Last Supper

Everyone loves playing the last meal game.  For some reason, it's fun to think about food in this morbid context.

I just came across this book, My Last Supper, which reveals how 50 of the world's most famous chefs would answer this question, accompanied by evocative portraits taken by the award-winning photographer Melanie Dunea.

Publisher's Weekly writes "The meals are curiosities, and the few recipes included are pleasant enough; it's the photographs of each chef that make this book so irresistible. One needn't have heard of them, much less dined in their restaurants, to appreciate their portraits."

Indeed, the portraits are captivating. What else would have afforded the opportunity to see an almost nude Anthony Bourdain, save for a strategically placed leg bone, or this amazingly large boar?  Click here for more pictures (and yes, the Bourdain photo is included!)

Photo from www.melaniedunea.com

 But I must say, I find the meals equally intriguing. Yes, pictures are worth a thousand words, but the level of description and detail these chefs put into their last meals is arguably just as revealing.

Take for instance, the Canadian chef Martin Picard, who prefers one kilo of caviar and blini, a Russian pancake, followed by fresh bluefin tuna from Nova Scotia, served raw with a soy sauce and self-hunted snipes (a type of wading bird), prepared classically. Right down to the weight, location, and method of kill. 

Then again, his photo is pretty revealing...or misleading.  Would you have guessed this guy is a world-famous chef?

Photo from Time.com

Check out Time's slideshow of excerpts from the book for more affinities for gooseneck barnacles, dark butter chocolate ice cream, potatoes cooked in ashes, and my favorite, "flower of egg and tartufo in goose fat with chorizo and dates."