Books: A Cook's Tour

My restaurant reviews do a generally poor job of describing the experience of eating. Enjoying a great meal with family and friends is one of the most sensuous activities you can engage in; the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes can stay with a person for a lifetime. Anthony Bourdain does a much better job of describing the sensory overload that can accompany food in his travelogue, titled "A Cook's Tour."

It's ostensibly about Bourdain's search for the perfect meal, but it's really a rambling tour around the planet, sampling some of the best food that the peoples of the world have to offer. And we're not talking about high-faluting Michelin Guide restaurants; Bourdain concentrates on food that regular people actually cook and eat. Your mouth will literally water as he describes watching a family dine on a whole pig in Portugal, for instance.

One section of the book hit home in a particular way - Bourdain's trip to Vietnam. You see, between Mom and my Grandma, and the numerous Vietnamese restaurants in Houston, I've eaten almost everything that Bourdain mentions in the chapter. I can personally attest to the intoxicating aroma that comes from the kitchen when you start scorching an onion for soup broth, or the way grilled pork on skewers tastes when it's fresh off the grill. If you aren't able to get my Mom to cook for you (she makes the best snail soup I have ever tasted, ever), then reading "A Cook's Tour" might be the next best thing.