The Reporter's Kitchen, food has become a sacred space for Bourdain.
ReplyDeleteHaha Abby! I appreciate your response and I feel similarly about connecting to Bourdain's voice. I loved when he talked about brunch-people, then segued into the horrors of vegetarians and especially vegans. For Bourdain, it seems that truly good food inherently means there will be meat. I love that this piece ends in the hustle of the kitchen, amongst the chaos, when he feels most at home... it seems like, similarly to The Reporter's Kitchen, food has become a sacred space for Bourdain.
ReplyDelete