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Medium Raw
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Review
'A compelling book with its intriguing mix of clever writing and kitchen patois ... more horrifically gripping than a Stephen King novel' --Sunday Times (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli' --Daily Telegraph (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Extraordinary ... written with a clarity and a clear-eyed wit to put the professional food-writing fraternity to shame' --Observer (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino' --A.A. Gill (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
`Real, fast and frantic, this book conveys the buzz of the kitchen in a way that only a real cook will be able to understand' --The Times (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli' --Daily Telegraph (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Extraordinary ... written with a clarity and a clear-eyed wit to put the professional food-writing fraternity to shame' --Observer (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
'Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino' --A.A. Gill (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
`Real, fast and frantic, this book conveys the buzz of the kitchen in a way that only a real cook will be able to understand' --The Times (on 'Kitchen Confidential')
Review
Praise for 'Kitchen Confidential' 'Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino' A.A. Gill 'A compelling book with its intriguing mix of clever writing and kitchen patois ... more horrifically gripping than a Stephen King novel' Sunday Times 'Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli' Daily Telegraph
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Medium Raw is subtitled 'A Bloody Valentine To The World Of Food And The People Who Cook' an unwieldy sentence which doesn't actually mean very much, and means even less when you read the book: Medium Raw is a collection of leftovers, chopped up and shaped into book form, and deep fried in marketing hype. I had gotten the impression this was going to be an autobiography of Mr. Bourdain's post 'Kitchen Confidential' years, but there's no cohesive thread to the book at all: It ranges from a diatribe against tasting menus to a piece about taking his four-year old daughter to dance class. There are some meaty bits amongst all the starchy filler - Bourdain is wonderful at writing about food and the food industry - but a lot of it is inexcusably self-indulgent: an entire chapter is devoted to dishing the dirt on an obscure (to non-New Yorkers, anyway)food critic who's insulted Bourdain in a restaurant review: Another piece 'Heroes and Villains' reads like it was knocked up in a few hours purely to fill up a few more pages. In short, there's just not enough meat on the plate here to justify charging for a full meal.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have been an admirer of Anthony Bourdain since the release of 'Kitchen Confidential' ten years ago. His writing is always good, whether in his fiction, his travel writing or in memoir. It is, however, when writing about cooks and cooking that his prose comes truly alive. His passion for food and those involved in its preparation, from the imagination required to produce a tasting menu at the French Laundry to the mental stamina and physical skill involved in `cutting' 700lbs of fish in 5 hours, has not diminished over the years. If anything, the personal and professional changes in his life, and they have been startling, have fired his enthusiasm and, in some memorable instances, his anger. The `Heroes & Villains' chapter is a delight to read not least because he can turn a phrase, but because he is unafraid when choosing his targets and the language used to skewer them.
The chapter on `Virtue' is a stand out because it acts as neat summation of the sensibility of an intelligent sensualist. Writing about food and the pleasure associated with eating and cooking is, as Anthony Bourdain points out, extremely difficult without resorting to the banalities of `food porn' so ubiquitous in the culture. In 'Medium Raw' he avoids cliché or cheap observations to produce a fresh, honest and thoughtful take on subjects that ought to be of interest to everyone. Buy copies for yourself and people you like.
The chapter on `Virtue' is a stand out because it acts as neat summation of the sensibility of an intelligent sensualist. Writing about food and the pleasure associated with eating and cooking is, as Anthony Bourdain points out, extremely difficult without resorting to the banalities of `food porn' so ubiquitous in the culture. In 'Medium Raw' he avoids cliché or cheap observations to produce a fresh, honest and thoughtful take on subjects that ought to be of interest to everyone. Buy copies for yourself and people you like.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the follow-up to 'Kitchen Confidential', a book that contained rage not just at circumstances, but at life itself - that was a book full of dark joy, and the energy needed to write it - let alone to live that way - was the sort of level that could never be sustained by anyone who wasn't a complete maniac.
Which, I have to say, I thought Anthony was. I now realise he's just as 'normal' as the rest of us - pretty much nuts then, but coping with it from day to day. He's written the book about his past, and this is the book about his present. He's not doing the Class A drugs any more, and there's a more calm and collected sense of perspective about things - he's in a place that he himself admits he could ever have imagined possible a few years ago.
AB has a really great way of writing about things - I *hated* his attempts at writing fiction; they were in the style of Raymond Chandler, but they came across more like 'soft boiled' rather than 'hard boiled' - he's far more comfortable telling things the way they are. So, in this book you get stories about insane girlfriends with too much cash, his opinion of 'Food Network', all these sort of things. There's a great section called 'Food Porn' which just describes (in quite fantastic detail) his favourite meals. I've been lucky enough to have had one of them, and believe me - he's right on the money when he's writing about food.
He describes - and interviews - a few of the characters in the professional kitchen world (a terrible phrase, but you know what I mean, I hope); there's a great little profile of this guy who prepares fresh fish for a TOP restaurant; he's nothing to look at, but he can do the job twice as quickly as three others can when he's not there - the way AB uses his words, you're there with him, cutting, skinning, gutting and scaling. I worked as a fishmonger for a year or two, and it brought it all back.
Another favourite episode of mine is when he writes about how he counteracts the advertising power of McDonalds with his young child - you'll have to read the book if you want to find out more, as it's very amusing, but not really printable on Amazon.
He's painfully honest about why he disapproves of certain people (and to be fair, they seem to deserve it), but at the same time he's obviously very loyal to the friends he has, too. I really enjoyed this book (I read small chunks on trains and waiting rooms over the course of a month); it won't disappoint.
Which, I have to say, I thought Anthony was. I now realise he's just as 'normal' as the rest of us - pretty much nuts then, but coping with it from day to day. He's written the book about his past, and this is the book about his present. He's not doing the Class A drugs any more, and there's a more calm and collected sense of perspective about things - he's in a place that he himself admits he could ever have imagined possible a few years ago.
AB has a really great way of writing about things - I *hated* his attempts at writing fiction; they were in the style of Raymond Chandler, but they came across more like 'soft boiled' rather than 'hard boiled' - he's far more comfortable telling things the way they are. So, in this book you get stories about insane girlfriends with too much cash, his opinion of 'Food Network', all these sort of things. There's a great section called 'Food Porn' which just describes (in quite fantastic detail) his favourite meals. I've been lucky enough to have had one of them, and believe me - he's right on the money when he's writing about food.
He describes - and interviews - a few of the characters in the professional kitchen world (a terrible phrase, but you know what I mean, I hope); there's a great little profile of this guy who prepares fresh fish for a TOP restaurant; he's nothing to look at, but he can do the job twice as quickly as three others can when he's not there - the way AB uses his words, you're there with him, cutting, skinning, gutting and scaling. I worked as a fishmonger for a year or two, and it brought it all back.
Another favourite episode of mine is when he writes about how he counteracts the advertising power of McDonalds with his young child - you'll have to read the book if you want to find out more, as it's very amusing, but not really printable on Amazon.
He's painfully honest about why he disapproves of certain people (and to be fair, they seem to deserve it), but at the same time he's obviously very loyal to the friends he has, too. I really enjoyed this book (I read small chunks on trains and waiting rooms over the course of a month); it won't disappoint.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I liked it. Not as good as his first though.
If you're obsessed with celebrity chefs, then this is a good read. If not, stick to his classic Kitchen Confidential which was far more exciting. A hard book to follow I guess.
Published 1 month ago by Lara
A BAG OF LEFTOVERS...
Say what you want about this book, the author's passion for food shines through. So, foodies will love much about this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lawyeraau
Amusing and Tart...
It seems folks either like this book or hate it..I happen to be one of those who enjoyed it: Quite a bit actually. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mark C. Hall
Wonderful Bourdain
If you like this guy don't miss his latest book. My husband and I are hooked on everything he does - he's a bit edgy, treads paths others don't and, for me of course, he is simply... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Veronica Lyons
Has NOTHING to say!
A Bourdain has nothing to say in this book. Read K Confidential, A Cook's Tour, and The Nasty Bits. NOT this one.
Published 19 months ago by Jonas S. Mathiesen
The Raw & the Cooked
Bourdain is a great writer, his style is all his, blunt, honest & he takes no prisoners. If you're a fan of the kitchen underbelly, then you'll surely enjoy this new book from him.
Published 21 months ago by White House Wanaka Ltd
If you liked 'The Nasty Bits', you will love this.
Before you buy this be warned. This is NOT the sequel to Kitchen Confidential. It sort of gives the impression it is, hence four stars not five. Read more
Published 22 months ago by M. Page
Not as expected
This book was not quite as expected, I was thinking it would be along the lines of Kitchen Confidential, It wasn't not by a long way.... Read more
Published 23 months ago by N. welch
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