Bored in Quarantine? Watch These Food Shows.
For some time, Vice had some of the most entertaining shows on television; Huang’s World, Fuck That’s Delicious, King of the Road, and more. It is clear Eddie Huang took inspiration from Anthony Bourdain. His show perfectly balances educating the viewer about the food along with the culture of the city or country. His unapologetic personality along with his incredible fashion choices add to the entertainment of the show. An example would be the South Korea episode. Huang starts the show exploring all the different cuisines in South Korea. As the show progresses he starts to look into the culture of South Korea spanning from K-Pop to the country having the highest suicide rate in the world. The blending of food and culture is what separates shows like Huang’s World and Parts Unknown apart from other food shows.
Anthony Bourdain: A Cook’s Tour in Search of the Perfect Meal
In the early 2000s, Anthony Bourdain traveled the world in search of “the perfect meal”. His trip around the world was captured by a film crew along with him writing a book about the experience. After reading the highly entertaining book, I set out to find where I could watch the television series. Now, for some reason, this show is nearly impossible to find on the internet. Amazon says they have the show but you cannot buy it or stream it. However, thankfully there are randomly a couple of episodes on YouTube. One of these episodes. One of these episodes was when Bourdain visited San Francisco. In the book, Bourdain takes a trip over to Berkeley to experience his long time antagonist, the vegetarian. Unfortunately, the hilarious experience as he describes in the book was not featured in the episode. The episode deservedly focuses on Bourdain’s trip to Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. The show is an interesting glimpse into a younger Bourdain. The show is much rawer than his more recent Parts Unknown. Whether it is watching a young Bourdain visibly captivated by his hero Thomas Keller or the superb editing that accompanies Bourdain’s search for a street sausage in Thailand, A Cook’s Tour is definitely worth your time.
Fuck That’s Delicious
Fuck That’s Delicious can be described as controlled chaos and truly original. There is never a dull moment in the show whether it is Action Bronson discussing his love for food or The Alchemist having to explain why he hates certain foods. The Copenhagen episode embodies the chaos perfectly. Action, Meyhem, and Al visit the Torvehallerne market a large indoor and outdoor market with small restaurants and shops in Copenhagen. They meet up with the owner of a taco stand in the market. She asks Bronson to make a taco. This leads to him going to all the different stands in the market to create his intricate taco. The way he goes about procuring the ingredients along with making the taco seems chaotic but in the end he gracefully creates a truly original taco. Fuck That’s Delicious brings a different voice to food TV, no episode is alike and the controlled chaos is undoubtedly entertaining.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Netflix releases a lot of subpar TV, it seems anyone can get a show these days. Before watching Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat a while back I had never heard of Samin Nosrat the host of the show. However, I quickly realized Nosrat was incredibly talented in many facets. Her show is incredibly entertaining, educational, and fun. Her personality is so infectious even through a TV screen. The show is also different from many cooking shows. She is not just going to restaurants in foreign countries but she is educating the viewer about the basics of cooking. It is hard to not be entertained when watching the series. The only downside is the short 4 episode series will leave you wanting more.
