Sunday Night

The last three Sunday nights in a row, we (the household, not the "royal") have been watching Tiramisu and Asian Buffet.

"Tiramisu" is 70% soap opera (read, melodrama), 20% comedy and about 10% food. Let me preface this by admitting that I am a snob, I would not watch "Tiramisu" if it were an American or British production. Barring the occasional lust...er, crush, on a particular actress, I will not watch soap operas at all.

Half the acting on the show is substandard, even by soap opera standards. It's not hard to deduce that the lesser actors were cast solely upon their looks and English-speaking abilities. Yet, there is a certain chemistry and it works.

"Asian Buffet" kicks ass on so many levels, no show comes even close. Sure, Bourdain could make any show in the World worth watching, but neither he nor the entire Travel Channel can cover as much ground as this show does. I'm talking about recreations of royal feasts from Persia (yes I know it's Iran, I meant dishes from the Persian Empire), to Tibet, to Thailand, to Okinawa.

Tonight, they had the role that spices play in Asian cuisine. Hot peppers from the interior of Thailand all the way up to the Sichuan Province. Curries and masala in India. The whole process of making wasabi in Japan, from the fields, all the way up to the sushi. It's definitely a show you don't want to watch while you are hungry.

The Second Funniest Food Blog Entry, Ever

So Procrastinator Junior is sick, which means the both of us have to stay inside. Stir crazy yet? Naw, I have the Internet and Lord if I didn't strike blogging gold. This is the second funniest food-related blog entry, ever. Anthony Bourdain savages most of the Food Network personalities, as well as his former employer.

You don't believe me? Check out this Bourdain excerpt on Giada DeLaurentis:

What’s going on here!? Giada can actually cook! She was robbed in her bout versus Rachael Ray on Iron Chef America. ROBBED!

And Food Net seems more interested in her enormous head (big head equals big ratings. Really!) and her cleavage--than the fact that she’s likeable, knows what she’s doing in an Italian kitchen--and makes food you’d actually want to eat. The new high concept Weekend Getaway show is a horrible, tired re-cap of the cheap-ass “Best Of” and “40 Dollar a Day” formula.

Send host to empty restaurant. Watch them make crappy food for her. Have her take a few lonely, awkward stabs at the plate, then feign enjoyment with appropriately orgasmic eye-closing and moaning..Before spitting it out and rushing to the trailer. Send her to Italy and let her cook. She’s good at it.

Of course, my most favorite, funniest food-related blog entry of all time is this one...

Anthony Bourdain On...

I realize that Anthony Bourdain has a book to hype, but with the premiere of Rachael Ray's show just a little over a month away, this interview could only be just a tiny bit more timely.

"The Nasty Bits" is not a variation of a Marty Feldman quote, it's the first three words in Bourdain's new book. It's well worth watching a dozen commercials just to read this. Thanks to Armchair Cook for the orginal posting of the Salon interview.