Very enjoyable book about a culinary journey around the world. The autheor spent time in four countries learning to cook their cousine and trying to learn as much as she could about herself as a chef and the culture behind the food - a fascinating look at the author's personal journey and the intersting things (and people) that go on behind the scenes in restaurant kitchens. This was my first exposure to the concept of moleculor gastronomy, which I found quite interesting (and I must admit, a little scary). The section i nVietnam was probably my favorite, which surprised me, as I have not historically been drawn to Asian cusine, but her stories abotu the people, the food, and the places she saw made me want to visit that country and experience it for myself. The ultimate conclusion for this autheor was that her passion lay i nthe cooking process itself, and her own creativity, and the opportunity to share food with loved ones and friends. This untilmately started as a Chef learning about cooking, and ended as a cook finding the reason for her passion. Initally I was disappointed that after all of that, she was not going to work in a kitchen, but after more thought, I find it much wiser that she ultimatly chose to allow cooking to be a shared passion in her life rather than to become a mundance and repetitive action she would dread doing on a daily basis in a tradtional Chef capacity.