English 395 - Cooking in Literature - Compare and Contrast, Child, Bourdain, Choi

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Kamil Kurpaska English 395 May 7, 2014 My Life in France ( Julia Child), Kitchen Confidential ( Anthony Bourdain), and L.A. Son (Roy Choi). According to Anthony Bourdain, food is a very powerful thing. It can “inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight, and impress.” (17) In fact, cooking can be considered an art, especially when it is done with a certain style, or by a certain kind of chef. The question of style, however, varies amongst the many different cultures and chef's. But where does one develop the idea and the skill to become a chef? According to these three memoirs, this idea of “cookery” all stems from some sort of family influence, and is only later strengthened by education in that very field, specifically of French cuisine, which is seen as the ideal. The three memoirs by Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, and Roy Choi all mention that their interest in food all came from sort of family influence, and sometimes even an urge to be better at cooking than their family. Anthony Bourdian found his escape in the exotic taste of food only after visiting France, which was similar to the case of Julia Child, who's real appreciation only stemmed after such a visit as well. They both had direct contact with this “classical food”. For Roy, it was a slightly different influence of Korean food that later pushed him towards the classic French style. For Julia Child it was her marriage that provoked her to attain skill in cookery. As she mentions, “with a new husband on a limited government income, I decided I'd better learn how to cook” (5). Her want to provide better food for her new family, which initially only consisted of her and her husband, was the stem for her interest in cooking. Due to her position in life, with her husband being sent over seas to work for a government job with a normal government wage, she would have to cook as

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