Mom always said, “if you can’t say anything nice…” – you know the drill.

If a book isn’t my cup of tea, I won’t write about it; I’m not a book critic and in no position to judge. I will however, describe the fabulousness in my collection of books. And with Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, it’s the “f-you” style of writing that lured me in from the first page.

Bourdain doesn’t pander to anyone – it’s really quite refreshing and sort of inspiring. He says flat out in the introduction that if you are a moron, you should get out of the kitchen; if you have no work ethic, get out of the kitchen; if you have no integrity and respect for food, that’s right, get out of the kitchen. I laughed my arse off through the entire introduction.

One thing that really sang to me was Bourdain’s list-making policy. He says shopping lists can vary slightly, although a cook should always have a good idea of what’s in season, but one should strictly abide by prep lists.  True, true, true.

Les Halles cookbook (Pronounced lay-AHL) is a collection of classic French bistro recipes with edgy, straight-forward instructions. Not sure yet whether or not I will make anything from his “blood and guts” chapter; first I’ll try his version of rillettes, duck a l’orange, and Les Halles fries. Meanwhile, I recommend everyone to fork “over thirty-five bucks to some publishing conglomerate for this book.” It’s worth every penny.