Anthony Bourdain's television programmes, including A Cook's Tour (2002-2003), No Reservations (2005-2012) and Parts Unknown (2013-2018), make great last-minute travel guides. His shows, for instance, have helped me to find underground cafes in Chile and discover spots for Fado singing in Portugal.
Food writer and Bourdain’s assistant Laurie Woolever must have recognised how useful his programmes are for the adventurous traveller searching for the authentic, the local, the unusual and the tourist-free.
This must be why she produced World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, out next Tuesday. It is a guidebook to the places Bourdain, who died in June 2018, loved best, and which he co-wrote with Woolever.
The food writer met Bourdain in 2002 when she was hired to edit and test recipes for Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Woolever went on to pursue a career in journalism and now hosts the Carbface for Radio podcast in New York.
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide is a mixture of autobiography, travelogue, guidebook and memoir. It is the first book by Bourdain to be published posthumously.
In the short introduction, Woolever writes that "maybe the world could use another travel guide, full of Tony's acid wit and thoughtful observations". However, she observes that the guidebook might produce a "Bourdain effect" for the places featured. "Once a low-key restaurant was featured on the show, its number of customers often skyrocketed ... In theory, this was a good thing ... but it could also utterly disrupt a beloved local institution, turning it into a sideshow."
The reader can alphabetically browse countries from Argentina to Vietnam, while finding quotes taken from Bourdain's TV shows, interviews and other appearances in each section. Woolever adds her own touch, not only providing vital information such as hotel prices and train stations, but also discussing her personal travel experiences.
There are also short essays provided by other chefs, crew and family members on places they have been to with Bourdain. The text is accompanied by stylish but minimal illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook. The drawings are charming but leave you wanting more: many of the dishes and cities described are left to the reader's imagination.
The book provides a large amount of information on travelling in the Mena region. However, the chapter dedicated to the US does seem oversized in comparison to sections on India and China: perhaps a revised version will give both countries their proper due. Israel, Lebanon, Morocco and Oman are also covered, and Bourdain provides his unique perspectives on the Arab uprisings, the Beat Generation in Tangier and oil production in the Gulf. Meanwhile Woolever's informative prose makes travelling in the Middle East approachable, while quotes from Bourdain never shy away from discussing the politics and history of the region.
For instance, Woolever recounts how in 2006 the crew of No Reservations became accidental war correspondents: "[We] visited Beirut and managed to film for two days before war erupted between Lebanon and neighbouring Israel. The crew continued to document ... the experience."
However, the book makes it clear that Bourdain viewed both history and politics as driving influences behind the development of national cuisines:
“I mean everyone’s been through [Beirut]: the Greeks, the Romans, the Phoenicians, the French, so I always knew this was going to be a good place to eat.”
Bourdain seemed drawn to the cosmopolitan and literary centres of the Middle East. Before we know about the mosques and souks of Tangier, we find out that the city is "at the northern tip of Africa, a short ferry hop from Spain, [and is] a magnet for writers, remittance men, spies and artists ... Matisse, Genet, William Burroughs".
This is a trend the reader will find throughout World Travel: An Irreverent Guide – an attraction to the local, the historic, the political, the artistic and the literary. It makes for stimulating reading. However, it is probably a book for veteran Bourdain fans rather than those who want to find an easy entry point into his writing, work and world.
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide is out on April 20
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
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PAKISTAN SQUAD
Pakistan - Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Aamer Yamin, Rumman Raees.
RESULTS
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000, 2,400m
Winner: Recordman, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000, 2,200m
Winner: AF Taraha, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m
Winner: Dhafra, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000, 1,400m
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000, 1,600m
Winner: AF Momtaz, Fernando Jara, Musabah Al Muhairi
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Winner: Optimizm, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
