Food hasn't been as much fun lately. Anxiety, depression, and a lack of money for travel has reduced my appetite.
I decided to buy some bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. I haven't had as much meat lately so this was a big deal.
I cooked up the chicken thighs from an America's Test Kitchen recipe. I kept the cooked chicken thighs in the fridge.
I decided to do some traveling in the kitchen. I bought sauces for 2 dishes: butter chicken and chicken tikka masala. Both dishes have roots in India but I tend to associate butter chicken (above) from Toronto restaurants and chicken tikka masala (below) in London restaurants.
I cooked ½ cup uncooked brown rice for each meal. I cooked the chicken in the sauce for about 15 minutes and then served over the rice.
Both were quite good. My taste buds had a suitcase packed even if I did not.
A lot of people celebrate Bourdain Day, the fourth since his 2018 death: the legacy of Anthony Bourdain with replicating dishes and drinks from his many TV episodes. The above examples satisfy wanderlust but not copying what Bourdain specifically did.
I am not interested in a Negroni with any meal. A lot of the really tempting meals were in homes where Bourdain and his crew were graciously invited.
As much as I would like to be Anthony Bourdain someday, I can't come close to drinking the way he did. Unless someone does the cooking, I'm not sure I could eat at that level, even with a camera crew.
I had dreams as a child of being the next Johnny Bench. That didn't even come close. I wanted to be the next John Landecker. I was better at that but that didn't happen.
I will not be the next Anthony Bourdain. I'm okay with that.
The thrill was to travel, eat amazing food, and make lots of money. That would be amazing. That is an obvious part of the Anthony Bourdain legacy.
Traveling and talking. Learning perspectives different from my own. Why do Spainards eat late? Why do Tuscans leave the salt out of bread? Why do Scandinavians eat open-faced sandwiches?
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I wondered during the pandemic how Bourdain would have dealt with all of this. Forced to cut back on travel. Cook more at home. Cook more with his daughter. Maybe Bourdain would have slowed down because he had to do so.
Maybe he would have bought that house in Vietnam he had sought. Or went to Melbourne with his Australian chef friends. Or gone to a place where he never did a TV show, such as Switzerland or Norway.
This assumes that Bourdain would have had a clearer head than most of us during the major portion of the pandemic.
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Our questions about the Spainards, Tuscans, and Scandinavians are starting points to talk of differences and commonalities. One thing I've noticed is that people in those countries want to know how you eat in your own country.
Figure the United States and Canada are next door, speak mostly a common language. Yet compare the different ways Americans and Canadians eat what is know as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
Canadians call the food Kraft Dinner or KD. They often chop cooked hot dogs and put ketchup on top of their Kraft Dinner. Americans do not stretch out their macaroni and cheese.
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If you need a taste of Anthony Bourdain, something that doesn't involve a sea urchin off the west coast of Italy, here is something a bit simpler (assuming you live in North America).
This Eater video has them talking about Anthony Bourdain about his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.
In-N-Out Burger is not limited to LA though the chain is very regional. You could go to San Francisco and find an In-N-Out Burger. If you are on a true burger quest, Los Angeles is the better stop. Upscale burgers and dive burgers.
Bourdain refers to get a burger done Animal style. In-N-Out Burger had a secret menu long before that became a thing.
Happy Bourdain Day!!
photo credits: me (x2); Instagram Anthony Bourdain
video credit: YouTube/Eater
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