Balance of Food

Roadrunner won't be the solution Anthony Bourdain fans want

Roadrunner is going to disappoint you if you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain. The film, that debuts today in theatres, comes from Morgan Neville, a filmmaker known for quality documentaries such as 20 Feet from Stardom and Won't You Be My Neighbor?. There are critiques about how Neville approached this film but that isn't why fans will be disappointed.

Fans will be disappointed because they are searching for a solution or solutions they will not find. They think they knew Anthony Bourdain. Their logic, understandably, is there a reason for what happened at the tail end of the life of Anthony Bourdain.

If you want to understand Anthony Bourdain, you have multiple books. Several TV series. Countless interviews.

Talking about one's death is something Bourdain did quite a bit on his shows, particularly No Reservations. This doesn't mean one will snuff it, the words used in A Clockwork Orange. Talking about one's death shows signs of curiosity and intelligence, traits fans love about Bourdain.

Monty Python had a bit of fun with this idea in The Meaning of Life (1983), choosing how one dies.

Comparing a human being to Jesus has huge ramifications and we are not making a comparison. The general divide between how you might feel about Jesus, provided you are a believer, is whether you focus on his death or how he lived his life.

Roadrunner focuses on Anthony Bourdain as a famous person, putting off to the side his first 43 years or so and concentrating on the final 18 years. Not as a comparison, again, but the Bible focuses mostly on the last 3 years of the life of Jesus.

The documentary spends a lot of time on the life of Anthony Bourdain, the public life we saw and read about, and the private life within that time. Bourdain was a complicated person; traits that made him attractive to watch him travel the world and eat amazing food.

Fans will go to see Roadrunner even if they will be disappointed. Some people hate watch; this will be watched out of love. Go to see the film to get a broader picture of someone rather special. This film, no film, will present a scenario where people will truly understand Bourdain.

Your humble narrator is definitely in the mindset of approaching how someone lived their life as opposed to how they died. We could argue that Bourdain would have been an inspiration to keep living in similar ways to Robin Williams. We don't get to decide such things.

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Appreciate how Anthony Bourdain approached the world, how we are similar to each other even if we have different colors, cultures, genders, and approaches. Be kind to others, eat well, value yourself, have some fun: this is what we should remember about Anthony Bourdain.

If you choose to wait, Roadrunner will air on HBO Max and CNN after the theatrical run. Then again, you might be the one who sits in the center about 5 rows from the top of the theatre at the first showing today.

video credit: YouTube/Focus Features
photos credit: Roadrunner film

Bourdain Day 3: How Anthony Bourdain helped me get through a pandemic

The Vietnam episode when he thought about living near a rice field. The San Francisco episode where he managed to hit every old school joint. The Thailand episode where he arrives at a moment of political unrest. The Jamaica episode exploring the food element of being a Rastafarian. How his Sichuan obsession made its way to Melbourne.

I watched a lot of Anthony Bourdain during the pandemic. Places I've been. Places I want to go. Food I want to eat.

These episodes came from Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, the best known of the Bourdain TV library. The Layover felt like a spinoff of sorts late in that era. A Cook's Tour ran on the Food Network from 2002-2003. This is the saga Bourdain refers to when approaching a place with a more mature outlook.

The even more mature approach came with Parts Unknown, Bourdain's final series. You might have your favorite chapter of Bourdain's TV work or you enjoy all of them.

You want to travel but can't, literally can't. You want to eat this food over what you are actually eating.

On the second Bourdain Day, how Anthony Bourdain would handle a worldwide pandemic

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

"Where do you want to go today?" Like virtual reality but TV and streaming your way around the world. Last year, we focused on what Bourdain might do during the pandemic. Watching Bourdain was about what you would do if you could travel like it was 2019, not 2020 or even 2021.

Watching him travel and eat his way through the world was fun but frustrating in that you couldn't be there. You could make an analogy of watching porn vs. having sex but quite frankly, I would rather travel and eat in the Anthony Bourdain way than ever have sex or watch sex again.

The episodes did fill up time and gave some solace in a world where we couldn't just escape with a new travel and food adventure.

Hope is relative but watching Bourdain travel and eat around the world offered up hope for a better world.

Laurie Woolever interview on Q with Tom Power (CBC Radio One)

There are new projects, chances to get a final sense of Anthony Bourdain. World Travel: An Irreverent Guide from Laurie Woolever and Anthony Bourdain comes from Bourdain's long-time assistant. The project started before Bourdain's death in 2018. The book is more about travel than food.

Roadrunner: A Film about Anthony Bourdain is a documentary from Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and 20 Feet From Stardom). The documentary features Bourdain clips and interviews with those who knew him well.

The film already debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. The theatrical release is set for July 16. If you aren't ready for theaters, the documentary will run on HBO Max and CNN.

Tom Vitale, a long-time producer and director, will have a book out this fall. In The Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain has a release date of October 12.

Anthony Bourdain legacy: Find your own food adventure

Anthony Bourdain takes CNN's Parts Unknown to the mysterious land of Newfoundland

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

Bourdain talked a lot about death, his death in a lot of episodes. That wouldn't be as much of a surprise, even if he were still alive.

Andrew Zimmern came up a few times. I like Zimmern and also enjoyed the nudges Bourdain gave him. Zimmern does a very different perspective even if they both travel with food in mind.

A part of me still wants to have the kind of life he had: travel and eat. There is a need for such programming, though television isn't my strong suit. I am not as brave as he was for eating certain foods. His love for sea urchin is enough to get me to try some, eventually. I have some talents as a writer but Bourdain's ability to communicate the high-end and low-end in food is a tremendous gift.

Be a Traveler, not a Tourist

This is reportedly one of Bourdain's quotes. We might get a second chance to travel and appreciate other places on this planet. Go for neighborhoods; go for what is special where you are. Appreciate what you have and where you are.

photo credit: Instagram Anthony Bourdain
video credit: YouTube/Focus Features

Podcast: Guy Fieri and his new $80 million Food Network deal

After receiving $50 million in last contract, @FoodNetwork is giving @GuyFieri 3 years for $80 million. #Flavortown getting gold-plated streets?? Then again, more of a fan of @LauraCalder. https://t.co/g4Fz2s0UH9

— Chad Rubel (@balanceoffood) May 25, 2021

Guy Fieri — of the spiky blonde hair and pants that aren't short or long — recently signed a new deal with the Food Network: 3 years, $80 million.

We decided to go back to the podcast format to say a few words about Fieri and the value he brings.

Enjoy the podcast (approximately 5:15 in length).

BalanceofFood.com podcasts coverage

Download Guy fieri

CBC Marketplace in Canada breaks down the nutrition in conventional vs. organic eggs

Eggs provide amazing nutrition, versatility, and taste for a relatively low amount. Somehow, the cost ends up being a factor, especially when measured as "mainstream" versus organic or similarly grown eggs.

A $1.80 difference in cost for a dozen eggs comes out to 15¢ per egg.

We are on the side of Team Organic or similarly grown eggs. Taste, quality, and fresh are advantages. "Mainstream" eggs aren't that fresh by the time they get to the grocery store. We would also argue nutritional advantages, including Omega 3s. The chicken's health and sanity, which we believe leads to better eggs, is highly important.

CBC Marketplace took a look at the nutrition stats for "mainstream" vs. big organic sources. They also looked at farm eggs vs. larger organic outlets.

"In Marketplace's test, organic eggs produced on small farms had more nutrients than the big-brand organic eggs sold at Canada's largest grocers under private labels and by two of the largest egg brands in the country."

The general consensus was that the nutrition of "mainstream" eggs and big organic companies were comparable. The organic eggs had a nutritional edge but within 10%.

You can read more analysis from the program on specific brands and comparisons.

We are not generally surprised by the Marketplace results. They were comparable to what we would have concluded without doing any comparisons. If you are making your conclusions based solely on nutrition, and cost is a concern, you have the numbers to justify your decisions.

This winter, I had to find a new source of eggs since my winter source went out of business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I found a different local source that has worked out well.

I haven't bought any eggs from a conventional grocery store in years nor have I purchased organic eggs from a large company in a long time. That may sound like snobbery. Perhaps. My reality is that I don't eat that many eggs. The last eggs I used were for a lime curd.

I will gladly pick cheaper options for some products where I don't see a significant issue in quality. That saved money allows me to make smarter choices in certain categories. Eggs is one of those categories.

Wouldn't pay twice as much as I pay not for my eggs. Glad I don't pay what Canadians pay for eggs (according to the numbers posted by Marketplace). Would rather give the money to local farmers.

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Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

As we noted earlier, "taste, quality, and fresh are advantages." There are dishes you can do with fresh eggs that you would be less likely to try without fresh eggs. In making fresh pasta and aioli, color, fresh, and taste would be crucial. If you are coloring eggs for Easter, the "mainstream" eggs would be useful.

Select what foods are important to you, for whatever your reasons might be, and invest well in them. Maybe you can sacrifice the cost of a high-price, extravagant coffee drink. Buying direct from a farmers market eliminates a costly layer by getting the eggs faster and fresher from the source.

Make your own best choices.

video and photos credit: Marketplace/CBC

Waffles and Mochi aimed at kids who aren't old enough to cook

Listen to your vegetables and eat your parents didn't survive as the title of the Barack Obama and Michelle Obama executive produced Netflix show. You hear the line a couple of times in the initial episode of Waffles and Mochi, including the theme song. Waffles, part waffle and part Yeti, and Mochi (the tiny pink ball) live in the far north. They want to become chefs but hard to do when all you have to eat is ice.

They end up at this grocery store in a large city that has an upstairs garden. Mrs. Obama runs the garden and the store.

The 10-episode series on Netflix allows children to learn about different foods through the magic of Waffles and Mochi. In the opening episode on tomatoes, they learn that tomatoes are fruits but are treated like a vegetable. They travel in the MagiCart, a shopping cart that transports them around the world. The tomato episode features Samin Nosrat (Salt Fat Acid Heat) helping them make pasta with tomato candy and Chef Jose Andres making gazpacho. They also learn about Neapolitan pizza and sign langauge at Mozzeria, a Washington, DC restaurant where all the workers are deaf.

The episodes cover different foods per episode: tomato, salt, potato, pickles, rice, egg, herbs and spices, corn, mushroom, and water.

"If you want to be great chefs, you have to learn about all kinds of different foods." — Michelle Obama

Mochi does make sounds that only Waffles can interpret, so Waffles does the talking. The people are always happy to see Waffles popping up out of nowhere to learn about food.

They also learn the origins of food, like gazpacho coming from Spain. There are songs and animation in the half-hour long episodes.The songs are courtesy of Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci aka Garfunkel and Oates.

The show features kids experiencing the food in multiple languages. Waffles and Mochi earn badges in each food at the end of each episode.

Waffles make the initial mistake of oversalting the cookies and has to learn that balance is important when salt is involved.

Salt Fat Acid Heat provides impactful cooking advice

Celebrating the Michelle Obama legacy for food and nutrition

BalanceofFood.com endorses Michelle Obama to be First Lady for 4 more years

BalanceofFood.com television coverage

Waffles and Mochi is a bit of Sesame Street and Salt Fat Acid Heat with a pinch of Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?.

One potential concern is the correlation of the target audience and whether they are old enough to help out in the kitchen to cook. Waffles and Mochi works on a level of 5-8 years where kids usually don't start helping until at least 10 years old.

Watching with the adults in your life can be a good way to start a conversation about food and cooking. The information is really good and important, especially in encouraging kids to find something better than convenient food and fast food.

There is so little positive nutritional content in television form, especially for children. Even if Waffles and Mochi was horrible, the program would still be worthwhile. The program has a lot going for improving nutritional information.

video and photo credit: Waffles and Mochi program

Trickster gives us a peek into the world of food banks

We barely see the impact of food banks on the local news or cable news channels. They may show a long line of cars or packing boxes into a car. The personal transaction ends up happening all the time without a camera in sight.

The example that the TV show Trickster shows us about food banks is not a typical personal transaction. Turns out the young woman Sarah (Anna Lambe) volunteering at the food bank is the girlfriend of the customer Jared (Joel Oulette). Jared didn't know Sarah was working there before going into the food bank.

The scene happened in Episode 4 of what turns out to be the only season for Trickster, airing on the CW in the United States and CBC in its native Canada. Trickster takes place in a remote area of Kitimat, British Columbia, far away from the bright lights of Vancouver. Even the fast food place where Jared worked doesn't provide cheap meals.

Jared's mother is missing. The power had been turned off and all the food was ruined. A lot of drama for him as well. Jared definitely needed help.

Sarah starts out with peanut butter: "Smooth or crunchy?" Jared replies, "Smooth." Sarah teases him about his choice but says she isn't there to judge.

"Kraft Dinner or canned spaghetti?" Jared isn't sure so Sarah gives him both. (In Canada, Kraft Dinner is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the United States.)

He asks for beer. She said, "All yours if I did." You aren't going to find beer in a food bank.

Sarah loads a few more items into a box.

In the next scene, Jared offers her a chocolate pudding from the box.

Trickster is a show about an Indigenous community. The creators and producers thought showing such a scene was important to show the world where these people live. Jared feels a bit of shame when he realizes his girlfriend is on the other side of the table at the food bank. Sarah quickly reassures me that it's cool.

The sign for the Kitimat Community Harvest says: Distributing food; Community recycling; Resources for Families; Neighbourhood events. Yes, food banks are a way to supplement food and be a part of the community. The people behind the table and in front of the table are all human beings trying to create a better world.

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BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

People who go to food banks shouldn't feel shame, even if they do know people behind the counter. The need for food banks for people, employed or not, was gigantic before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people who received the unemployment supplement last summer went over 6 months without any federal assistance. Many who ran successful small businesses haven't been able to get the PPP loans where the rich were able to get so much.

A 6-episode series in Canada had the foresight to have a scene involving a food bank in a TV drama. A small step but more needs to be shown to show there is no shame in needing a food bank. The Republicans in Congress have blocked financial help to the poor and middle-class in the United States. Turning to a food bank is becoming the new norm in the United States. Time to make that experience to be the opposite of shame. You are standing up for you and your family to provide food. There is no shame in helping your family eat.

Trickster is available in the United States on the CW Network. Our Canadian friends can watch the episodes on CBC Gem.

photos credit: Trickster/CBC/CW

Ranking food and drink Super Bowl LV ads

Super Bowl LV didn't have an update from Avocados from Mexico. There were a few ads for decent foods and other food ads that ran during the big game.

"How we grow our food is how we grow our future." In a sea of chips and soft drinks, Chipotle had a nice ad showing actual farms and real-looking food. The kid as the narrator was more of the future, even as his sister mocks him. Even if you aren't a Chipotle fan, talk of real food doesn't happen too often in Super Bowl ads.

Oatly CEO Toni Petersson sings the praises of Oatly oat milk. I had to go back and watch a second and third time to follow what he was singing about. "Wow, no cow." Okay. There is likely a correlation of people who like the product or interested in oat milk who will like the ad. If you hated the ad, and there are many of you, well you aren't likely to want to buy oat milk. A Super Bowl ad is usually designed to grow a product. If the company keeps the ad running in the next 2 months, the Oatly ad will seem better over time.

Amy Schumer has shown a suitability for doing ads lately. Her latest is for Hellmann mayonnaise. Schumer helps out a poor, single guy who has ingredients but doesn't know what to do with them. "What even is an artichoke?"

Schumer shows how the mayo can stretch a lot of foods. An ad that shows how to use the product is rare indeed. I do find Hellmann national ads hilarious since the brand shifts to Best Foods in some parts of the country. The mayonnaise is the same despite the name change, similar to Carl's Jr. and Hardees.

Super Bowl ad analysis in recent years

2020   2019   2018   2017   2016   2015   2014   2013   2011

Brad Garrett pops out of nowhere to star in the Jimmy John's ads. The sandwiches at Jimmy John's have been more about speed of delivery than actual quality. The Super Bowl ad refers to the Jimmy John's product as "high quality, reasonably priced sandwiches." Anecdotally, I have had 2 of their sandwiches, neither of which I could finish because of the lack of quality. I think the Federal Trade Commission could reasonable investigate the "high quality" claim. Fast food and "high quality" don't go together.

The "sandwich war" referred to in the ad means there will likely be follow-up ads. Ugh.

The Pringles stack ads are getting monotonous because they are selling a concept that doesn't exist. No one outside the company is buying multiple canisters and building different combinations. Either sell people different combos of different kinds of Pringles or stop this insanity. Fans might actually want shorten versions where they can build different combos, unlike the Frito-Lay ads trying to sell a product it won't describe.

Uber Eats and Doordash do not make food but they like to take credit for that food. Their high rates cut into the slim profit margins of local restaurants, even in good times. Spending $5.5 million to run ads may be necessary in the marketplace, but some of those restaurants could have used that money to stay in business.

Uber Eats brought in Mike Myers and Dana Carvey to go back to Wayne's World along with Cardi B. The emphasis of the ad was to eat local and support local, something better done with picking up the food yourself or having the restaurant deliver the food to you.

Doordash using the Sesame Street characters was a crass use of heartwarming childhood characters for a nefarious purpose. In our world, ads that cross the line get a F-.

Frito-Lay weighed in with 2 spots: 3-D Doritos and Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix. The 3-D Doritos ad was reasonably clever with Matthew McConaughey as a 2-dimensional version before he eats the 3-D version. Mindy Kaling and Jimmy Kimmel help out in the ad.

Super Bowl ads with a physical presence are good at standing out if watching the big game at a bar. Not as applicable with fewer bars open for the game. Still, the ad will stand out for awhile in February and March.

Not sure what is so different about the 3-D version of the snack, so the ad may just reinforce the 2-D version of the snack.

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are playful in the "did she/didn't she" dance off whether she ate the Cheetos. Not as clever as the Cheetos ads with the husband who tries to find out whether his family is eating the Cheetos. Those ads are good.

Did not notice the first time that the ad actually was for Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix. Don't know what that is and likely won't find out. Like the 3-D Doritos, without explanation, the ads refer back to the primary product. Run an ad to explain what the hell is a crunch pop mix.

BalanceofFood.com advertising coverage

Dan Levy finishes the M&Ms commercial of people apologizing for infractions where candy is the reward. In an era of yelling, actual apologies make for a good commercial. Then again, I would accept the apology but not the candy. We covered the M&Ms and Uber Eats ads for our Canadian blog entry on Super Bowl LV.

Mountain Dew has a melon flavored version. I drank the regular and Code Red versions back in the old days. I would drink watermelon juice but not a melon-flavored soft drink. The potential $1 million offer wouldn't move my judgment on the soda.

photo credit: Oatly oat milk
video credits: individual companies

Food television notebook: New MSNBC special and Fridge Wars

Andrew Zimmern and MSNBC proved to be a good combination on the What's Eating America series that ran earlier this year. Zimmern took us through how food connects to the issues in American society.

The impact on food and issues such as immigration and climate change was covered rather well in depth, especially for television. MSNBC has shown the episodes here and there. Zimmern has also appeared on various shows on MSNBC.

Zimmern teamed up with Joy Reid to host Food and the Pandemic: Recipe for Disaster. The show put the ongoing food issues and how the pandemic has heightened these concerns.

People waiting in lines for food distribution, often in long lines of cars. Those waiting in their cars in San Antonio for as many as 18 hours before the food bank opened. A lot of those people thought this wouldn't happen to them.

They talked with country music star Brad Paisley, who along with his wife, actor Kimberly Williams-Paisley, run The Store, a place in Nashville that looks and acts like a grocery store where customers don't get the bill at the end. The concept, which Paisley said was inspired in a place in Santa Barbara, CA, is that customers get to pick the food themselves as opposed to being handed a box at a food bank.

There was a wonderful segment about Karen Washington, who is working to encourage urban farming. The key stat in that segment was that fewer than 2% of U.S. farmers are Black. As we've learned in many other areas, role models build confidence that others can follow. 

The show talked about food deserts and defining that as having to travel more than a mile in an urban setting. While we know about this topic, seeing this on cable news was rather remarkable. They also covered the challenges of those with diseases that compromise their immunity system is built on limited food choices.

They talked about the food bank in San Antonio is still feeding 250,000-300,000 people on a monthly basis. The stories may have disappeared from the headlines but the need is still there.

What's Eating America devotes cable news time to important food issues

BalanceofFood.com television coverage

Restaurant owners are struggling to keep themselves afloat. Some are helping feed others. Zimmern noted that a lot of food that normally went to restaurants needed to find a home where people could find and eat the food. This in a country that struggled with food waste even before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

We don't say this lightly. This could be and should be a weekly update. More inspirational and hopeful stories on those using time an resources to help those in need to get good, quality food.

Food and the Pandemic: Recipe for Disaster gets another airing tomorrow night at 10 pm Eastern on MSNBC.

Transplant makes U.S. debut on NBC

Fridge Wars from CBC to air on the CW

She doesn't see meals when she looks in the refrigerator. This was the gist of a comment from a family on Fridge Wars, a Canadian show from the CBC that recently ran on the CW.

The concept is 2 chefs battling each other based on replicas of what the family had in the refrigerator. The families then judge the creations based on look, taste, and originality.

Each chef cooks for 2 different families in the hour-long program.

I swear I saw something similar on the Cooking Channel where the chefs actually cook in the kitchens of the families using their refrigerator content.

The Fridge Wars chefs get extra help from foods and equipment, mini-ads within the program. We have found that highly tasteless on U.S. shows. Seeing that from a show on a Canadian public broadcaster is degrading.

The show also gets caught in the TV trap of plates that look good as opposed to tasting good: 2 of the 3 categories have nothing to do with how the food tastes.

The chefs do use a lot of vegetables, make some dishes that are gluten-free, and show off creativity in an area where regular people actually struggle: taking what is in a refrigerator and turning the food into a meal.

Fridge Wars was made before the pandemic so there are no pandemic references in the show.

Emma Hunter is more comedian than host on the show and in real life. Hunter is engaging and plays up awkward moments with an ease Alison Sweeney (The Biggest Loser) could study for 20 years and still not master. Sweeney replaced Caroline Rhea, who was more approachable as the host and coincidentally, also a Canadian comedian.

Fridge Wars is available through the CW in the United States and CBC Gem in Canada.

photo credits: Food and the Pandemic: Recipe for Disaster; Fridge Wars

On the second Bourdain Day, how Anthony Bourdain would handle a worldwide pandemic

I don't carry around a bracelet with the initials WWABD. I do ask myself lately how Anthony Bourdain would have dealt with a pandemic such as COVID-19?

Can't really travel, can't celebrate food in restaurants, can't produce intimate television such as the great shows Bourdain produced.

I suppose Bourdain would have picked a remote spot, eaten well locally, managing to do that without cameras or voiceovers. Those that move at a fast pace find slowing down to be difficult. Anthony Bourdain would have been 65 today. He might not have liked the idea of slowing down even at 65.

Many of us are discovering cooking during the pandemic. You often saw Bourdain eating out: when he could, Bourdain would eat in people's homes. He really enjoyed eating at home with people and learning how to approach certain dishes.

Eating and sharing with people has also gone by the wayside in a pandemic. Pick the people you are with and make the best of it. So many people are alone during the pandemic; some would rather be alone.

Being alone heightens anxiety and depression. With food, you are not alone. Then again, you can feel alone surrounded by people, even with social distancing.

Bourdain might tell us to reflect on our food travel memories. Ours aren't as spectacular or extensive as his were. We have the books and TV shows of his adventures. We can only imagine what happened off-camera.

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

Anthony Bourdain legacy: Find your own food adventure

We do have food travel memories. Eating raw oysters for the first time at the Ferry Building farmers market in San Francisco. The local canned tuna fish I bought in Victoria and ate on an Amtrak car traveling from Seattle to Chicago. The late night Belgian frites in Amsterdam. The dark chocolate gelato in the outdoor seating at the bar in Rome. The strawberries and raw milk snack in Santa Monica.

The childhood car rides through the U.S. South: pecan logs at Stuckey's, grits at numerous diners, the hockey-puck like hard chocolate chip cookies we got from my grandma's friend and how the warm Southern summer made those cookies edible from the heat.

Bourdain would likely tell us to explore "ethnic" grocery stores and aisles to travel the world without leaving your city. He would suggest ordering out from family-run restaurants and ignoring the greed of restaurant delivery apps (more money in the pockets of the people making the food).

He also would spend a lot of time cursing in several languages about how all of this sucks.

Anthony Bourdain takes CNN's Parts Unknown to the mysterious land of Newfoundland

Eating outdoors is a part of summer. Some cities will close off streets to increase social distancing. Shop well and set up a picnic in a nearby park, keeping your distance. Take a dish that you learned and eat it outdoors. Not the same as food travel but the best we can do during a pandemic.

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

As we noted last year and worth remembering: "Anthony Bourdain's legacy lives within us. Travel more to learn about people through food. Read one or several of his books. Write your own book and dedicate that book to the spirit of Anthony Bourdain."

photo credit: Instagram Anthony Bourdain

Amy Schumer Learns to Cook but are we learning by watching the show?

Pandemic programming isn't just alliteration. Cooking in a pandemic is a skill people are learning or re-learning. The premise of Amy Schumer Learns to Cook is Amy Schumer (comedian, actor) doesn't know how to cook and her husband Chris Fischer (chef) does know how to cook.

The Food Network show has 8 episodes crammed into 4 1-hour shows. Each segment starts out with a cocktail since Amy Schumer does know how to mix drinks. Alcohol isn't food, unless that food is grain alcohol Jell-O, a lesson I learned when I was 18.

The show is casually produced with Jane, the nanny, handling a camcorder and the graphics listing the dishes are written on cardboard. That is the pandemic part. There are many more bleeps than you find in a typical cooking show.

Are we there to learn or to be entertained? Schumer is compelling with her humor and interest in cooking. The audience theoretically would tune in to also learn how to cook.

Let's look at the mushroom pasta from episode 2. Fischer cuts up some oyster mushrooms and onions. He sauteed the mushrooms and then sets them in a bowl while he sauteed the onions. Garlic, butter, olive oil, thyme, salt, parmesan cheese, and a bit of pasta water go in with the onions and the mushrooms when they go back into the pan.

Without any sense of proportion, an established chef could duplicate that but most at-home cooks would struggle. You learn how to put a bunch of stuff together but not really learn cooking.

Fischer steams in a way I haven't seen on any cooking show in that the food touches the water. We can't see what happens but steaming isn't what that looks like.

There are some fun extemporaneous moments. Fischer wanted to make a potato and radish salad in episode 4. Schumer asks if they can do mashed potatoes instead. They do. A random pot of cooked down tomatoes in episode 2 becomes a mystery pasta "that no one asked for," said Schumer.

Good Eats is the grand exception where measurements are given on cooking shows. Fischer's approach is to be more vague than Bobby Flay, which we didn't think was possible.

Fischer is good at incorporating vegetables into dishes. The Greek salad dip in episode 3 was ingenious. His obsession with fennel and onions drive Schumer bonkers. The dishes are very simple, rustic. The crab, tomato, avocado salad is pretty straightforward. You learn to put things together and hope they come close to matching what happens on the screen. You do miss a camera angle or two. Schumer often has to come in and ask Fischer what he just did. At one point, Schumer misses a step and says that she will have to watch the show to see what happened. Good luck.

The chocolate peanut butter cookies get a substitution in episode 1 since they have almond butter, not peanut butter. They pass it off as a pandemic result since they ran out of peanut butter.

The premise is that Schumer learns all along but the final episodes pour it on that Schumer learned a few skills along the way. Her chopping skills do improve.

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Cooking Channel needs to bring back Laura Calder, focus less on celebrities

BalanceofFood.com television coverage

Amy Schumer Learns to Cook shows the future of post-pandemic food shows -- well, not the shaky camera work anyway. Matching a person who knows how to cook with someone who doesn't is a more educational way to learn how to cook. The cook knows a lot, almost too much. The ingenue likes to eat but doesn't know how to get there.

We don't learn to cook from the expert. We learn from the clueless person who is learning to cook in front of our eyes.

photo credit: Amy Schumer Learns to Cook/Food Network