Hey everyone and Happy Saturday!
It's time for a brand new feature on The Kitchen Witch I'm calling Cocktails and Gossip - a Saturday column featuring a delicious cocktail recipe and how to video along with up to the minute gossip from the Food Celebrity world.
(Okay, maybe not up to the minute... I do live on an island; but, people, I watch a lot of TV!)
We'll start this week with famed CelebritySnarker Chef, Anthony Bourdain.
Chef turned acclaimed author Anthony Bourdain, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, won an Emmy award for his television show No Reservations, and is the current Chef at Large at Brasseri Les Halles in New York City.
Although I watched every episode of No Reservations religiously, the show was actually predated by an earlier program called A Cook's Tour that ran on the Food Network between 2000 and 2002 and I can still conjure up memories of my favourite episode titled Childhood Flavours which featured a visit with his brother to Arcachon France - the village of his father's people where he spent many a summer as a child.
In the episode, we are not only introduced to the food of the region, we are invited to come along on a memory as Bourdain reflects on the culture and history of the area and interweaves it with his own story - a trademark style we see reflected again in No Reservations.
But when Bourdain's "famously uncomfortable" relationship with the Food Network ended in 2002, his relentless criticism of the entity along with celebrities like Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, Sandra Lee, and Paula Dean began.
I will leave it to you to decide whether or not you agree with Bourdain when he makes statements like:
On Paula Deen: "The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f--king bad for you [...] plus, her food sucks."
On Guy Fieri: "I look at Guy Fieri and I just think, 'Jesus, I'm glad that's not me.'"
On Rachael Ray: "Does she even cook anymore? I don't know why she bothers. To her credit, she never said she was good at it."
On Sandra Lee: "There was an incident with Sandra Lee where I ran into her [after criticizing her publicly]. It was deeply terrible. Don't mess with her. I rarely feel uncomfortable, but she has a powerful force. I hate her works on this planet, but she is not someone to be dismissed, clearly."
Though I respect Bourdain's creativity, talent and intelligence - and will go on record by saying there is not one episode of anything currently running on the Food Network as memorable as when Bourdain visited Vietnam, Russia, or Turkey - he lost some his luster in my eyes with the statements above.
I understand where he was coming from, and I get that many of the big names in food are manufactured entities - but I also think there's room in the food entertainment industry for all kinds of people. Further to that, when you are as genius as Bourdain, there is simply no need to go there.
I've never heard Rick Bayless crticizing Rachel Ray's Taco Pasta Toss because, why would he?
And to be fair to Rachel Ray, I love her recipes.
In my eyes Anthony Bourdain was way cooler when he was just snarky.
But I would still love to have a cocktail with him...
And that's the gossip! What do you think? Anthony Bourdain... love him? Hate him? On the fence?
Let's dish!
And then, how about today's featured cocktail, The Caesar.
Splashes of vodka, fresh lemon juice, hot sauce, and worcestershire sauce are poured into a salt rimmed glass over ice and mixed with Mott's Clamato juice!
But be careful... one can lead to two of these very quickly.
All Hail the Mighty Caesar
For the salt rim
Mix together 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp celery salt, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
For the drink
Fill a large glass with ice and pour in 2 oz of vodka, 3 splashes of hot sauce, 3 splashes worcestershire sauce, squeeze of fresh lemon juice and stir. Slowly add chilled Motts Clamato juice to the glass continuing to stir until the glass is filled. Serve with a stalk of celery or an olive and enjoy!
It's time for a brand new feature on The Kitchen Witch I'm calling Cocktails and Gossip - a Saturday column featuring a delicious cocktail recipe and how to video along with up to the minute gossip from the Food Celebrity world.
(Okay, maybe not up to the minute... I do live on an island; but, people, I watch a lot of TV!)
We'll start this week with famed Celebrity
Chef turned acclaimed author Anthony Bourdain, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, won an Emmy award for his television show No Reservations, and is the current Chef at Large at Brasseri Les Halles in New York City.
Although I watched every episode of No Reservations religiously, the show was actually predated by an earlier program called A Cook's Tour that ran on the Food Network between 2000 and 2002 and I can still conjure up memories of my favourite episode titled Childhood Flavours which featured a visit with his brother to Arcachon France - the village of his father's people where he spent many a summer as a child.
In the episode, we are not only introduced to the food of the region, we are invited to come along on a memory as Bourdain reflects on the culture and history of the area and interweaves it with his own story - a trademark style we see reflected again in No Reservations.
But when Bourdain's "famously uncomfortable" relationship with the Food Network ended in 2002, his relentless criticism of the entity along with celebrities like Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, Sandra Lee, and Paula Dean began.
I will leave it to you to decide whether or not you agree with Bourdain when he makes statements like:
On Paula Deen: "The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f--king bad for you [...] plus, her food sucks."
On Guy Fieri: "I look at Guy Fieri and I just think, 'Jesus, I'm glad that's not me.'"
On Rachael Ray: "Does she even cook anymore? I don't know why she bothers. To her credit, she never said she was good at it."
On Sandra Lee: "There was an incident with Sandra Lee where I ran into her [after criticizing her publicly]. It was deeply terrible. Don't mess with her. I rarely feel uncomfortable, but she has a powerful force. I hate her works on this planet, but she is not someone to be dismissed, clearly."
Though I respect Bourdain's creativity, talent and intelligence - and will go on record by saying there is not one episode of anything currently running on the Food Network as memorable as when Bourdain visited Vietnam, Russia, or Turkey - he lost some his luster in my eyes with the statements above.
I understand where he was coming from, and I get that many of the big names in food are manufactured entities - but I also think there's room in the food entertainment industry for all kinds of people. Further to that, when you are as genius as Bourdain, there is simply no need to go there.
I've never heard Rick Bayless crticizing Rachel Ray's Taco Pasta Toss because, why would he?
And to be fair to Rachel Ray, I love her recipes.
In my eyes Anthony Bourdain was way cooler when he was just snarky.
But I would still love to have a cocktail with him...
And that's the gossip! What do you think? Anthony Bourdain... love him? Hate him? On the fence?
Let's dish!
And then, how about today's featured cocktail, The Caesar.
Splashes of vodka, fresh lemon juice, hot sauce, and worcestershire sauce are poured into a salt rimmed glass over ice and mixed with Mott's Clamato juice!
But be careful... one can lead to two of these very quickly.
All Hail the Mighty Caesar
For the salt rim
Mix together 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp celery salt, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
For the drink
Fill a large glass with ice and pour in 2 oz of vodka, 3 splashes of hot sauce, 3 splashes worcestershire sauce, squeeze of fresh lemon juice and stir. Slowly add chilled Motts Clamato juice to the glass continuing to stir until the glass is filled. Serve with a stalk of celery or an olive and enjoy!
I have really enjoyed his show, everyone of them, I like him but the comments he made make me feel a bit sad for him,male menopause maybe, we all have the right to our opinion, but he should have a bit of respect.There ared shows we watch for recipes and then there shows we watch for fun, Guy's show is fun, I have never once taken a recipe from there, Rachel, i have ried amny recipes and ideas, I don't watch Sandra Lee, and Paula Dean because they aren't on here in Canada at the moment but I have saw Paula on other shows and she's a great performer, lots of fun, to each his own but people should be nice,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Laurie. I think there's room for all kinds of people in the food world. I have tried a few Paula Dean recipes and, though they weren't totally my style of eating, they were still full of flavour. Not sure about Sandra Lee as we don't get her show in Canada (Paula comes on early in the morning.)
DeleteNice dishin with you!
I've never seen one of his shows but know of him and do know that some folks just need to be in the spotlight... that's what I think his comments are about. I think of RR, Guy and Paula as entertainers and it's hard to argue with success. As for Sandra Lee, I'm not a fan at all, but VERY curious about his comments about her:@)
ReplyDeleteAnd I am very curious about Sandra Lee. We don't get her shows here at all but something is tweaking... is she the one who makes recipes with packaged products?
DeleteLYNDS,
ReplyDeleteI CANNOT ABIDE MEAN PEOPLE.
THERE IS JUST NO CALL 4 THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR.
HE'S A GROWN MAN 4 PETE'S SAKE!
ACT YER AGE, NOT YER SHOW SIZE!
I LOVE RACHAEL, PAULA, SANDRA, AND GUY, AND I AGREE WITH U THAT THERE IS MORE THAN AMPLE ROOM IN THE FOOD WORLD 4 ALL SORTS OF FOLKS, AFTER ALL, VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE!
I COULD NEVER GET PAST SIMON'S (FROM AMERICAN IDOL) MEANNESS 2 EVEN NOTICE IF "HE" HAD ANY TALENT OR KNOWLEDGE 2 SPEAK OF THAT HE FELT MADE HIM SUCH AN AUTHORITY ON WHO HAD TALENT AND WHO DID NOT.
I'M LOVIN' THIS NEW FEATURE U'VE GOT GOIN' ON YER BLOG.
I'VE SAID B4 THERE IS NOTHING U DO THAT I CANNOT FIND SUM ENJOYMENT IN.
U HAVE AN AMAZING MIND, GF.
U R THE QUEEN OF IDEAS!
TOWANDA, BABY!
YER FAVE BEE CHARMER
~IDGY/ERIN~
Ha ha ha!! TOWANDA!!
DeleteThere really is not a comparison between say, rachael ray and anthony bourdaine, rachael is "comfort food", where as anthony is much more refined. one guy on that network has a show where he tries to eat as much of a dish as possible. its disgusting. it is disrespectful to the art of food. i can see why anthony would not want to be associated with that type of format.
ReplyDelete(rachel made a "gummy bear sushi").no question, i'd rather watch anthony in cuba, or maybe paris, no... i want to go to a punk rock club in berlin with anthony!!! that my friend would be a show.
sincerely
laurie steele
And I would totally watch :-) Do you remember the episode with the little bird? It was a fermented bird in an egg. Now THAT to me is great food tv!
Delete