#balvanie

I have a habit that I developed in college. When I discover an author new to me, I go back and read everything of theirs I can get my hands on. Now I do the same with actors or TV shows or film and animation directors. But I still do it with authors as well. I predict I’ll be doing this soon with Mr. Bourdain’s work.

I always watch the various cooking channels. They’re background noise in my house, when I have control of the remote. I’ll be doing something else, and only peripherally aware of the noise from the television. But if something reaches into my consciousness, I’ll wander to the TV, and often try to find the recipe they’re cooking. Key words do it - words like balsamic vinegar, pan-seared, caramelized, radicchio. I suspect if smell-o-vision were really a thing, I’d be forever affixed to the cooking channels.

I was flipping through the channels once, and saw Mr. Bourdain travel cooking show, No Reservations,  and he was in an open-air market somewhere in Southeast Asia, eating seafood that involved some kind of local hot sauce. Somehow I wrote it off as yet another travel/food show. Wrong, just wrong.

I found a link to the video above randomly through one of the Gawker sites. Wow. And I use that word in its sense of the feeling of true awe and wonder. How is it I’ve missed this man? His respect for the craft of these various artists and artisans is apparent. The show’s obviously a labor of love and only slight product placement jars me out of thinking he did on his own dime. Of course, now I’m going to have to try Balvanie single malt - in addition to watching all his shows whenever they’re on.