philosophy and digressions

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	Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the kitchen underbelly Anthony Bourdain Published by Bloomsbury $24.95 Bourdain has a new book, The Nasty Bits, but Kitchen Confidential is where you start with Bourdain who has been a prolific and entertaining author. Wise advice, skip his A Cook’s Tour and the Les Halles Cookbook and it you haven’t read Kitchen Confidential read it you must. Chefs may know everything about the contents of this book, but few would have dared write it down so frankly. As Bourdain reminds us, ’good food, good eating is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay’. Not since Orwell’s Down and Out in London and Paris has there been such a frank look at the artists of the kitchen. This is the book for the chef, who has tied his drunk dishy to the sink in the hope he’ll make it through service, or bailed out their second chef so they could come to work. Add to that forgiving all sorts of antisocial behaviour because the hours are inhumane and it takes more stamina than most normal people have naturally to be good at cooking. It is the book for the chef who has forgiven and forgiven his most loved and most talented staff for every misdemeanour from coming to work stoned to going missing for a couple of days and much worse. It is the book for the good domestic cook who believes in near death experiences and wants to open their own restaurant. It is the book for every chef who has worked sixteen hour days plus for most of their lives, had good employers, bad employers, gone broke, made fortunes, worked with good people, bad people and marvelled at sheer driven genius that can put magic on a plate. It is about mystical synergy of the culinary magician who makes the perfect bread, can trick and cajole the perfect soufflé from the humble egg; it is about the chef who will work for days for the great dinner for hundreds without ever questioning why. It is for the chef with the dream of the most fabulous restaurant with the most fabulous food and the dream that tumbles with their money or someone else’s into the ashes of their ambitions. Bourdain knows the adrenalin rush that gets you through an eighteen hour day and leaves you sleepless thinking of what next, or still arguing about food in some crappy bar when the sun comes up, just an eye blink before you have to start work again. Bourdain has written about a lifestyle that few outside the family would understand, will understand. A personal sympathy, Bourdain writes about the super tough women that survive in testosterone hell, who find their way to the top and stay there without thinking for one second they cannot cut the pace. Kitchen Confidential borders between Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the more modern Jello Salad by James Billincoe. It is a riveting, shocking read that will leave families reliving some of their best and worst moments, and the public wondering if they should ever enter a restaurant again. No one is left untouched, but for those diners who still insist on ’well done’ we refer you to page 69. Every time the thought of packing me knives for the last time occurs to me I re–read Kitchen Confidential and know that cooking is more addictive than any other drug and the idea of stopping no matter how old I am is simply ridiculous.
	Alice Waters and Chez Panisse The romantic, impractical, often eccentric, ultimately brilliant making of a food revolution Thomas McNamee Published by The Penguin Press, New York, H/B $49.95 The diminutive Alice waters has fascinated generations of foodies. America’s most famous chefs will willingly accredit to her the change in philosophy in America’s best restaurants. Her influence did not stop within the walls of her restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkley, San Francisco but spread throughout the world and her early cookbooks were almost bibles in the early eighties at the beginning of the Australian culinary revolution. What she couldn’t buy she convinced growers to grow for her, convincing them to farm organic long before it became a fashion. Alice’s story is, of course unfinished as she is in rude health, but it might be easy to suspect that McNamee (her official biographer) holds a special love in his heart for Alice and her food as he tenderly and deliciously unravels her story. This is a story about a fascinating woman whose life has been consumed by food and food morals. Determined and at times very political and often without a shred of financial acumen this is a story of survival and inspiration. Refreshingly Alice never lost sight of life or forgot the magic a fabulous meal can bring to life. A good read that doesn’t shirk the fact that there was some fun along the way.
	The Heretic’s Feast Colin Spence Published by Fourth Estate, P/B For years, I’ve less than gently teased my favourite second chef, Fiona Pawelski, with the label Fishetarian. I now find that I must treat her and other friends with greater respect, because, they in fact, follow a Pythagorean Regime, known to encourage thought, intelligence and sensitivity. Colin Spence’s book is a fascinating read. At first glance, it may appear to be on the scholarly side, but the quoted texts are so provoking they left me with a list of another ten books to read. If you have always (somewhat unkindly) regarded modern day vegetarians as relics of the sixties, reading Spence’s book will leave you with a sense of humility and respect for what is an ancient dietary regime most recently proved to possibly the best option not just for health but the future of the planet. People following these regimes were persecuted by the Catholic church and other religious orders, came as a surprise to me. The book gives us a horrific overview of the persecution and deaths that resulted from the Inquisition and has relevant and informative text explaining religious dietary laws. If you have ever wondered how naturally inquisitive women have coped with not being able to verbalise their opinions publicly, you will be interested to read how vegetarian sects encouraged and to some extent exploited these frustrated individuals. A provocative book for vegetarians and carnivores alike and thankfully back in print although the original cover was much better.
	Fish and Feather, Food for Thought A CULINARY TOUR OF BRITAIN’S SEAS AND SKIES Simon Courtauld, illustrations by Lucy Vickery Published by THINK BOOKS, H/B $24.95 This lovely little book came through from the publisher some months ago and was cast to one side wrongly thinking that the sub title would render it useless for Australia. Having read half of it in a night that notion was very foolish. Firstly one might suspect that Simon Courtauld and this old cook have outspoken crabbiness in common, for example p13 ’The best advice is always worth repeating: when you have a really good fish, don’t bugger it about.’ At least 80% of the ingredients are available fresh in Australia and the text is abrasive good reading splattered with loads of information, little tips and ideas that are refreshingly not same old, same old!
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Kitchen Essays
Agnes Jekyll
Published by Persephone Books, London
Recommended retail $27.00 approximately

Agnes Jekyll (1860–1937) was noted for her home and her hospitality. This small but stylish paperback publication is the most satisfying culinary read of the past 12 months. A witty collection of remembrances and recipes without a single image other than those created by her wonderful words Kitchen Essays is an irresistible read impossible to put down. It is rare to mark 13 recipes to try, but it is the Dutch Omelet, p20, layers of omelette and cheese laden béchamel that is made in advance and puffed in the oven that has so far won most hearts. Served with a salad of baby bitter greens to cut through the richness it is utterly mouth–watering. An absolutely delicious read!

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