The Cook's Tour

by Paul Cullen

This fascinating story of an Irish cook and his young family backpacking from Asia to Europe vividly brings to life the sights, sounds, and smells of exotic marketplaces.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

225 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Heidi Madden · Rating 3 out of 5]

“To travel, with all your days planned and all your tickets arranged, seems a pointless exercise, for how then do you find the chance meeting, the odd restaurant, the unexpected kindness? And if there are none of those, why go?” This quote beautifully sums up this whole book and in many ways, it's my favourite way to travel. That said, I've never done it with a spouse and three kids on a train across Asia in the 1990's! On one hand I'd like to say that this book is dated but the truth is, it's a travelogue that details an experience during a certain moment in time and it's written in the grand tradition of other travel memoirs. It's a good mix of personal stories, history of the areas (I spent a lot of time on Google maps while reading this!), and a food writing and definitely an interesting read for anyone looking to learn about China, Russia and other Asian countries.

[Vari Lemur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ganz nett geschrieben, erzählt der Author von einer Bahnreise durch Asien (vornehmlich die VR China) in den frühen 90ern. Ich hätte mir etwas mehr Tiefe gewünscht, aber nicht schlecht geschrieben.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.