Review
Posted in: Books > Cookbooks
22 / 11 / 2007
When you pick up a copy Matthew Evans latest cookbook, Never order chicken on a Monday its hard not to miss the large red sticker from the publisher which says “Australia’s answer to Kitchen Confidential”. I recall when reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain I constantly had shivers up my spine because I’d has very similar experiences as a chef of that to Anthony. I was hoping that this would be the same with Never order chicken on a Monday.
Never order chicken on a Monday starts off with Matthew talking about his experiences as a young boy and the food experiences he had prior to chefs apprenticeship. He talks about gaining his fathers approval and support at becoming an apprentice chef. The book then explores the world of cooking and some of the dodgy experiences Matthew’s experienced along the way.
After that the book turns to Matthew’s experience as one of the leading restaurant critics. Unlike the majority of restaurant critics around the world, Matthew Evans is a qualified chef. With his food background I think this is the reason that most chefs I know generally respect him. He talks about some of the experiences about writing reviews as well as the response that many of them created.
The title pretty much describes the freshness of chicken on a Monday after it was delivered the previous week, which is a very common practise in restaurants. Now compare this to seafood which is either delivery fresh daily from the fish markets or snap frozen and thawed on demand out of the freezer. It’s a clever book title and one which is easily digested.
Still not convinced? If you ask any of these questions, even just one then its worth grabbing a copy. What is it really like to work in a restaurant? What do chefs do when they are running out of the night’s most popular dish? Do they really serve food that is on the turn? And how do they make it seem fresh? What happens to a restaurant when it gets a bad review?
Never order chicken on a Monday is a frank, funny and honest book about what happens in restaurants and as well as a behind the scene look at one of Australia’s most respected restaurant critics. It’s not really an autobiography and its not really an expose, but its close. Chefs in particular will really enjoy Never order chicken on a Monday.
So was it as spine chilling as Kitchen Confidential? It was better.
Never order chicken on a Monday by Mathew Evans
Random House Australia
ISBN 9781741666960
Full disclosure: I received a review copy of Never order chicken on a Monday by Mathew Evans from Random House.
Buy Online Now
