Bourdain dishes on food tv shows

Just an interesting tidbit I saw this morning on MSN.com http://tv.msn.com/culinary-picks-and-pans/

tyrus wrote:Just an interesting tidbit I saw this morning on MSN.com http://tv.msn.com/culinary-picks-and-pans/

It was refreshing to read something written by Bourdain where he's a bit more humble, less irrational, and a bit more subdued overall. If he could consistently conduct No Reservations and his general writing that way the food writing/producing community would be a much better place.

jpschust wrote:If he could consistently conduct No Reservations and his general writing that way the food writing/producing community would be a much better place.

Why?

NR has been a lot tamer than ACT overall anyway, in my opinion. I'd be interested in your thoughts on how more dilution would help the particular community you mention. Less friction? More Sandra Lee powdered marinara?

Frankly, I was hoping for more unbridled vitriol and pot-stirring from him, if you will, although I appreciated the original link. It seemed like he's caving a bit to me.

DeathByOrca wrote:

jpschust wrote:If he could consistently conduct No Reservations and his general writing that way the food writing/producing community would be a much better place.

Why?

NR has been a lot tamer than ACT overall anyway, in my opinion. I'd be interested in your thoughts on how more dilution would help the particular community you mention. Less friction? More Sandra Lee powdered marinara?

Frankly, I was hoping for more unbridled vitriol and pot-stirring from him, if you will, although I appreciated the original link. It seemed like he's caving a bit to me.

I'm not suggesting he dilute his opinion, but rather he be more consistent and fair with it. For example, look at a number of the shows based in the US and watch him just critique the hell out of most things from the states and attempt to reinforce the view that americans are fat and lazy, and then watch him go to any number of foreign countries and just gush over food there. There's good food to be had everywhere, and a number of the shows reviewed in that piece are good, and he stepped up to the plate and said so, which I'm happy about.

From Bourdain's discussion of "Spain . . . On the Road Again":

"And Mark Bittman, I don't think he adds value to anyone's TV show. He doesn't come off well on TV. Let's put it that way. I saw him make paella once on a TV show; he's been dead to me ever since. "

Good Lord, what did Bittman do to that paella? Now I really want to know.

MariaTheresa wrote:From Bourdain's discussion of "Spain . . . On the Road Again":

"And Mark Bittman, I don't think he adds value to anyone's TV show. He doesn't come off well on TV. Let's put it that way. I saw him make paella once on a TV show; he's been dead to me ever since. "

Good Lord, what did Bittman do to that paella? Now I really want to know.

Might be this one of him making it on the Today show, but he also might have done it for his own show.

http://video.msn.com/dw.aspx?mkt=en-us& ... 411f28b2f4

I watched the video. Bittman's "paella" contains oil, onion, rice, chicken broth, saffron, and shrimp. There is no other seasoning and none of the other customary paella ingredients. He cooks the shrimp with the rice for 15 minutes. It's more of a risotto gone terribly wrong -- or paella as made at the county hospital. If you ordered paella at a restaurant and were served this, you would be justified in feeling swindled, a the very least.

I think I'm starting to understand some of the hostility toward Bittman's "minimalist" recipes. Some recipes have a lot of ingredients. If you reduce the number of ingredients and change the technique, you are not making the same dish.

So, what happens to you once Anthony Bourdain has said, "You're dead to me!" Are you shunned in public? Does your phone stop ringing? Do people send you condolence cards (or maybe they send them to Bourdain?)?

MariaTheresa wrote:I watched the video. Bittman's "paella" contains oil, onion, rice, chicken broth, saffron, and shrimp. There is no other seasoning and none of the other customary paella ingredients. He cooks the shrimp with the rice for 15 minutes. It's more of a risotto gone terribly wrong -- or paella as made at the county hospital. If you ordered paella at a restaurant and were served this, you would be justified in feeling swindled, a the very least.

You're way too kind to Bittman.

nr706 wrote:

MariaTheresa wrote:I watched the video. Bittman's "paella" contains oil, onion, rice, chicken broth, saffron, and shrimp. There is no other seasoning and none of the other customary paella ingredients. He cooks the shrimp with the rice for 15 minutes. It's more of a risotto gone terribly wrong -- or paella as made at the county hospital. If you ordered paella at a restaurant and were served this, you would be justified in feeling swindled, a the very least.

You're way too kind to Bittman.

Yeah, that was a textbook example of dumbing down, if I ever saw one. And saying it didn't matter when you added the shrimp was completely ridiculous, unless you enjoy overcooked shrimp.

=R=

MariaTheresa wrote:I think I'm starting to understand some of the hostility toward Bittman's "minimalist" recipes. Some recipes have a lot of ingredients. If you reduce the number of ingredients and change the technique, you are not making the same dish.

Does he claim to be making the same dish?

Darren72 wrote:

MariaTheresa wrote:I think I'm starting to understand some of the hostility toward Bittman's "minimalist" recipes. Some recipes have a lot of ingredients. If you reduce the number of ingredients and change the technique, you are not making the same dish.

Does he claim to be making the same dish?

Well, he definitely calls it paella, as does the host.

=R=

Right, but we know his shtick is to make simplified versions of dishes. Most skilled home cooks do this type of thing all of the time. So the questions is, is the issue that he made a dish that tastes bad? No one seems to have made this claim. Is it that he made a dish that simplifies or alters key aspects of the dish so much that it is misleading to call it paella? This may be the case but I find it somewhat overzealous to make a big deal about this.

I'm with Darren. That recipe doesn't sound bad at all to me for a homemade, weeknight version of paella.

Kennyz wrote:I'm with Darren. That recipe doesn't sound bad at all to me for a homemade, weeknight version of paella.

Remind me not to come over to your house for superball-shrimp.

I really don't care what he calls it. What bothers me is the apparent lack of concern for the proper cooking of the shrimp, which are expensive and easy to overcook -- especially considering that cooking them right doesn't involve any extra work or prep time.

=R=

OK, I take it back. I missed the part where he cooks the shrimp for 15 minutes with the rice. Yeah, that sucks. The ingredient list sounds fine, not the cooking method though.

I love what Bourdain says about Toby Young on Top Chef!

My sister and I met Bourdain, at a book signing where there were no other fans present for a while, and talked to him about the Les Halles cookbook. In person he comes across as a sweetheart of a man. I had always thought I would take him to task for his comments about fat people (eg in an essay collected in Nasty Bits-- I think what he says is really horrible) but he was just too nice for me to want to get into that. Talking to him feels like talking to your favorite English teacher. He's exact and a little persnickety. He even writes like an English teacher much of the time. My take is that he is constantly batting that tendency in himself because he (sadly) doesn't think it's cool enough.

Odd Bourdain piece on MSN - some of it is old as the hills, and some is obviously brand new, like the unintentionally hilarious fawning over Marco Pierre White, the host of THE worst food-oriented show I've ever seen. Makes "Hell's Kitchen" look like "Masterpiece Theatre" - and is even worse than that Batali disaster, on which we totally concur. It is a parody, right? Right???

I was shocked - shocked! - at his respectful comments regarding Martha Stewart. Son of a gun. He's either crushing on her - or he's scared to death of her, equally plausible scenarios.

sundevilpeg wrote:I was shocked - shocked! - at his respectful comments regarding Martha Stewart. Son of a gun. He's either crushing on her - or he's scared to death of her, equally plausible scenarios.

I didn't find those comments about Martha Stewart shocking at all. In fact, I completely agree with them.

She cooks well and really focuses on technique and quality. She doesn't make silly sacrifices or lower expectations. In fact, she is one of the few people cooking on TV that actually tries to raise the skills and culinary expectations of her audience.

As for her cookbooks, I own two, both of which are excellent. Her "Baking Handbook" is among the most carefully put together books on baking that I've ever seen. The recipes are clear, well photographed and easy to follow. Every time we've used that cookbook, it's been a huge success.

It doesn't surprise me that a guy like Bourdain, who values quality over personality, would be impressed with her work.

I didn't find those comments about Martha Stewart shocking at all. In fact, I completely agree with them.

You're preaching to the choir. I didn't say that I disagreed with his comments - I think you misunderstood what I meant. Bourdain so often goes for the cheap laugh, and Martha's hyper-perfectionism + brush with John Law = perfect customary Bourdain fodder. I was just quite surprised at his level-headed and understated compliments of her and her technical expertise. Hmmmm....wonder if Mrs. B is a believer?

Odd Bourdain piece on MSN - some of it is old as the hills, and some is obviously brand new, like the unintentionally hilarious fawning over Marco Pierre White, the host of THE worst food-oriented show I've ever seen. Makes "Hell's Kitchen" look like "Masterpiece Theatre" - and is even worse than that Batali disaster, on which we totally concur. It is a parody, right? Right???

In fairness to Bourdain, it seemed like the MPW comments concerned his reputation as a chef and were made prior to his actually seeing any episodes of the show.

I thought his comments were very balanced, except a bit kind to Paula Deen.

sundevilpeg wrote:Odd Bourdain piece on MSN - some of it is old as the hills, and some is obviously brand new, like the unintentionally hilarious fawning over Marco Pierre White, the host of THE worst food-oriented show I've ever seen. Makes "Hell's Kitchen" look like "Masterpiece Theatre" - and is even worse than that Batali disaster, on which we totally concur. It is a parody, right? Right???

Marco Pierre White is my favorite tv star right now. The way he stabs his finger at the camera and looks likes he ordering an assassination while uttering lines like, "he served me a dog's dinner"? I cannot get enough of it.

Marco Pierre White is my favorite tv star right now. The way he stabs his finger at the camera and looks likes he ordering an assassination while uttering lines like, "he served me a dog's dinner"? I cannot get enough of it.

Unfortunately then, the show has just been canceled. No word on if/when the remaining episodes will be shown.

Quote:
Marco Pierre White is my favorite tv star right now. The way he stabs his finger at the camera and looks likes he ordering an assassination while uttering lines like, "he served me a dog's dinner"? I cannot get enough of it.


Unfortunately then, the show has just been canceled. No word on if/when the remaining episodes will be shown.

As with 'The Restaurant,' NBC will burn undoubtedly burn the remaining eps on Bravo. What a ridiculous waste of time, effort, and money.

As for Bourdain, I finally saw the Burt's Place segment of 'No Reservations' on On Demand this evening (as previously noted elsewhere, my Comcast region does not run the Travel Channel). What an insulting, condescending, ignorant, disrespectful - and provincial! - piece of nonsense. If I were Sharon, I would have smacked him upside the head with the largest, dirtiest deep-dish pan in the place. I missed nothing by not having TTC, I see. . .