迷上ANTHONY BOURDAIN 了

ANTHONY BOURDAIN 是TRAVEL 台"NO RESERVATIONS"上的節目主持人. 剛看電視上的他並不起眼,50左右瘦高的一個CHEF,去世界各地到處吃,並講解當地的風土人情,不時喜歡說幾句粗話,一個酷酷的老痞子形象.  他也在BRAVO上的TOP CHEF 做裁判.

後來有朋友推薦讀了他的KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL 這本書,講述他從大學輟學去學燒菜,年紀輕輕燃上毒癮,從一個失敗的廚房做到另一個失敗的廚房,目睹了這個行業無數的不可啟齒的規矩. 這書最可貴的是他的幽默和不可否認的VOICE, 不關是描述他在CAPE　ＣＯＤ夏天零時打工(真巧我夏天才去他工作過的PROVINCETOWN, 更覺的親切)，還是到後來做ＬＥＳ HALLE 做頭廚,他的獨特的語音是貫穿全書的線索.

這書是2000年出的,讓BOURDAIN一下成了名人,書在世界各地出版,還拍成了電視.


他學廚是從CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERIDA 開始的,在紐約州北部,簡稱"CIA."  有一門可叫"ORIENTAL COOKERY", 那年是1975.  他是這麽描述的

The instructor, a capable Chinese guy, was responsible for teaching the fundamentals of both Chinese and Japanese cooking.  The Chinese portion of the class was terrific.  When it came time to fill us in on the tastes of Japan, however, our teacher was more interested in giving us an extended lecture on the Rape of Nanking.  His loathing of the Japanese was consuming.  In between describing the bayoneting of women, children and babies in World War II, he'd point at a poster of a sushi/sashimi presentation on the wall, and say in his broken, heavily accented English, "That a raw a fish.  You wanna eat that? Hah! Japanese shit!" Then he'd go back into his dissertation on forced labor, mass executions, and enslavement, hinting darkly that Japan would pay, sooner or later, for what it had done to his country.

這書會告訴你為什麽不要在星期一晚上點魚,吃麵包是要想想你吃的可能是別人桌上被回收的麵包. 對於想在餐館業投資的人,先讀了這書在作決定.

To want to own a restaurant can be a strange and terrible afflication.  What causes such a destructive urge in so many otherwise sensible people?  Why would anyone who has worked hard, saved money and often been successfual in other fields want to pump his hard-earned cash down a hoe that statistically, at lease, will almost surely prove dry?  ... The chances of ever seeing a return on your investment are about one in five.  What insidious spongiform bacterium so riddles the brains of men and women that they stand there on hte tracks, watching the lights of the oncoming locomotive, knowning full well it will eventually run them over? ... The easy answer, of course, is ego...

題外話,我認識的一對成功夫婦剛投了50,000美金在一個餐館,做所謂的"SILENT　ＰＡＲＴＮＥＲ．＂　向他們推了這書但我知道他們沒讀，這筆錢對他們來說無所謂，但當然希望做成功的百分之二十！