Cooking Up a Good Book

I sometimes avoid books that I should adore simply because I'm somehow afraid they won't live up to my expectations. This apprehension is particularly acute when the books I should adore become bigtime sellers and it seems like everyone is telling me how much I'll love them. If that makes any sense.

So I have to admit that I'm a little bit behind on these titles...

But I finally got around to reading Bill Buford's Heat. I cooked in restaurants throughout high school and college and continue to enjoy cooking at home. I'm proud to say I was a foodie before the television shows became such a staple of our culture. So although Buford wrote my favorite soccer book ever, Among the Thugs, I put off reading his memoir of cooking for some time.

Which was a mistake. Although I did sometimes get bogged down in the zen of pasta discussions, I thoroughly enjoyed Heat. Which sent me off to find more cooking titles. So I turned to another book that everyone tried to force down my throat some years ago. Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential was a riot.

And Bourdain's text referred me to George Orwell's 1933 novel Down and Out in Paris and London. Orwell's hellish descriptions of working kitchens in Paris rival Dante's infernoes. Although it must have really sucked to work in those sweatshops, it sure is enjoyable to read about it.

I'm not sure where my literary/culinary exploration is going take me next. But I figure I've got two or three more cooking oriented titles before I've had my fill.