Appetites: A Cookbook

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Anthony Bourdain is the temptation angel of our better natures, an unblinking guide to the deep pleasures of seared flesh, cooked muscle, boiled intestines, fried brains, and sauteed livers. I melted the whole two sticks right off the bat but only ended up using maybe 2/3rds of it, and I was being pretty generous with the amount I brushed on. As far as I can tell it's people who think Anthony Bourdain can do no wrong yet possess zero kitchen skills.

I don't have hours to make dinner, I don't have easy access to special ingredients, and I value health in my cooking above taste (although I absolutely believe you can have them both). The ham hock and pig’s foot make this a particularly full-bodied and satisfying version of borscht, a soup you might have previously equated with dishwater.The recipe captions and supplemental writing are half-assed, at best, and the photography ranges from modernist to unhelpful to just plain gross. Also, I wish this had gotten a bit more browned and crisp around the edges but I don't see how that would happen with it covered for the whole time.

Turning the pages at random, there's a two-page spread of a dog lunging for a piece of tossed meat (appetites, remember?I can't even get hold of this book before it's available, but I just wanted to point out a fact about this book that many people might miss.

It was delicious, the mustard, cayenne and Worcestershire added a lot of flavor as did the combination of the four cheeses. He talked about each dish - and it’s like you’re sitting eating it with him and he’s just sharing stories. I love how Bourdain says to cook the mushrooms until they start "squeaking" when moved around the pan--and they really do!I did slightly burn the outside thanks to my electric stovetop - it’s hard to adjust when you’re used to gas!

Even my wife, who normally eschews recipes, found the cookbook very helpful in preparing for our first time hosting Thanksgiving. Also, super awkward seeing his (now ex) wife plastered everywhere, usually sweaty and in the middle of a jujitsu match. With a striking Ralph Steadman illustration for the cover and photography that somehow manages to be both strangely beautiful and utterly grotesque, this cookbook - Bourdain's first in ten years - is a home-cooking, home-entertaining cookbook like no other. My initial reaction was "not the best" but then as I puttered around I realized how many times I went back to the pan for more, and yes - these definitely grew on me. nobody's appetite was ever whetted by seeing a picture of Eric Ripert with sausage gravy dribbling down his chin.Also, this is worth it just to see a picture of Eric Ripert dribbling from the mouth and looking tortured by southern biscuits and gravy.