If your rich mind is hankering for a raw read, then be sure to put Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, on your summer reading list for a hearty portion of sarcastic humor from the chef known for his blatant honesty. The No Reservations host is a little late on handing out his Valentine cards, but switch cards for pages and you’ll get a delivery of Bourdain’s scorching short essays that cover a spread of sizzling topics.
According to bloggers at Grub Street New York who got an early copy of the latest release, Bourdain holds nothing back as he serves his gastronome cohorts on a bloody platter. Sitting at the literary table, Bourdain holds no reservations, but his critique of celebrity chefs, Food Network, vegetarians, and a laundry list of others, may have him calling for a table of one. Also on the raw menu, a certain chef who birthed the idea of putting barbecue inside of nori rolls, and other Bourdain-proclaimed “douche bags” who fall in the firing line of his detestation of star chefs, who he deems talentless.
But unless you are one of the aforementioned targets, or a fervent consumer of Chicken McNuggets, then you will most likely find Medium Raw to be highly entertaining. Few cooks’ books serve recipes for epicurean bloodshed. Following his previous rampages of bitter, yet gratifying truths about the restaurant industry and his life collected in book form, such as his New York Times bestsellers, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000), A Cook’s Tour (2001), and The Nasty Bits (2006), Bourdain’s latest release continues his literary quest to tackling the tough questions of the foodie world. Pleasing a comical palate, readers are certain to be left craving another helping of Bourdain’s literary chop suey…or brewing sweet revenge.
No matter which way you slice it, come June 8 when Bourdain’s biting book hits shelves, don’t even try placing your bloody hands on our copy. We like our sushi to be raw, our summer read to be Medium Raw, and our Valentine from Bourdain to be anything but bloody. Chew on that!
