Sweary Books, Part 2: Dining and Et*quette
Content Warning: Swears ahead! Please don't read this post if you don't like swearing!
As we've observed elsewhere, swearing in book titles is all the rage these days; and what's true for self-help books goes double for cookbooks. Is Gordon Ramsay to blame? Or Anthony Bourdain? Or those spatula-flipping foulmouthed vegans from Thug Kitchen? In any case, the truffle-infused oil is out of the jar: swearing is now as much a part of gourmet cooking as those tiny flamethrowers they use for making crème brûlée.
A case in point: last time I was paying attention, Action Bronson was being asked not to headline a concert in Yonge-Dundas Square because of his violently misogynist lyrics. Now, the mutton-forker's hosting a popular cooking show on Vice TV (because it's 2017), and promoting the sweariest sweary cookbook/memoir in this library's collection.
Well, fricasee me: if you want to know what kind of street art, milkshakes and kangaroo tartare Bronson likes, you're in luck:
F*ck, That's Delicious, by Action Bronson
If Bronson's particularly pungent brand of sweariness is too rich for your blood, there are other options. Hypothesis: for every very sweary cookbook, there's a milder counterpart – exhibit A:
Damn Delicious, by Chungah Rhee
Exhibit B: the strangely angry (but talented!) vegans over at Thug Kitchen are loudly exhorting you to eat like you give a… fig:
Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck
While the kinder, gentler vegans of Herbivore take a more genteel, Rhett-Butlerish approach to the same sentiment:
Eat Like You Give a Damn, by Michelle Schwegmann and Josh Hooten
Even the sweariest chefs need etiquette. Once you've done all that sweary cooking, you'll want to know how to behave properly at the dinner party afterwards:
Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck, by Amy Alkon
Have we missed any sweary cookbooks? Let us know in the comments.
Bonus Contest: free virtual high fives to the reader who posts the best cooking-related fake swear word in the comments.
5 thoughts on “Sweary Books, Part 2: Dining and Et*quette”
Interesting that you allowed Thug Kitchen on to the list, seeing as the authors have been revealed to be painfully white and POC have not been happy about it. The blog “Is This Racist?” says yes, yes this entire concept is incredibly racist – the book, the blog, all of it. Just thought you’d like to know that’s there’s more to question regarding Thug Kitchen than their potty-mouths.
Thanks for pointing that out, Lindsay! I wasn’t aware of the controversy, so I’m glad you brought it up. Apologies for missing this important point.
Just looking this up, and you’re right, I should have realized this. Here’s a good background article: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/living/thug-kitchen-controversy-eatocracy/index.html
Oooo what a splendid article, thank you for supplying more material on the subject!
The Onion has a series of cooking videos hosted by the strangely hostile and occasionally sweary Jillian Hess. I love them but they’re probably not for everyone.
https://www.theonion.com/tag/good-taste