Anthony Bourdain on "Wrongness"

[jay-ell]

Interview here: http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/thewrongstuff/archive/2010/05/31/eat-your-words-anthony-bourdain-on-being-wrong.aspx

Excerpt:
I'm interested in this relationship between doing things right and doing things the way they've always been done. It's almost like being right is synonymous with conforming to tradition.

Yeah, or with authenticity. There's enormous respect and a romanticized reverence for what's considered the "right" way—meaning, the classic way—and I think most chefs feel powerfully that one should know that before moving on. Like, "I've researched this, this is the way they were making it in 1700, goddamn it, and that's the way it should be made." Or: "This is the way they make laksa in Kuching and Borneo; that stuff I just had on Ninth Avenue is definitely not the same; ergo it's wrong." But, you know, what does "real" or "authentic" mean? The history of food is the history of migrating ingredients and occupation and foreign influences and accommodation.

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Darnit, now I'm thinking about food as history and history as food. Cooking might be weird for a while at my house.

Edit: Link added. Speaking of being wrong...

[CortJstr]

Well it's always possible that it's been done that way for hundreds of years because because it's been refine. The new way might be novel, and therefore interesting, but not stand up once the novelty wears off. Conversely maybe it's always been done that way simply because of the materials available at the time and they would've done it your way all along with access those quality ingredients/tools.

Also, once something veers far enough from tradition it sometimes needs a new name.

[Carlos del Vaca]

My favorite part is where he says he disagrees with pretty much everything Ted Nugent says or thinks, but he still likes the guy.

[Choop]

is there a link i'm not seeing

[greenkoolayd]

the nuge illustrates a lot of american stereotypes.