I grabbed a book from the library titled “Rude Food” by Vir Sanghvi. I expected to read about real stories in the kitchen, how hard it is to survive in the dirty culinary world, how chefs fight and spit in your food. O.K, I’ll stop. I think I expected an Anthony Bourdain type book, one of those books that will scare you into ever even thinking of opening your own place
and might convince you that chefs are possessed with the worst job on earth.
Vir Sanghi is slightly negative about the culinary world but not in a depressing way. He paints a picture of the restaurant world as it really is, minus a constant nagging negativity. He knows how to give credit when needed and makes sure that every detail on every subject is thoroughly explained.
Although a lot of the stories are about Indian cuisine, he writes about every type of cuisine, gives you surprising facts and history and most of all motivation to try foods that may seem odd at first.
The book is compiled of short essays of only a few pages each on basically every trend in the culinary world from truffles which he compares to the smell of sex, to caviar to a whole section dedicated to explaining diet trends.
If you are obsessed with food, the history of food, the smell of food or just want to learn some culinary tips, this is the book for you.
And as far as the subject of wanting to be a chef or learning how to cook( been harassed a lot lately):
All I hear is how this world is so hard. I shouldn’t bother because my legs will hurt all the time,
working in a hot kitchen is really bad for your pores. But hey, wake up and smell the coffee
culinary fools. Working is rarely fun and everyone gets sick of their job at one point.
I would rather have a smiling belly then even dream of doing something else.