01827: An Extra Helping of Bourdain



For those of you that haven't been paying attention, I've sort of been saturating myself in a lot of Anthony Bourdain-related material. And I mean a lot. I'm almost finished reading the book that really helped kick start his celebrity career, Kitchen Confidential.  I zoomed through the somewhat lackluster TV series loosely based on the book. I'm flipping between watching episodes of Parts Unknown and The Layover almost at random. So yeah, there's a lot of that.

I won't deny it - it sounds like some sort of a coping mechanism after PJ's death. I can't say that all this was a conscious decision or any kind, but I won't deny the connection is probably there somewhere. And if anything, it's a fairly healthy coping mechanism, I'd like to think. I've always enjoyed catching Anthony Bourdain on TV at random. Now I'm just being a lot more deliberate about things.

Of course you can't spend this much time immersed in food culture and not be affected somehow. And I admit, I haven't been cooking nearly enough as much as I'd like to. There's a lot of things that I'd like to experiment with in terms of the cooking world and reading Bourdain's rather matter-of-fact way of discussing the cooking world is certainly interesting and inspiring. I just need to make sure that I find (or more like make) the time to not just cook, but also experiment with new dishes.

More than anything, Italian food, at least as far as pasta is concerned, is my comfort zone. I couldn't give you the proper names for the things that I come up with, but I do cook stuff and I've become comfortable enough to experiment with so many different styles of pasta.

I think I'd like to explore more Asian cuisine though. I already had my past experiments with curries and even some semblance of pho. I'd like to push this side of my cooking range a bit more and see what might come out of it. I'm a big fan of the rich spices and flavors of the region. So that seems like a fun thing to explore.

Tips are always welcome. Diners...not just yet.
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