Tony: July 2008 Archives
By Anthony Bourdain
I had the monster averaging 120 mph. Bugs bouncing off the windshield sounded like golf balls. Every once in a while, somebody would pull up alongside like they wanted to play. I'd tap the gas and leave them like they were standing still, find myself doing a rock solid 140 with plenty to spare. Back down to 80 when I'd see the bulls and it felt like 20.
I had the monster averaging 120 mph. Bugs bouncing off the windshield sounded like golf balls. Every once in a while, somebody would pull up alongside like they wanted to play. I'd tap the gas and leave them like they were standing still, find myself doing a rock solid 140 with plenty to spare. Back down to 80 when I'd see the bulls and it felt like 20.
Continue reading Guns and Butter.
By Anthony Bourdain
"Look," said Ali, an Egyptian/American chef, pointing at a plateful of traditional Alexandrian food in hisQueens
restaurant. "The history of the world."
He had just put in extraordinarily succinct terms what any well traveled eater, student of ethnic or national food ways -- or serious food nerd has come to know: that what is on your plate, the choice or selection, or preferences -- or ingredients -- almost any place you are eating, are the end result of movements of people and resources, the punch line of a story usually involving (at some point in history), deprivation, starvation, colonialism, slavery, greed, and warfare. No need for us to get all depressed about that.
The end result of the above -- at least (and only) as far as cuisine -- is more often than not, good.
"Look," said Ali, an Egyptian/American chef, pointing at a plateful of traditional Alexandrian food in his
He had just put in extraordinarily succinct terms what any well traveled eater, student of ethnic or national food ways -- or serious food nerd has come to know: that what is on your plate, the choice or selection, or preferences -- or ingredients -- almost any place you are eating, are the end result of movements of people and resources, the punch line of a story usually involving (at some point in history), deprivation, starvation, colonialism, slavery, greed, and warfare. No need for us to get all depressed about that.
The end result of the above -- at least (and only) as far as cuisine -- is more often than not, good.
Continue reading Politics and the Dinner Table.
By Anthony Bourdain
It sounded like a truly terrible idea from the get-go -- Solicit
video submissions from absolute strangers, pick one of them, and then put
myself into said stranger's hands for a week, someplace I've never
been. I hadn't been paying attention when the network suggested it, and
I looked at the prospect as a far away, slow moving train that would
hopefully never arrive and figured that in any case, it could be finessed.
If I actually had to go somewhere with a fan, I'd pick someplace close and
easy.
Continue reading Wrong Again!.
It's all too common in Latin America, where the divide between rich and poor is usually very wide, to hear stark differences in outlook and attitudes at the table. When dining with the rich, the poor are often referred to with varying degrees of fear, condescension, and outright contempt.
Continue reading Colombia: Vacation Wonderland.
I guess I should be writing about Laos, since that episode, the first of a new block of shows, is what airs tonight. But I wrote about Laos already, while I was still there, while it was still happening, still shaking off the cold from the night before, wood smoke from the morning fires still thick in the air. I recall a skeptical comment in response, suggesting the unlikely prospect of an internet connection in such rural conditions in Southeast Asia and that my post was clearly a fabrication.
How wrong can one be?
How wrong can one be?
Continue reading My Summer Vacation - Social Studies.
