Food Bites: Bourdain vs. Deen

The whole situation between Paula Deen and Anthony Bourdain, at least in the culinary world, has made quite a splash. Everywhere I go on campus these days, it’s all anyone seems to be talking about, even after a week has passed since the NYTimes article detailing this feud was published. You can check out said article here.

In the article, Op-Ed writer Frank Bruni blasted Bourdain for berating the “Belle of Comfort Food,” Paula Deen in a recent interview. Bourdain said that Paula Deen was a menace for making a nation of already obese people, even more unhealthy by showing them how to prepare fattening and unhealthy food. Bourdain went so far as to say that Paula was making it OK for Americans to eat more of the food that was already killing them. Strong words, to be sure. Paula took some shots of her own. When asked by the NY Post about Bourdain’s comments, she said that not everybody could afford to eat a $70 steak or drink a $360 glass of wine every week. She cited her and her friends as those who “cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills,” essentially highlighting Bourdain’s culinary elitism as the source for his harsh words.

So, who exactly is at fault? Who is right? Who is wrong? Answer: they both are, although one does have more of a point than the other, in my own opinion. Regardless, this argument may very well give the food industry a much needed push to better create a healthy America, and hopefully before companies that manufacture artificial limbs become members of the Fortune 500.

First, let’s look at Anthony Bourdain. Talented chef, food-writer and host of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations,” is no saint by any means. He has an unrivaled talent of saying exactly what he thinks about a particular dish or restaurant. He never chooses his words and always lays on the expletives when voicing his opinions. Off-putting to some, to be sure, but he is a chef after all. It’s what he’s used to and probably doesn’t want to change. And let’s face facts, what he said is completely true. America is growing day by day. Growing WIDER, that is. Obesity levels have skyrocketed in this country over recent years and it looks like they’re only getting higher. Bourdain was right in highlighting a major problem plaguing this country and equally right in pointing out one of the plausible causes, albeit in his own “eloquent” manner. Paula’s dishes aren’t the most heart-healthy foods out there. They’re Southern Comfort Food, a food group known for using as much oil as the BP Oil Spill. They most definitely are a major contributor to the rising obesity rates in the country, there is no denying that fact. Bourdain’s sharp wit is not focused solely on the supposed culinary lower class, as Paula Deen thinks. Bourdain has taken shots at other culinary big-wigs, such as Alice Waters, and even Deen’s fellow Food Network stars: Sandra Lee and the infamous Rachel Ray. You could say that Bourdain is an equal opportunity critic.

On the flip-side, is Paula Deen. The Southern Darling that has graced our TV sets since 2002 and since then, has been showing Americans how easy it is to prepare all the deep-fried Southern delights that people call Comfort Food. Let’s not debunk Paula’s talent here. She is a talented writer, as evidenced by her string of well-selling cookbooks. She is very helpful for showing the “common” American how easy it is to prepare delicious food, quickly. And she is a very nice person.She does indeed have a point for defending herself against Bourdain’s onslaught of harsh words and criticism. She is right is saying that not all Americans can afford the expensive, fine dining options that Bourdain and other food critics espouse. For many Americans, it’s simply an impossibility, so they must search for an alternative.

So, who ultimately has the better point here? Personally, I’m going to have to with Anthony Bourdain, and not just because I’m attending his alma mater. Don’t get me wrong, they both have excellent points here. However, Bourdain’s point of an increasingly obese America holds a tad bit more water. It’s a serious matter concerning all Americans, not just those “average” Americans that Paula Deen holds in her “voice of the people” status. And speaking of status, shouldn’t Paula Deen be using her status as a TV personality to spread the message of better eating, instead of sharing the fattening recipes? Many other of her fellow Food Network stars have made the same public pitch, chefs or no. Bottom line: be a part of the solution, not the problem. Instead, Paula has teamed herself up with food company Smithfield Foods, a company who is known to be in violation of laws pertaining to small farmers, animal rights and other environmental environmental violations. Good job there, Paula.

Neither Paula nor Bourdain are saints of saviors, let me make that clear. Do I agree with Bourdain in this case? Yes, because his point makes more sense to me. Not taking anything away from Deen’s point, but, I digress. This whole incident does serve one major bit of good though: it may push the issue of healthy eating into the spotlight where it needs to be. Hopefully it can get there soon. Cases of obesity in America have tripled since the early 90s and is only expected to get worse in the coming years. We’re in need of some major change and having the Queen of Comfort Food stepping back a bit, my not be such a bad idea.

Food Bites: Off the Couch, Back in the Kitchen

It’s been forever, but I am indeed back! I apologize for the lack of pictures going up on my blog like I promised, but I ran into some problems while I was home. Now that I’m back at school, I’ll get it all done! In the meantime, here’s something I wrote up for class. To preface this piece, here’s a link to the NY Times Article I wrote this response to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html

Without further ado, here’s my take on the growing home-cook crisis in America.

Off the Couch, Back in the Kitchen

From the very beginning of the article, it’s clear that Mr. Michael Pollan is a man in mourning. He has lost an essential part of his childhood and watched it decline and deteriorate before his very eyes. The decline of the home cook in America is indeed a terrible thing to behold. In recent years, Americans have doubled their daily meal intakes and sadly, have decided to let major food companies do all the cooking for them. Processed foods and instant mixes have all but replaced a well-stocked pantry, kitchen or refrigerator. It’s a problem that is reaching pandemic levels. Thankfully, there is a cure for this disease. While it is true that modern cooking shows are more for spectacle and less for education, there are many that still instill a spirit of adventure and exploration into home cooks the world over (Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” immediately comes to mind). If Americans can embrace this new-found spirit and take home cooking back into the home and out of the corporate kitchen, then they may be able to reclaim the regal domain that is, the home kitchen.

Chef Mario Batali described it best when asked about the Food Network: everyone has a niche to fill, no matter who it is. In recent years, the Food Network has only served to prove that statement correct. Nowadays, it doesn’t matter what’s being cooked. The focus is more oh who is doing the cooking. Many (one Harry Balzer comes to mind) see this as a detriment to food TV; it’s taking the focus away from the real star, which is the food itself. However, the argument can be made that, in some cases, this could actually be helping budding home-cooks to take up a knife and spatula and try cooking for themselves. It all depends on who is doing the cooking and in this case, food TV personality Alton Brown is the perfect example. From a personal standpoint, Alton Brown (not Emeril, not Bobby Flay) was my whole reason to take the leap and try cooking for myself. He embodies what the home-cook should be like; he embraces the spirit that Michael Pollan says all cooks should have. It’s that emotional connection to cooking that seems to resonate within me whenever I see “Good Eats” on TV. A connection can easily be drawn between Alton Brown and Michael Pollan: both want to see the revival of the American home-cook. It’s a movement that I wholeheartedly embrace.

Now, the careful observer may point out a flaw in my argument: If one is to forgo watching cooking for actually cooking, why advocate a cooking show? True, there is a paradox in that argument, but consider this: What is that particular cooking show was actually educational? That’s exactly why “Good Eats” embraces Michael Pollan’s stance on the current state of American home-cooks. Yes, it does use a bit of spectacle but it uses that spectacle to draw focus towards the food and techniques, rather than the person doing the cooking. What’s more, it actually drives home the message for home-cooks to forgo processed and pre-made ingredients for fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. It even continues Michael Pollan’s message of how home-cooking can break the hold obesity has over the American populous. The bottom line is thus: amidst the swath of spectacle and modern perceptions of cooking shows, there are true gems that will genuinely restore that spirit of curiosity and adventure within home-cooks across the country. There will always be, however, detractors and Harry Balzer is conceivably the biggest detractor the world has ever seen. Despite that, he does bring up some good points about the state of the American food market today.

Speed and convenience are the driving forces behind today’s mega-marts, fast food chains and food corporations. Who’s to blame? We are. Americans have gotten lazy, despite having added more and more work hours to their lives. In fact, the more work hours may have added to the overall laziness. More work hours means less time to cook a good meal. Therefore, we search for a quick and easy answer: frozen meals, fast food, casual dining restaurants, etc. It’s in these convenience answers that lie our three biggest enemies: fat, sugar and salt. The processed and/or pre-made foods we so often reach for after a busy day at work or school are packed and even over-packed with these three culprits. In addition, many of the food-bourne illnesses and outbreaks come from these mass-produced “convenience” items that the big food corporations sell to us. So why take that kind of risk in the first place? Why risk Salmonella and obesity? Because there’s less work involved. Americans today don’t want to do more work on top of the tough work day they just had. They’d rather relax and let the microwave do all the “cooking” for them. It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure and it’s one that has affected even my own family. There will be times when my parents would rather go out to a restaurant rather than cook at home, either because they’re too tired or too hungry and therefore too antsy to wait around for a meal to cook. It’s nice once in a while, but when it becomes a twice-a-week routine, it starts to make me sad. Thankfully, my mother has seized control and begun a very smart regiment against the easy way out: she’ll cook 2 or 3 meals over the weekend, portion them out and then freeze them. When the work week rolls around again, she’ll just defrost and reheat them and viola; a frozen meal that’s probably better than one you’d get at the local mega mart. It’s a strategy that I am more than willing to implore myself when the time for me to move out comes. And thus, phase one in the war against lazy American home-cooks is revealed: find a problem and solve it. Step two? Make like a scientist and experiment. Try different recipes and techniques that you find interesting in your own kitchen. It’s what inspired me to attempt cooking for the first time, and let me toll you, the very first time I successfully made an omelet without burning it was one of the happiest days of my life.

The joy of cooking. It’s what the late, great Julia Child instilled into many fledgling cooks in the 60s and it’s exactly what needs to be put back into home-cooks today. Amidst the ceremony and the spectacle of Food Network’s programming, there does exist, quite possibly, a modern day equivalent of Ms. Child, in Mr. Brown. I, like Michael Pollan, was and continue to be inspired by Alton Brown’s program and wholeheartedly embrace the value and fundamental spirit of adventure that seems to be lacking among home-cooks today. If more Americans would see the light and embrace that spirit, then the art of cooking will not be lost and the war on obesity may very well turn in our favor. I echo Mr. Pollan’s cry for a return to the kitchen and a return to the golden age of home-cooks so that one day, Americans across the country may rise from their couches and once again, create some good eats.