Food Is Good By Anthony Bourdain

The author of “Like Water for Chocolate”, Laura Esquivel, creates a unique take on books by combining a cook book with a novel. Through the use of delicious recipes to further the story line, it creates a special way of telling a story that leaves readers both hungry and emotional. Each chapter has its own recipe, usually a traditional but nonetheless exquisite recipe that reflects the specific nature of the chapter. Each recipe combines general themes throughout the book such as passion, heat, and a certain kind of sadness. Tita, the main character, develops an extraordinary relationship with food because most of her knowledge and wisdom on life is based on food and the kitchen where she was generally raised. The food serves as an outlet through which Tita’s emotions and feelings can be released. Whether she realizes it or not, each recipe created by Tita has an impact on the people who eat her food. The way each recipe is prepared, the list of ingredients, and the overall completed dish, reflect and relate to the characters and events of the chapter. Heat, which is required in all food preparations, is essential to each chapter and to the overall theme of the book. Fire is the usual source of this physical heat, a source of strength and a force of destruction.

Written and narrated by chef Marcus Samuelsson, the autobiography Yes Chef shares the journey of a novice home cook transforming into an elite celebrity chef. Originally born in Ethiopia, a Swedish family adopted Samuelsson at the age of three due to the Ethiopian civil war. Samuelsson grew up in Sweden as a member of a middle-class Caucasian family, but throughout his life he traveled around the world in order to advance in his cooking career. Currently, Samuelsson owns multiple restaurants throughout the world, but New York City is where he calls home. He now resides in Manhattan, along with his wife and daughter. His goal in writing this book was to share his evolution from novice home cook to celebrity chef, and to

Anthony Bourdain, world renowned chef and television personality, in his autobiography Kitchen Confidential (2000), conveys his experiences working in the restaurant business-high tension and new stressors at just about every corner. More specifically in the chapter “Food is Pain,” he convinces his audience that the abilities to maintain concentration, handle stress, and keep pace with the quick movement of a high-pressure environment are extremely important. Bourdain shapes this through an anecdote of his past experience working under boiler man (Tyrone) at the Dreadnaught, with his development of ethos, use of imagery, and manipulation of syntax to not only draw in but appeal to a wider audience.

David Sedaris’s Tasteless is an essay filled with imagery and humor. His sarcasm and language really captures the reader’s mind. He takes you through his journey of his eating habits from a boy to an adult. He begins his story with discussing how cigarettes can affect one’s senses, blaming his lack of taste on his smoking fixation. He proceeds to describe his eating habits with elaborate details and analogies, poking fun at himself numerous times. Sedaris tells of a time where he tried to bribe his sister for part of her meal. Then he talks about a cookbook he received from his mother and how by high school he began making pizzas. Although he would be creative with his meals, he never applauded himself once on his abilities to create something

To begin with, Bourdain first trip was to his father’s ancestral homeland, France. The Bourdain family summer vacation started from New York to France, traveling on the Queen Mary. The creamy soup filled with potatoes, vichyssoise, was Bourdain first indication that food was something other than a substance. It was the first food he enjoyed. It was more than a soup. It brought him out of his bubble to as fourth-grader whose previous idea of a soup is Campbell’s cream of tomato and chicken noodle soup.

Michael Pollan is an accomplished American author, writing books such as Cooked, Food Rules, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Botany of Desire and In Defense of Food. He earned a Bachelor’s in English from Bennington College in 1977 and a Master’s in English from Columbia University in 1981. He is also a journalist, activist and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism (About Michael Pollan). Pollan claims in the book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto he wants to help us reclaim our health and happiness as eaters (7). Although the book is interesting and informative, one would expect an author with such and extensive English background and accolades would write more fluidly. The usage of quotes and research results is necessary in order to support an author’s claim, yet, the overuse may cause the reader to become

For many Americans the food we eat is just something to be consumed for our needs and pleasures, however in “Consider The Lobster” by David Foster Wallace the reader is challenged to think on what his food was before it was food. In “Consider The Lobster” Wallace explores the Maine Lobster Festival a correspondent of Gourmet Magazine, during his time at the MLF he sees a new side to lobster and learns about the lobster as a sentient creature. After his exploration he comes to a moral dilemma of cooking and eating lobster, he realizes that our society does not think of our food as anything more than something to eat. Wallace uses his knowledge, research and a large amount emotion to persuade the reader to think about the food they eat; using

Which is the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food. In this food centric episode, Bourdain and Boulud travel back to Boulud's hometown of Lyon, France for a once in a lifetime experience of French cuisine's rich food culture and legendary chefs, with a focus on Nouvelle Cuisine innovator Paul Bocuse. Paul Bocuse is a French chef based in Lyon who is famous for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. A student of Eugénie Brazier, he is one of the most prominent chefs associated with the nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Which is a similar trait to Copenhagen. Bocuse has made many contributions to French gastronomy both directly and indirectly, because he has had numerous students, many of whom have become famous chefs themselves. Like Mexico City chef Eduardo Garcia, chefs like Boulud, Bocuse, Mathew, Joseph, Alain, and many more chefs. Had to work their way up the restaurant chain to get to the top, hard work always pays

Through the means of her own experiences, Jill McCorkle uses Her Chee-to Heart to express the happiness that many get from padding their faces with junk food. To convince readers truly of this level of happiness, McCorkle uses an extraordinarily visceral form of writing, and sends readers on a gluttonous expedition, making them crave for almost every single food that she so zealously describes and mentions. McCorkle starts her piece of literature off with her “perfect day”, describing the mannerisms of every food she would indulge in, to intentionally provoke an unhealthy yearning for fatty foods. Then, she spends the next few pages continually alluring the readers’ ravenous stomachs, by establishing a certain type of zest. Readers become hungrier

I lifted my first forkful of, well, whatever this meat is, and carefully placed it in my mouth. My eyes eased shut in amazement as the perfectly cooked square of pure happiness collided with my tongue. Never in my life have I tasted something so magnificent; so – satisfying. My eyes snapped open and I shoveled more of the gourmet meal into my mouth. Potatoes, corn, beans, and my favorite: a warm biscuit topped with melted butter. This meal reminded me of the good ol' days. Back when we had it all.

But Victor sees it as one of the most natural forms of eating, possibly referring to how in the early stages of human life when after killing an animal they all huddled around a fire and watch as their food becomes ready to eat. “The protagonist of the meal should be the product and not the cook.” (Virbila, Los Angeles Times) But everyone ends being blown away by how the flavor of his dishes impacts them. Primarily, the steak. A steak grilled classically with smoked butter, thick coins of house-made chorizo, and two giant shrimps from the coast. Visually, it looks uncanny compared with a simple American grilled one, but the tastes between the two makes the American one taste like

Greg Braxton, from L.A. Times, is fascinated with Chef Todd Fisher crazy obsession and love for bacon. Chef Fisher is the host of the hit series, ‘United States of Bacon’, and show dedicated to the consumption of bacon in America. “Bacon has moved off the breakfast table and onto the most unlikely of places; in cocktails, desserts, and traditional entrees like pizza” (Braxton, 2013). Bacon has become popular in every facade of the culinary world, and is able to fit anywhere from sweet to savory, even umami. Chef Fisher shared with Braxton, stating, “I’ve gone from being a true fan of bacon to being obsessive” (Braxton, 2013). This bacon craze is so prevalent in Chef Fisher dishes and become alive everywhere on his menu. “Restaurants seem

Conversely, the speaker of “The Hunger Past” tells the tale of how her father influenced her to appreciate the simplicity of properly cooked food, contrasting the depth and profound influence demonstrated in “Two Fish, One Morning”. Ignorant to the beauty of properly cooked meat, the speaker initially dismisses her father’s comment on her inability to properly cook, claiming that her overcooked meat was how she liked it. However, after observing her father’s “vigor and passion” during each meal and tasting a properly cooked yakiniku, the speaker finally comes to understand why her father and grandfather insist on certain cooking methods. Appreciating “the full-bodied taste of the beef [that] coated [her] mouth”, the speaker comes to the realization

As children, food is just something that makes someone feel better when they are hungry. Sometimes there are special types of food that satisfy children more than others, but usually the only thing that matters is that they have something to curve their hunger; they do not realize that the experience of food impacts who they become as adults. Throughout childhood, food teaches children their culture and “the ways of the past,” as stated by Jessica B. Harris, in an excerpt from her book Gastropolis. The memories and stories from around the dinner table, as a child, are carried throughout life and forms who the consumers are as adults. For example, Jessica Harris shared a story in her excerpt about her first and only “whipping”. She explained

“Food: Part of the spiritual expression of the French…” (Beverly Baxter). The French are notorious for their love of food and their cuisine is considered one of the finest in the world. America and more specifically, New York is a center of international cuisine. It is quite easy to find all manners of French food in New York, from macarons to baguettes to bouillabaisse. One can experience the fine dining of “France” or can taste the specialties of a tiny French bistro and still stay in New York.