“I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure.” Anthony Bourdain, ‘Kitchen Confidential’ (2000)
"They say there are sun bears in China, hooked up to kidney drips like catsup dispensers, leeching bear bile into tiny bottles. Rhino horn. Bear claw. Bird's nest. Duck embryo. You've got to be pretty anxious about your penis to contemplate hurting a cute little sun bear" (132).
Risk of offending someone's mother even though you can't stand eggplant. Yanking a live eel out of Tokyo fish tank.
Politeness and an awareness of the customs of the area can be risky. Going to Japan and accidentally pointing your chopsticks at someone is a risk.
I just recently learned that in Ecuador you're supposed to arrive 30-45 minutes late to a dinner party—which will be perfect for me, seeing as I'm ALWAYS late—and that it's rude to eat all of the food on your plate, you're supposed to leave a bit left over. According to Ecuadorians, it shows that you're full and you've enjoyed your meal but according to my mother, its wasteful.
I remember a sleepover with my friend Isabelle that left me traumatized. We were nine and we had our first traveling soccer tournament the next day. I slept over at the Hogan's house because my parents were out of town for the weekend. I remember that after the game, Isabelle and her sisters complained to her father that they were hungry.
Like Bourdain claimed at the beginning of A Cook's Tour, context is everything.
Thousands of people get injured in the kitchen every year and there's even "The United Kingdom Slip Resistance Group (UKSRG)" that aims to prevent slippery kitchen accidents.
Eating pho alone is a risk.
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