An Analysis Of Who Cooks By Anthony Bourdain

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Ever wonder who is cooking the food in the kitchens of America’s favorite restaurants? Anthony Bourdain answered this question in his article titled “Who Cooks?” Anthony Bourdain is a chef, writer and has been featured on some reality television shows. He discussed how the line cooks are not who most people think they are; they are not professionals but instead they are non-American men who cannot make it elsewhere according to his experience. Line cooking involves mindless repetition that not anyone can do and those with culinary vision or education are not these line cooks. According to Anthony Bourdain’s “Who Cooks?” those who cook the food in popular restaurants are visionless, uneducated, non-Americans (93-94). Line cooking “is not all …show more content…
This type of line cooks are normally the specialists like a pastry chef. They are important to the kitchen, and do not follow the normal line cook mentality since they are high maintenance. They might have a culinary education but like to specialize in one area. The second, are the exiles who cannot make it in other jobs. They cannot hold a ‘normal’ nine to five job. They are immigrants who think cooking is better than anything else on the streets. Third, are the mercenaries who work for cash. They are professionals at line cooking, have worked as a line cook forever and will work forever because of the pay. They do not have any love for their job, just the cash it provides. They have no education and therefore cannot make the same amount of cash anywhere else. They will never miss a day of work and will be hard-working for their money. The majority of these three categories are men who have no education and were not born in …show more content…
At the top of the article it does state the author is a writer and has had some television experience, however it does not go into details. Anthony Bourdain is the author of at least eight books according to a quick internet search. According to Biography.com, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978 (Biography.com Editors). He has since worked in and ran many New York kitchens, thus giving him the experience needed to provide the examples in his article. He has been on many television shows including “No Reservations” (nine seasons running from 2005 to 2012), “Parts Unknown” (eight mini seasons from 2013 to 2016) and appearances on “Top Chef.” His experience supports his thoughts and claims. He does have the authority to state most line cooks are uneducated non-American

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