Antoni in the Kitchen

Well, that was an odd experience and absolutely nothing like what I anticipated when I saw this book. I'm unfamiliar with Antoni myself, but one of my friends is a big fan of his televised works so I vaguely recognized the name and the cover looked engaging enough to pique my interest. That's about it. I knew it was a cook book by someone a friend likes on TV.

I have had many a cookbook, some by famous people, but none were quite like this. It begins with a brief yet slightly dull mini-memoir which explores bits and pieces of Antoni's life. There isn't much to it other than a few mentions of having a split family and wishing he'd had more time with his parents, who worked all the time. He got into the food industry via a family-owned restaurant - or at least ended up working at one at some point; I'll admit I skimmed - and took that opportunity for granted by constantly showing up for work hungover. The amount of privileged elements to his story make it very difficult to relate, and it's uncomfortable when he decides to mention that two women who made sure everyone was well-fed had thick ankles and were overweight as if that ever needed to be mentioned. But it ends with the suggestion that readers analyze the food they grew up with and experiment with their own heritage foods, so at least there's a good message overall to the intro...?

That said, the intro is his life story even if it's one of privilege and opportunity, so I can't judge too hard there. I just question the choice to include it in a cookbook along with pictures of him posing in photos which only sometimes have a vague relevance to food. Is this what fans expect? Is this how modern cookbooks are made? I don't know, but it all felt a bit bizarre and confusing to me.

The dishes themselves don't seem all that basic or beginner level to me, partly because the ingredients are often things you'd never find in the average town - only cities or areas with high demand for them. For example: a jicama (whatever that is), a block of goat cheese, Baltic rye, Gruy??re cheese, and mirin (idk what that is, either) - all of which appear within the first handful of recipes. There are some simpler ones I may actually try, such as those with potatoes or garlic, but overall it seems way out of my budget, availability, and skill.

Overall, I'm just confused.