Without reservations

Ever since watching the DVD, "Decoding Ferran Adria" hosted by Anthony Bourdain, Jude and I have become increasingly fascinated by this brash no-nonsense, try-everything-once, chain-smoking, border-alcoholic, Rachel-Ray-hating host-chef-New Yorker-restaurateur-writer. The DVD itself is a riveting look into a kitchen unlike any other- a lab almost- that of Spanish chef, Ferran Adria, known for his experimental , surrealistic creations. But its Bourdain's eloquence, acerbic wit, openness to new experiences, and particular roguish charm that engages you almost as much as all the molecular gastronomy of Adrai's El Bulli restaurant.

We've been getting our almost daily dose of Bourdain these days by watching his show, No Reservations on the Travel Channel. And you know what? This guy knows food. Okay, duh... that's like saying Meryl Streep is just an actress. But I mean that in the most essential of ways. Not just how to cook it, or how expensive the ingredients are. He appreciates food for what it conveys and its very elemental place in human existence. Talking about the cuisine recreated by Russian émigrés in Brooklyn, he says after putting a forkful of perfectly stewed rabbit in his mouth, "Someone cares." As in this is food made not just for profit or just for filling stomachs; it means something to someone back there in the kitchen. This food has soul.

Today's episode featured him in China and one segment of it really stood out for Jude and I. So often these days- whether it's at restaurants or even in home-cooking- you hear of people spending wads of money on what is most expensive, most rare, most esoteric, most exclusive. We're talking your truffles, expensive artisan hams, caviar, exotic unattainable fruits, etc. And yet, in the words of my new celebrity crush in-waiting,

...the true measure of the greatness of a culture is exemplified by what its poorest and most rural people cook. Food that tastes good because it has to be good. How to make the tough, the bland, the humble into something truly special- this is where, throughout history and across the globe, cooks are made."
- Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations, Beijing and Chengdu episode

He was invited to the home of rural farmers and served what must have been a week's worth of food for this family. It was simple fare- steamed yams, pickled chilli peppers, preserved field rabbits, fried corn, and everything else that grew in their humble backyard, harvested and cooked in honor of their visiting foreign guest. This is a man who is best friends with some of the most exclusive chefs in the country and has access to some of the most expensive restaurants in the world, and yet in this little village kitchen in the heart of China, he lapped up simple rural fare with the gusto, grace and gratitude of someone savoring his last meal.