Appetites

Starred review from August 1, 2016
Kitchen Confidential author and TV host Bourdain already appeased fans with 2004’s Les Halles Cookbook, in which he revisited many of the dishes he prepared there. But in what might be his most accessible book yet, Bourdain reveals his “Ina Garten–like need to feed the people around me” with a terrific collection of recipes for family and friends. The blunt honesty, casual profanity, and caustic wit he’s known for are still here; much more of a real surprise is that he includes simple dishes such as scrambled eggs, tuna salad, and New England clam chowder. Though he states that those looking for mind-blowing recipes will be better served elsewhere, readers will quickly appreciate his spot-on seasoning and ingredients in crowd-pleasing dishes such as “Chicken Satay with Fake-Ass Spicy Peanut Sauce”; lasagne Bolognese; and clams with chorizo, leeks, tomato, and white wine . Even though his recipes are often simple, Bourdain isn’t cutting corners. The Korean fried chicken; duck rillettes; and calf’s liver with bacon, leeks, apples, and calvados are sure to expand palates and blow minds, and fans will appreciate his short but pointed essays on diverse topics such as the proper hamburger, party catering, and what’s wrong with the classic club sandwich, not to mention an unassailable chapter on hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with minimal stress.

October 15, 2016

On television, celebrity chef and Parts Unknown host Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential) is a globetrotting bad boy with a taste for offal and a talent for swearing. In his first cookbook in more than a decade, he is also surprisingly sentimental. Sharing the dishes he feeds his family and friends--mostly basics such as Caesar salad and grilled cheese sandwiches, with occasional more challenging entrees--he speaks candidly about fatherhood and expresses strong opinions on everything from bacon to the third slice of bread in a club sandwich. Bourdain's characteristic bite and sarcasm are here, tempered with new attentiveness. To lessen anxiety around entertaining, he provides an extensive guide to Thanksgiving dinner and a wealth of useful, often humorous tips. VERDICT This cookbook highlights an intriguing new chapter in Bourdain's storied career. Expect demand.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2016
Bourdain is back with his inimitable voicefunny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionatedin this tightly curated collection of recipes he describes as a family cookbook but that could only appear on the kitchen table of a veteran pro chef and die-hard New Yorker turned globe-trotting author and TV host. So readers will find directions for chopped liver on rye and rules for eggs Benedict alongside a four-page lesson on salt-cod-stuffed ravioli in lobster sauce and a recipe for laksa, Malaysian chili-jacked noodles, with more than 30 ingredients. For Bourdain, these are go-to, time-tested dishes to serve at home, and Appetites, although entertainingly ribald, is above all a cookbook. Bourdain is painstakingly organized in the kitchen and an exacting culinary instructor. Careful readers will be rewarded with excellent tips and a great variety of recipes, from familiar to exotic, with international flair. He lays out a battle plan for Thanksgiving, shares his tactics for throwing parties, and devotes a chapter to stocks and sauces. Then again, Bourdain's take on dessert? F*** dessert. Not a one is included in this wild ride of a cookbook that should be on every library's food shelves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)