About: In the ten years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, from Monday fish to the breadbasket conspiracy, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business-and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores these changes, moving back and forth from the author’s bad old days to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he’s seen, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food. Beginning with a secret and highly illegal after-hours gathering of powerful chefs that he compares to a mafia summit, Bourdain pulls back the curtain-but never pulls his punches-on the modern gastronomical revolution, as only he can.
My thoughts: I didn’t like Bourdain very much after reading Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour back in 2007. I found his language crass, his swagger overly macho, and his attitude offputting. I eventually warmed up to him after catching a few episodes of No Reservations. I really liked the respectful manner in which he conducted himself while filming and feasting abroad. He represented Americans well, and it didn’t hurt that he looked good while doing it.
In the three years since I was first introduced to Bourdain, the man has truly grown on me. And after reading Medium Raw, I am downright smitten. Compared to his previous works, I found this one to be more honest and less venomous. His language is still atrocious, but Bourdain’s tremendous sense of self and sharp writing are more than enough to make up for it. I don’t know if it’s the result of him aging, his perspectives shifting, or a combination of both, but the voice that fills these pages is leaps and bounds more likable than before. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for thinking so.
Nearly every chapter contained a quotable gem or two, but my two favorites were “Heroes and Villains” and “It’s Not You, It’s Me.” In the former, Bourdain makes a somewhat random list of food personalities and humorously anoints them “hero” or “villain.” Jonathan Gold is a hero, as are Ariane Daguin, Grant Achatz, and Jamie Oliver. Villains include Gael Greene, Wolfgang Puck, and the James Beard House. You’ll have to read the book for his witty rationalizations.
The chapter that got me thinking was “It’s Not You, It’s Me,” where he discusses his falling out with fine dining and tasting menus. Bourdain asserts that multi-course meals should be judged based on how one feels afterward. I still find pleasure in gut-busting feasts, so I’m on the fence about whether or not that’s fair, but I expect my perspective will change with time, just as Bourdain’s did. In support of his argument, he brings up unladylike topics like suppressed farts and pooping truffles. Get the book for the gritty details.
This book is a superb read for anyone who loves restaurants, chefs, and the business of food. It’s been over a year since I’ve read a food book worthy of mentioning on the site, so the fact that Medium Raw made the cut speaks volumes.
About: Veteran Chicago Tribune entertainment reporter Caro expands on his front-page story about a 2005 flap over foie gras with a wide-ranging investigation into the ethical debate surrounding the human consumption of fattened duck liver. Drawing on conflicts in Chicago, Philadelphia and California over whether force-feeding birds should be legislated as torture or standard agricultural practice, Caro presents various positions from duck farmers, chefs and animal rights activists. His chatty arguments between industry players deliver without becoming unnecessarily complicated or resorting to the oversimplification of surveys and superficial media reports. Caro offers descriptions of a vegan activist headquarters, a video depicting a rat burrowing into an injured duck, and traditional farm operations in France. While he pursues his source’s agendas with due diligence, he appears reluctant to side completely with gourmands despite describing presumably happy ducks, mouthwatering foie gras meals and even eating a raw duck liver. While he tends to focus on the colorful, entertaining aspects of the food’s history and science, Caro’s selection of pointed quotes from duck liver lovers and foie gras foes presents an in-depth take on this ongoing food fight. From Publishers Weekly.
About: Readers will take an unexpected and entertaining journey—through culinary, social and cultural history—in this delightful first book on the origins of the customary after-Chinese-dinner treat by New York Times reporter Lee. When a large number of Powerball winners in a 2005 drawing revealed that mass-printed paper fortunes were to blame, the author went in search of the backstory. She tracked the winners down to Chinese restaurants all over America, and the paper slips the fortunes are written on back to a Brooklyn company. This travel-like narrative serves as the spine of her cultural history—not a book on Chinese cuisine, but the Chinese food of take-out-and-delivery—and permits her to frequently but safely wander off into various tangents related to the cookie. There are satisfying mini-histories on the relationship between Jews and Chinese food and a biography of the real General Tso, but Lee also pries open factoids and tidbits of American culture that eventually touch on large social and cultural subjects such as identity, immigration and nutrition. Copious research backs her many lively anecdotes, and being American-born Chinese yet willing to scrutinize herself as much as her objectives, she wins the reader over. From Publishers Weekly.
About: In his hugely influential treatise 
About: In this engrossing look at the competitive cooking circuit, journalist Sutherland follows the trail of competitions and a small group of regular participants. These often fanatical competitors, complete with their own websites and chat rooms, square off against the amateur one-time-only contenders at local and national levels across the country. With a healthy dose of humor, Sutherland conveys the inside stories and nail-biting moments as the regulars face off. From developing recipes to matching serving wear to outfits, the bravado of the male players and the disasters and pitfalls that can ensue for both regular and amateur alike, this work takes a long, thorough look at this American phenomenon. From chili contests that are more like frat parties to the National Chicken and National Beef competitions, Sutherland crisscrosses the country and along the way conveys her growing enthusiasm for and fascination with why one recipe or dish wins and another loses. She intersperses winning recipes with the account of her own growing delight, which leads her to enter a competition herself. Doing for cookoffs what 
