The Anthony Bourdain thread

http://20.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krfd8iug561qzoaqio1_500.jpg

^ next Ralph Lauren ad

http://13.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krfdtzhJGm1qz9qooo1_500.jpg

little girl in enjoying cupcake, being adorable shockah.

its just a little cake in a cup apparently

1cake1cup

The hell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVtgOUY0MiE

every episode ever is now streaming on netflix

yessssssssss

The Ruth Bourdain twitter (a mash up of Bourdain and Ruth Reichl) is making my day.

Off to get mani-pedis & cupcakes w/Giada & Rachael. Then, jazzercise w/Alice Waters & Paula Deen. Could be the worst fucking day of my life.
7:05 AM Mar 20th via web

Bad night. Hot kimchi slicked w/chiles = spicarrhea. Smoking beef in lettuce ZigZags laced w/Sake didn't help. Streets electrified by ConEd.
6:39 AM Mar 19th via web

I like his description of the next episode. Can't wait to see it.

This Monday's "special episode" is indeed, special. Meaning, not normal, out of the ordinary. Unique, one might say. It really is unlike anything we've tried before--and regardless of how well it goes over with regular viewers who tune in expecting another hour of me shoving food into my face in an international location--I'm really, really proud of what we've done. To those who have bemoaned the disappearance of the quality "stand and stir" format, this is for you.

We've preserved, on tape, in one hour, some of the best and most respected chefs in the world, teaching us (and I include myself in that "us"--because I learned a lot too) the indisputably "best" way to prepare some very fundamental, everyday dishes. You may think you know how to roast a chicken, for instance. But until Thomas Keller shows you how he does it, the matter, far as I'm concerned, isn't settled.

The making of something as simple as an omelet might seem--at first blush--an egregious under-utilization of someone with the talents, reputation and experience of Jacques Pepin. But understand this: Even in many professional kitchens, the way a new cook prepares this elementary level breakfast classic is seen as a profoundly telling insight into their skills, work habits and even their character. It's often the first thing asked of a job applicant--a window into their soul. There are omelets--and there are omelets. And I pity the fool who wants to argue with Jacques Pepin's method. That would be like getting drunk at a party and trying to tell Laird Hamilton how to surf.

Spaghetti in tomato sauce is something millions of Americans make all the time--and often pride themselves on. But seeing how Scott Conant makes a simple, delicious fresh tomato sauce--and as importantly--how he incorperates that sauce into his pasta-- is an open door to a new world. I've eaten his version of this dish by the way, and you have no idea how amazing the difference between this--and any previous pasta with red sauce. . Like all the techniques demonstrated on this episode, it's a ridiculously simple, everyday thing--something we may already think we know how to do. But do it Scott's way? A few little things done differently? And the level of quality skyrockets.

Hamburgers, steaks, steamed lobster...a simple stew....These are things every American should be able to cook proficiently. And for those who already DO cook them proficiently, I hope, given the quality of instructors in the line-up, that watching this show helps many to raise their game. Every technique on this show was designed to be simple, approachable--to use ingredients that you actually find yourself using--and to be useful in the real world.

I want to thank the chefs who generously took part in this show, many of whom I flat out hero-worship, all of whom I respect enormously. They are, every one of them greater chefs than I ever was--or ever threatened to be. To share a stage, the same hour of television with them , is an honor I'll always be proud of and grateful for.

that sounds really dope

I need to watch this somehow.

wow that sounds amazing (although lol at "everyone knows how to steam a lobster")

Cool.

Also lol @ 2006 pre-foodie me.

just watched that episode - kinda cool but they moved too fast through the technique part imo

also lol @ the number one ingredient to make all these things taste good being butter

The amount of fat and oil that Conant put into his pasta was mind-blowing.

also lol @ the number one ingredient to make all these things taste good being butter

really does make the difference with his burger recipe/technique tho

wish I had a griddle at home to test it out on :|

is this a streamable thing?

you can "stream" it a "bit" if you get my "tortured metaphor"

thank "you" for this "torrent" of "information"

Tried the pasta at home, tasty as hell

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2010/04/recent-bourdain-episode-techniques.html

I was comforted that Jacques Pepin uses both hands to open a cracked egg. I've long decided that cracking an egg with one hand is just showing off.

I was, however, terrified at Keller's roast chicken technique. That was not simple.

I am abt to try the chicken.

1) I am reasonably confident in chicken roasting, having done it before, but

1a) I've never tried to do it w/ just salt n pepa and w/o basting it.

2) the act of removing teh wishbone beforehand and

2a) trussing it is new to me, so we'll see how that goes

Good interview. Made me like the guy more.

"I feel that if Jacques Pepin shows you how to make an omelet, the matter is pretty much settled. That's God talking."

And it's so goddamn simple. There are a million ways to fuck up an omelette... why try them all?

Somebody who'd be very interesting to speak to on this is Grant Achatz [one of the pioneers of molecular gastronomy].

um... no.

He is as much of a pioneer of molecular gastronomy as Coldplay are pioneers of rock and roll.

That's a great interview.

I used to believe, deeply, that people were basically bad—that given a slight change in the our situation, we would all revert to packs of wild dogs who would devour each other and sell each other out. I took a very dim view of human nature. Travel has made me more optimistic. I believe now that for the most part, the world is filled with people doing the best they can under the circumstances.

One of the neat things about watching his show over the years has been seeing that transformation of him. You could see that cynical NYC hardman shell gradually get chipped away.

So, I just got around to watching the Rome episode. Charmed, I am. The whole thing is a Fellini homage. It's all in black and white (save for the food, which is slightly tinted). There are cheese-tastic green screen driving shots. Amazingly, he manages to wear Marcello Mastroianni's black suit and sunglasses without it wearing him. The whole thing is just fun and funny and very, very beautiful to look at.

I totally have a crush on his wife.

I haven't seen the Rome one, but I checked out the episode guide to see where he ate because I was just there in late June.

My current facebook profile picture was taken while I was eating a plate of rigatoni all'amatriciana under this awning: http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain/Photos/Slideshow_Rome_Photos?slidevalue=3. I'm going to have to watch this now.

The scene where he's eating chunks of Parm and proscuitto = actual definition of food pr0n.

And his wife is rad.

yeah props to the production crew for making it all look so beautiful while on location and pretty much on the fly. loved the inclusion of the locals at that one place getting pissed that tony was getting food while they weren't. (hated the goddamn promo banners covering up 30 seconds of the subtitles of that scene. can't believe that isn't coordinated so it doesn't show during subtitles)

^ Yeah wtf

I know! Bloody stupid!

Bourdain's blog entry about this episode is worth a read

Short interview with Ottavia Busia Bourdain

6) We dug up this picture from the 2010 Tribute Dinner honoring chef Daniel Boulud – what’s your favorite memory of this night?

The love fest between my husband and Guy Fieri. Whoever made the seating arrangement that night has a real sense of humor!

TVGuide.com: Guy Fieri maybe?
Bourdain: Guy Fieri... did you ever see the Simpsons episode where it's decided that Itchy and Scratchy need a sidekick? So a committee gets together and they invent one called Poochie.... Guy Fieri kind of looks like he's been designed by committee.

Bourdain is sometimes a jaw-droppingly lucid thinker. I love the show because its smarts shine through the editing and the production style (where there's always a "y'know, it's about the people, it's about home, it's about stories" voiceover postscript to every single fucking thing).

Bourdain and Fieri like all the same foods, but Bourdain only publicly likes them if they're made in an oil drum by a half-Vietnamese, half-Egyptian grandmother and her team of sled dogs... while being shot at by the rebel faction of whatever shantytown he's in. I love No Reservations dearly but I'm sometimes reminded of affluent, cosmopolitan friends who spend half the year here and half the year there and smoke cigarettes with packaging nobody recognizes and greet everything that's homey and local (relative to them or their own hometown social group, not to whatever Peruvian basket weavers and Nigerian sitcom celebrities they've just been hanging out with) with a wry, understated "fuck you." Of course, a much worse version of No Reservations would involve Guy Fieri traveling around, making all kinds of racist blunders, throwing up, and going back to the hotel early. But still. Sometimes Bourdain can be a tiny, tiny bit too much.

new book is awful!

Don't doubt this at all. He's nearly admitted that his TV show takes up all of his time, and he puts all of his writing into that.

tbh i never liked kitchen confidential all that much. he works a lot better as a tv personality who writes his own voiceovers than as a book author

^

Kitchen Confidential was more of a happy time/place accident that made him famous than a fantastic work of prose. He'd admit that himself, I'm sure. Confluence, not headwaters.

I like this guy and his show. The crotchety old NYC rocker thing is endearing schtick. The ABBA stuff in Sweden was hilarious. Pretty sure I'd have a lot to argue with him about in a very good way. This season and last he seems much more secure and accepting of his age. He's also dressing WAY better.

The weirdest thing in the show is the in your face product placement. From the credit card to the 20 beauty shots of the new 5-Series in the return to Paris show.

I've never even noticed it, so it can't be that in-your-face. Well, not in-my-face, at least.