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I was (and still am) a big fan of Anthony Bourdain. I remember finding his first show, “A Cook’s Tour” on a minor travel channel and soon found myself completely hooked. I read all of his books and watched all of his shows as they came along.
I was raised in French-speaking Canada, learned to cook in the French country way, and I always felt, even from a very young age, that one of the best ways to understand a culture is to try its food. So when Anthony Bourdain came along, with his French name and food/travel attitude that aligned with mine, I thought yes, finally! Here’s someone who’s doing a thoughtful travelogue-and-food-as-cultural-identity show.
My desire for travel was inspired by my childhood trips to my mother’s homeland, the UK. On one of these visits, she took me on a side-trip to Paris, and that’s where for me, food and travel merged and grew. Since then, and although I’ve now slowed down, I’ve travelled enormously and have always, first and foremost, accessed a region’s culture through its food.
Food is who we are. We depend on it not only for the practical purposes of sustenance, but also for comfort, warmth, remembrance, history and connection. Food brings us together, both in celebration and mourning, in romance and heartbreak, and very often, just as a pleasure in and of itself.
Many years ago, in a very small neighbourhood restaurant in an off-the-tourist path, outside-of-tourist season part of Venice (this was when actual Venetians still existed, before that marvellous city was more or less turned into a theme park), I was introduced to a wonderful rendition of linguine alle Vongole (linguine with clams). I wound up spending much of the afternoon chatting with the owner, he in his broken English and I in my very poor Italian, drinking local wine and learning more about Italian food – and Italians – than a dozen cook books could ever provide.
And this is one of the best things that Anthony Bourdain shared with us: the idea that food is travel, and travel is food. It’s about connecting with the people who make the food, about why it’s an important part of their culture and by extension, why it is that we want those particular foods to become a part of ours. It’s mind opening.
It’s very sad that despite Bourdain’s reverence for travel, for food, for life, his was cut short by one of the very things he frequently discussed in his programs: the human condition. Our condition can be a complex, circuitous mystery, quite often particularly to ourselves. He was so ably conversant with it and at times showed such insight, but as it is for many of us, he clearly had a hard time dealing with his own condition.
Regardless of the manner of his passing, he gifted us with an enormous body of work. Often irreverent and acerbic, sometimes scandalous but always passionate and honest, Anthony Bourdain communicated his observations and philosophy through the wonderful medium of food, a medium we can all understand, and I will always appreciate him for that.
After his passing, friends of his, Eric Ripert and José Andrés, started an unofficial Anthony Bourdain Day on June 25, his birthday (yes, I’m a day late). So if you’re inclined to honour him, his favourite drink was a negroni, and one of his favourite foods was pasta, and you can eat and drink in his memory.
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 