Are You Really Going to Eat That?: Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker

Walsh is an excellent writer, he can make your mouth water when he reviews cuisine in his magazine and newspaper articles. I thought this book was just a glimpse at some of his best writing, boy was I mistaken. Walsh has compiled articles composed of peculiar and obscure cuisine, and the travels he had to take getting there. Included in this collection are brains from Vietnam, cactus paddle margaritas, Thai Stinkfruit, Chilean picorrocco, and deep fried everything. But to give this book justice there are many selections of true wonderful (typical?) cuisine such as the blue crabs, Trinidadian curry, and the wonderful Creole food. My favorite selections are his search for true Jamaican coffee and Dinner at Darrington which portrays southern cooking at a prison. The book is laid out in 5-6 page articles and profiles different ethnicities, countries, and esoteric cuisine. This book is great for a gourmand, foodie, but also for those who like learning about culture and people. Walsh highlights not only the foods but the cultivating, cooking, and traditions of this foods. For example stinkfruit is a delicacy to the Thai, sauerkraut to Austrians, spam to Hawaiins, and knishes to the Jewish yet these are probably not mainstays in your kitchen and probably not appealing to your senses. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in different foods and likes culinary writing. Walsh is a true culinary thrill seeker and it is definately exciting to read this collection.

Among other things, this book demonstrates that chef / author Tony Bourdain's persona as literary tourist to some truly bizarre culinary experiences reported in the book and TV show `A Cooks Tour' is not only not entirely original, but not necessarily the best of the genre. Culinary `Thrill Seeker' and Journalist Robb Walsh has been there and done that, hitting many sites and smells and tastes chef Bourdain has not yet experienced.To be fair to Tony, Bourdain and Walsh are not doing exactly the same thing. Walsh's reporting lies somewhere between the `New Yorker' detached style of Calvin Trillin who is most interested in placing the reader in the place and time being reported and the gonzo participatory journalism of Bourdain which owe's a lot more of its style to Hunter Thompson than it does to the `New Yorker' or even to the `good feeling' reporting style of Food Network travelogues.Witness a comparison between Bourdain's reporting on a visit to Thomas Keller's The French Laundry, arguably the best restaurant in this country with Walsh's reporting on a visit to `The Best Restaurant in the World', the restaurant of Ferdy Girardet in Switzerland. Walsh's piece is a quiet recitation of his solo meal eaten under the guidance of chef Girardet, followed by observations of the chef and a brief interview. All of this focuses on Girardet's vision of a meal at his restaurant being not unlike a visit to a museum where guests simply experience the artist's work without being given any real opportunity to tailor the experience to their own tastes. Bourdain's chapter is like a chronicle of planning for and executing the invasion of Normandy. Bourdain assumes the role of the timid supplicant at the alter of the renowned French Laundry, padding his request for an audience with a supporting cast of culinary stars such as Eric Rippert, Scott Bryan, and Michael Ruhlman, a literary collaborator with both Rippert and Keller. Keller never makes an appearance in the piece, leaving his food to speak to the communicants.Both Bourdain and Walsh are entertaining, and both represent the left wing of culinary journalism to James Villas' right wing and Calvin Trillin's centrist position. I confess Bourdain evokes more chuckles, but Walsh, in a very cramped format, may bring more information per page to his readers.Almost all of Robb Walsh's pieces in this book are reprinted columns and articles from newspapers and fairly light journals that can only support relatively short pieces of writing. Many of the articles remind me of Jeff Goldblum's line in `The Big Chill' where he describes his writing for `People' magazine as being articles which the average reader can complete during a session in the crapper.All of this talk about `like him' and `not like him' is simply done to convey to you, dear reader, the fact that while Walsh may not be as well known as Bourdain or Trillin or Villas or John Thorne, he is equally as entertaining and equally as informative as all of these oth

Years ago, when I was starting out as a reporter, I figured that politics and business were the only things that really mattered. But then Robb Walsh came along. He and I both wrote for the Austin Chronicle. His stories got more attention and more letters than practically anything in the whole paper. Maybe getting older has made me wiser. Or maybe it's just that after reading Robb's stories, I've come to really appreciate food and good food writing. Or perhaps, I've finally come to realize that Will Rogers was right when he wrote "We only have one or two wars in a lifetime. But we have three meals a day. When you have helped raise the standard of cooking then you would have raised the only thing in the world that matters." Reading Robb's BBQ book (Legends of Texas BBQ) finally got me to smoke a brisket (albeit on a propane grill). This book is a wide ranging collection of writing on foods -- many of which I'd never put in my mouth. But Robb's easy writing style and graceful observations always make me hungry for more.

Like Calvin Trillin, Texas food writer Robb Walsh ("Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook," "The Tex-Mex Cookbook") will go anywhere in pursuit of the perfect regional dish. Partial to spice and barbecue he's been to the pepper farms of the Caribbean seeking the best hot sauce and to Monterrey, Mexico, for the consummate cabrito (barbecued goat). He's eaten stinkfruit (durian - redolent of rotten eggs) in Thailand, musing on other cultural affinities for smelly delicacies. He's traced specialties to farms, factories and fishing boats. He's been entertained by the finest of convict cooks and French chefs.This compilation of humorous, informative pieces comes mostly from the "Houston Chronicle," and two magazines, "American Way," and "Natural History." Walsh explores food's chemistry (Hawaii's love affair with Spam; seaweed's association with McDonalds, or Martinis) and culture (stuffed cabbage lovers may not have even that in common; one man's greasy spoon is another's comfort zone), and shares the adventure of tracking to the source, be it the world's best coffee beans, sitting unsaleable in a Jamaican warehouse, or cagey French truffle hunters, or neighborhood restaurants from Houston to New York and beyond.Witty, eclectic, and opinionated, Walsh is ready to try anything so you won't have to.

If you are an adventurous eater, you will love this book. If you are not an adventurous eater, perhaps you will be after reading Robb Walsh's, "Are You Really Going To Eat That? Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker". This book is literally all over the map, and that's a good thing. Robb takes us from the fiery hot sauces of Jamaica, to the stinky fruit of Thailand called durian, to down-home fried chicken shacks, to barbecued crabs from The Gulf of Mexico. Walsh does not 'review' a restaurant as much as he describes his experience wherever he goes, and it's all with the entertaining (not to mention educational) flair and knowledge of food that makes Robb one of the best food writers in the country.As with his previous book, "Legends of Texas Barbecue, you will read it more than once, and you will be hungry when you finish it!